Peter Adamišin

Natural climatic conditions as a determinant of productivity and economic efficiency of agricultural entities.

Th e scientifi c contribution builds on the previous scientifi c studies analysing the determinants of productivi- ty and economic effi ciency of the agricultural entities and extends the knowledge of the spatial econometrics area at the NUTS IV level (at the district level) for the reporting period. Th e paper aimed to assess the development of productivity and economic effi ciency of the agricultural entities in the reporting period based on the synthetic evaluation of the se- lected economic indicators by the methods of cluster analysis, and so to create a spatial map according to the regional diff erentiation at the NUTS IV level. On the basis of the completed analysis, we can conclude that the natural and climatic conditions have a dominant infl uence on the achievable productivity and economic effi ciency of the agricultural entities in ensuring the sustainability of the economic performance of agriculture in diff erent regions of Slovakia. On the basis of conducting the analysis, there were clearly defi ned two relatively coherent areas in Slovakia (at the district level), which are characterized by diff erences in the achieved production indicators and allow the regional diff erentiation of Slovakia into districts with more and less prosperous agricultural enterprises.

Legal form of agricultural entities as a factor in ensuring the sustainability of the economic performance of agriculture.

Development of the agricultural sector prior to 1989 in Slovakia, such as in most countries of the Central and Eastern Europe, was aff ected by the collectivization realized on the principle of the central planning. Th e main objective became the quantity, while quality and effi ciency had only a secondary importance. Entering into a new market environment after 1990 meant for agricultural enterprises complicated structural, economic and social changes. Th e aim of the paper is to evaluate the economic performance of agricultural entities depending on their legal form in Slovakia. We assume that the legal form or the way of organizing and management of processes within the agricultural enterprises has an impact on the economic performance of the agricultural subjects. Th e analysis confi rmed the assumptions. On the basis of the testing results, it was found that business companies show a higher rate of economic success measured by the selected economic indicators.

Effectiveness of Use of MCDM Methods in the Terms of Local Self-Government

The public administration perceived as executive action of the state, i.e., basic statutory subject in the Slovak Republic consists of two parts—state administration and self-government. The basic unit of self-government is the municipality. The basic unit of government is the municipality. The municipality is an economic entity and basic self-governing unit of local self-government, which manages its own property under the Law, disposes with own financial resources, and prepares its own budget. Municipal indebtedness significantly determining its action constitutes a single criterion laid down by law for evaluating its financial performance and necessity to establish a recovery mode or receivership in the municipality. The contribution discusses the selected methods of multi-criteria decision making, which are based on determining of the ranking according to the identified criteria which have a direct impact on the overall result. On the basis of previous utilization of describing methods in the various fields of the economy, the contribution explores the possibility of their use in the evaluation of the management of municipalities, i.e., the application in terms of local self-government. By choosing the right methodology it is possible to evaluate the quality of municipalities management and provide a way for a more efficient use of public funds. This analysis provided the space for comparison of these methods and confirmed their possible use in local self-government in the evaluation of management of municipalities.