Axel Wolz

The Impact of Social Capital on Polish Farm Incomes: Findings of an Empirical Survey

Private farming is the dominant mode of agricultural production in most European countries. Not all farmers are equally successful, economically, which is usually explained by different levels of production factors, i.e. land, labour and capital. This article analyses whether social capital is an additional factor contributing to higher agricultural incomes. Using primary evidence from a farm survey in Poland among 410 farmers it can be deduced that social capital is indeed a significant factor determining the level of agricultural income. However, its impact is not as clear-cut as anticipated. The elaboration and testing of appropriate indicators has just started. More in-depth analysis will be needed in the future.

Does Cooperation Pay? The Role of Social Capital among Household Plot Farmers in Ukraine

Does Cooperation Pay? The Role of Social Capital among Household Plot Farmers in Ukraine Social capital matters, not the least in determining individual welfare. It is argued that it functions similar to traditional production factors. However, there are not many empirical analyses about this issue at the farm-household level in general and in post-communist countries in particular. Whether or not social capital affects farm income is tested using micro-data from 255 household plot farmers in Ukraine. The data reflect 23 social capital indicators. These are merged in four separate index variables. The index variables reflect the theoretical dimensions of social capital, namely form, i.e. structural and cognitive, and relationship, i.e. bonding and bridging. By adopting multiple regression analysis, it can be shown that social capital in the form of bridging is indeed a significant factor for determining the level of agricultural income. However, the findings also underline the multidimensional side of social capital. Both bonding and cognitive social capital show no immediate impact on agricultural income among household plot farmers in Ukraine.

Reviewing changing institutional conditions for private farming in Russia

The dominant organizations of agricultural production (kolkhozes and sovkhozes) have become obsolete with independence and the abolition of the Soviet era’s planned economy. These organizations had to be restructured and family farms, or more generally private farms, were intended to form the new backbone of farm production. However, development since then has been difficult. Based on a literature review, this study reviews and assesses this development in terms of the changing institutional conditions. The Russian government’s policies, by interchangeably supporting large-scale farming organizations or private farming, have created uncertainties for private farmers. Russian farmers were once strongly influenced by the mentality from Soviet times, but there are indications now that they are gaining strength, possibly as a consequence of a more benevolent political order, more entrepreneurial attitudes and developing organizational arrangements.

Efficiency in Microfinance: Financial and Social Performance of Agricultural Credit Cooperatives in Bulgaria

Efficiency in microfinance requires accounting for a specific ambiguous production goal. Beyond financial performance, microfinance institutions are to be assessed with regard to their social impact. Based on a comprehensive data collection campaign on 15 Bulgarian agricultural credit cooperatives (ACCs), we compiled a database uniting financial (perennial data from 2000 to 2009) and social performance indicators (2009). The social performance assessment follows an internationally renowned methodology of social auditing. It provides the database for the construction of a social output, which, apart from outreach, evaluates social network quality, client benefits (protection from over-indebtedness) and other items that have not been assessed in efficiency analysis before. We develop a new analytical model for Data Envelopment Analysis and gain meaningful results for the sample of ACCs. Interestingly, the efficiency rankings revealed that only ACCs with sound financial performance can achieve a higher ranking in the specification including the social output.

Social capital in Russian agricultural production co-operatives

When the Soviet kolkhozy and sovkhozy were converted, a large number of agricultural production co-operatives was created. Most of these co-operatives still exist in Russia and some of them have a strong market position, accounting for almost one-third of the aggregate volume produced by large farms. This study explores whether social capital might be the explanation for this relative success, i.e. that members support their co-operative because they trust their fellow members as well as the leadership. Interviews with co-operative members resulted in 1401 usable answers. The results from an ordered logit model indicate that social capital plays a partial role. Members who consider co-operatives to be an efficient business form value social ties to other members, even though the leadership does not enjoy much social capital.

Why (not) cooperate? A cognitive model of farmers’ intention to join producer groups in Romania

ABSTRACT After the breakdown of the communist regime in Romania, collective farms were replaced by a large number of small-scale private farms. Although cooperation seems to be a favourable choice for these smallholders, it did not develop as perhaps expected. This article explores the factors that determine the formation of the intention of Romanian vegetable farmers to join marketing cooperatives in the form of so called producer groups. Our theoretical framework refers to Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behaviour, which we model with a structural equation model. We identified as main intention drivers the expectation for better prices and easier access to capital. Perceived family support is another significant factor. The level of distrust is high. Although our trust variable is not significant as a predictor of the intention to cooperate in the model, we find qualitative indications that trust plays a role when the intention is translated into actual behaviour.

