2014 – Volume 116

This paper presents a comparative perspective on Europeanisation of rural policies in Poland and Hungary. We focus on developments in these two countries in the last decade and situate them in a broader European Union (EU) narrative. This exercise shows that Europeanisation in rural development has been mostly a one-way process of transferring the EU-15 policy models into the post-socialist realm. The policy system has lacked contextual sensitivity and recognition of the significant differences in political and institutional cultures both within the Central and Eastern European countries and between the ‘old’ and ‘new’ EU Member States. The results are low effectiveness of development aid, coupled with the lack of policy learning and the possibility for gradual improvements of the system. We look here especially at the delivery of LEADER and how its transformation from being an experimental bottom-up innovation into a mainstream delivery mechanism of rural policy has affected its transfer to Hungary and Poland. We conclude with some recommendations for improvements in rural policy delivery and with some research questions to encourage further research.

This article describes the main trends in the changes to the system of rural settlements in Lithuania and determines the regional peculiarities of these changes. The analysis was carried out using data collected during the censuses of 2001 and 2011, and information that was gathered during field trips to rural settlements across the country in 2013 and 2014. Our analysis showed that the population decreased in the majority of settlements independently of their size. However, distinct regional differences can be identified and these were especially evident when comparing the data collected from the rural settlements located close to the capital city (Vilnius) or regional centres (Kaunas, Klaipėda, Šiauliai, Panevėžys and Alytus) with the data collected from the peripheral areas located further from cities or roads of regional importance. The survey showed that the north-eastern and southern parts of Lithuania are depopulated most, whereas in the western part of the country the number of residents was stable until 2000, and only in the 21st century did it start to decrease due to the increasing emigration rates. Also, the analysis of the structure of settlements allowed us to point out the historical circumstances as the cause of regional differences. In the north-eastern...

Public employment programmes are important tools for reducing unemployment and its impacts. The Hungarian National Public Employment Programme, launched on 1 January 2011, includes micro-regional start-work model programmes. A questionnaire survey designed to assess whether these programmes can help to re-integrate jobless people into the labour market was conducted among 300 programme participants in the (LAU1) micro-region of Hajdúböszörmény in north-east Hungary. Most respondents have, at most, basic education. The majority have already participated in public employment programmes three or more times, often over a period of more than two years. Most respondents with higher education would like to return to the primary labour market, but many less educated persons would accept further public employment. Very few want to work in the ‘black’ economy. Most did not take part in any actions to improve their employability, either through the programmes or on their own initiative. Many feel that they have developed new competences but do not believe that their career prospects have been improved. Their self-esteem has increased and they can see the value to society of the work they have been doing. In conclusion, the current public employment system seems to be reducing ‘black’ labour but not substantially improving...

Agriculture is an activity burdened with multiple risk factors, some of which are related to the biological nature of production. Climate change, liberalisation of international agricultural trade and changes in the agricultural support system mean that the importance of risk in agriculture will increase. This means that increasing attention will be given to risk management at the farm level, although implementation of the appropriate risk management strategy is connected to farmers’ perception of, and aversion to, risk. This study, which integrates these three aspects of risk in agriculture, is based on data collected from almost 600 participant farms from the Polish FADN system. It was shown that drought is perceived by farmers as the main factor of risk in production in Poland. Polish farmers are rather risk averse, but a little more in terms of their personal health and less in the case of the farm. The analysis showed that the following factors increased the level of risk aversion of Polish farmers: debt ratio, losses in production in previous years, soil quality and concentration on financial independence as a hierarchy of priorities. The most important risk-coping strategy was crop insurance. Knowledge of farmers’ perception of risk, risk aversion and preferred...

As the Black Sea Region (BSR) has recently emerged as a major world grain exporter region, this study assesses the possible influence of BSR maize prices on maize futures prices in Hungary. To measure the linear relationship between these prices the Pearson’s correlation was used, and to estimate their cointegration the Johansen test was performed for the period April 2011 to December 2013. Prices of Paris (MATIF) and Chicago (CBOT) maize futures were also included in the analysis for comparison. The results suggest that BSR maize prices had little or no influence on futures price discovery in Hungary during the period investigated. From this it can be concluded that (a) BSR supply and demand conditions bore negligible importance for market participants, and (b) Budapest Stock Exchange maize futures may not be efficient tools for hedging price risks associated with Hungarian maize exports to third countries where prices are derived from quotes at BSR seaports. On the other hand, MATIF maize futures prices had a measurable impact on the pricing of maize futures in Hungary, although this connection disappeared for the period April-December 2013. The same was true for CBOT maize futures prices which Hungarian maize futures prices were also cointegrated...

