Comparison of the efficiency of Slovak agriculture
1998
Bielik, P. (Slovenska Polnohospodarska Univ., Nitra (Slovak Republic). Katedra Ekonomiky)
The efficiency of Slovak agriculture, compared with the EU and CEFTA countries, is influenced by a number of factors. Their importance is varied since it is determined especially by the level of development of a particular national economy. In Slovakia, the 1996 GDP per capita reached only 45% of the average GDP in the EU. Other factors include the agricultural trade deficit, constant low foreign capital investment into agriculture as well as a high level of technical and economic obsolesence of agricultural property. Despite Slovak agriculture's having preserved its large scale production character, with an average enterprise size of 1,600 ha, its current efficiency parameters fall behind the EU level. In 1996 agricultural production reached not more than 95% of the pre-transformation level in both animal and plant production. Despite a decrease in the number of agricultural employees, these still represent a higher percentage (6.7%) of the national workforce than in the EU (5.2%). Domestic producer subsidies represent 70-80% of the Uruguay Round of GATT subsidizing policy. Compared with the EU, there are also differences in the Producer Subsidy Equivalent which is the subject of discussions in spite of the fact that it reaches only 50% of the EU level. The future direction of the subsidy policy is also discussed
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