GOVERNANCE OF PRODUCTION CO-OPERATIVES IN RUSSIAN AGRICULTURE

Many Soviet kolkhozy and sovkhozy were transformed into agricultural production co-operatives, because the farm workers would have had large transaction costs in any other type of organization. These co-operatives still hold a strong market position. This study explores the hypothesis that this market strength could be due to low governance costs, obtained through strong manager power. As managers want the co-operative to survive, they make limited investments in the co-operative and pay low wages. The members, however, do not consider this to be problematic. They appreciate the community within the village, their private plots of land and the co-operatives services. Hence the existence of the co-operatives is not threatened.

Is Agribusiness Different? Firm-Level Evidence of Perceived Corruption in Post-Soviet Countries

We investigated firm-level perceptions of corruption, based on two enterprise surveys conducted across eight countries of the former Soviet Union. In addition to identifying the perceived major obstacles to business operations, the article looks at whether managers in the agribusiness sector perceive corruption differently than do managers in other sectors. The empirical analysis makes use of the most recent wave of the Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey (BEEPS) conducted between 2012 and 2013, complemented by our own survey conducted in 2016. The results paint a heterogeneous picture. One-fifth of the respondents to BEEPS agree that private payments or gifts to local officials have a moderate or high direct impact, whereas the rate of agreement declines when asked about parliamentarians or government officials. Results of a range of econometric models, however, do not reveal differences between agribusiness and other sectors at large. Only in two of ten specifications do respondents from agribusiness tend to perceive corruption as occurring less frequently than do respondents from other sectors. However, country effects seem to be more important than intersectoral differences in the perception of corruption.

Demographischer Wandel, öffentliche Daseinsvorsorge und Landwirtschaft in den ländlichsten Räumen: Erfahrungen aus Sachsen-Anhalt

Viele landliche Regionen Ostdeutschlands sind in den letzten zwei Jahrzehnten gepragt von einer rapiden Schrumpfung und Uberalterung der Bevolkerung, einem wirtschaftlichen Niedergang sowie einem stetigen Abbau der Leistungen der offentlichen Daseinsvorsorge. Entgegen der Theorien der wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung ist die Landwirtschaft in diesen Regionen haufig der einzig verbliebene Sektor, der Einkommen und Beschaftigung vor Ort schafft. In dieser Untersuchung wird analysiert, ob hier die Landwirtschaft von dem demographischen Wandel tangiert wird und ob sie einen Beitrag zur offentlichen Daseinsvorsorge leisten kann. Sie basiert auf einer Befragung von 134 landwirtschaftlichen Betriebsleitern im Jahr 2012 in der Region Altmark, Sachsen-Anhalt. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Betriebe, insbesondere juristische Personen, immer starker Probleme haben, geeignete Fachkrafte und vor allem Lehrlinge zu finden. Es ist zu erwarten, dass dies mittel- bis langfristig Auswirkungen auf die Produktionsrichtung, aber auch auf die Organisationsformen haben wird. Ebenfalls zeigen die Ergebnisse, dass landwirtschaftliche Betriebsleiter bereit sind, Aufgaben der offentlichen Daseinsvorsorge zu ubernehmen. Der Grund liegt in der emotional-sozialen Verbindung zur Heimatregion, also der engen Bindung der Betriebsleiter zur Region und seinen Bewohnern.

Bio-energy and Rural Development: Findings from a Comparative Study in Central, Eastern and Southern Europe

Bio-energy and Rural Development: Findings from a Comparative Study in Central, Eastern and Southern Europe Rising energy prices for fossil fuels, the unreliable supply of energy imports during recent winters, and European Union (EU) policies have stimulated national awareness and political action on renewable bio-energy among all of the European countries. In discussions on agricultural policy, renewable energy has been advocated as a way to more rural prosperity. In this paper, we assess whether there is any impact on agricultural and rural employment and income as anticipated. Among the new member states (NMS) of the EU, the share of bio-energy is slowly increasing. Yet among the Balkan states and Turkey this process has just started. In both sub-regions an expansion of rape seed cultivation, and to a smaller extent of the production of wood pellets, could be observed. Similarly, the build-up of processing facilities is in its infancy. Up to now, however, its overall impact on agricultural and rural income and employment seems to have been marginal.