The study analyses the determinants of food availability and access, and the causes of unsustainable food access in Ghana using three models. Regression results show that the effects of energy price, domestic and foreign interest rates, domestic prices and exchange rate on food availability are negative, while the effects of crop yield, arable land, liberalisation of agricultural trade and real income are positive. The analysis further shows the unique effects of energy price and human capital exceed their common effects. However, the common effects of domestic and foreign interest rates, inflation, crop yield, arable land, exchange rate, liberalisation of agricultural trade and income exceed their unique effects. The access model shows that the effects of domestic interest rate, exchange rate and oil price are negative. The unique effect of oil price exceeds the variable’s common effect. However, the common effects of exchange rate, interest rate and income exceed their unique effects. The stability model shows that good news and higher incomes enhance sustainable food access. However, higher oil price and depreciation of the local currency distort sustainable food access. The policy implication is that government should jointly target variables with higher common effects when addressing food access and availability. Withdrawal...

When Romania joined the European Union (EU) in 2007, it did so with significant structural drawbacks. This paper investigates, in this context, the influence of the considerable levels of financial support given under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) on the overall productivity of Romanian agriculture. Using data for a 15-year time horizon (1998-2013), we show that the policy incentives have not yet produced any positive effects on the Total Factor Productivity index. Moreover, the increases in the input index remain higher than the output index, reducing the overall productivity of Romanian agriculture. This is explained by a low share of high value-added products in the total agricultural production and agricultural structures that are not yet compatible with those of Western Europe. The new CAP financial allocation must correct these negative findings by supporting new investments in the food processing industry and the better marketing of agricultural products.

An enhanced research strategy supported by the ERA-NET RURAGRI In a context of significant changes and increasing complexity of economic and social systems, new challenges arise for rural research. It is commonplace that many research issues cannot any more be understood by regional or national studies alone but have to be framed in their international setting. A recent ERA-NET, the RURAGRI network, addressed the gap in European research organisation for providing a common research agenda on rural development research. It highlighted that this research field can be covered sufficiently only if the interrelationships between agricultural, ecological and spatial development are addressed appropriately and taken up as core research questions. The Strategic Research Agenda elaborated through the partners of this network, representing research organisations in 20 European countries, indicates the wide scope of issues for respective international research. Some of those aspects, and particularly the aim of increasing our understanding of these interrelationships, are taken up in a first set of selected international studies resulting from the ERA-NET’s call. The intensive discussion on research collaboration and the high status of rural development policy on the political agenda within the European Union also underpins the need for future international collaboration on research...

This paper explores the slow pace of structural change which has characterised the post-transition period in Romania and sheds light on the dynamics of labour adjustments. A multinomial logit is employed to investigate the determinants of inter-sectoral labour movements in the period 2003-06. The high share of farm employment in Romania, mostly characterised by family workers and self-employed, suggests that agriculture serves as a buffer against unemployment. Whereas the main channel of farm labour outflows is closely related to retirement, movements to other sectoral employment are significantly hindered by the low levels of education. The findings are important from a policy point of view, suggesting the need for investments in human capital, specifically in education of the rural population with the purpose of enhancing the mobility of labour and facilitating a smooth transition across activities. At the same time, priority should be placed on rural development to encourage the diversification of the rural economy and the creation of alternative sources of income from non-agricultural activities.

Rural regeneration is usually accompanied by diversification of the economy and creation of new employment opportunities. The cluster concept, introduced by Michael Porter at the beginning of the 1990s, and cluster initiatives are generally and uncritically offered as an adequate tool for the fulfilment of these objectives. This study describes the functioning of four tourism cluster initiatives from rural areas of Slovakia using the experience and knowledge from field work (supported by content analysis of newspapers and the Internet) and their (in)direct impact on selected regional indicators (net migration of population, number of tourists, overnight stays and unemployed persons). The data indicate the efforts of the tourism cluster founders in the initial years of activity are not automatically associated with broadly interpreted local and regional success. This result shows that cluster initiatives in tourism are not appropriate for all rural areas, economies and/or communities.