eng Faculty of Economics and Management of the Slovak Agricultural University in Nitra and the Association of Agricultural Economists in Slovakia Review of Agricultural and Applied Economics 1336-9261 2016-04-15 19 1 3 12 10.15414/raae.2016.19.01.03-12 638-1 article Vasilis GRIGORIADIS Christos EMMANOUILIDES Panos FOUSEKIS The objective of this work is to investigate the degree of integration of national pigmeat markets in the EU. This is pursued using monthly wholesale prices from seven major markets and the statistical tool of mixed R-vine copulas. The empirical results suggest that the markets considered do not constitute a great pool in which prices move, boom, and crash together. The markets of Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands exhibit a higher degree of integration relative to the others, whereas the Italian market exhibits a lower degree of integration. Also, there is an indication that, in certain cases, the benefits of free trade may be unequally distributed between the trading partners. https://roaae.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/RAAE_01_2016_Grigoriadis_et_al.pdf Pigmeat EU Price Co-movement R-Vine Copulas eng Faculty of Economics and Management of the Slovak Agricultural University in Nitra and the Association of Agricultural Economists in Slovakia Review of Agricultural and Applied Economics 1336-9261 2016-04-15 19 1 13 20 10.15414/raae/2016.19.01.13-20 638-1 article Alem MEZGEBO Endrias GETA Fresenbet ZELEKE The study assesses urban freshwater users’ perception of watershed degradation and users' willingness to pay for upland degraded watershed management. Cross sectional data was collected from 282 urban freshwater users. A number of causes and effects of watershed degradation and water supply problems are identified. Economic instruments and mechanisms are also identified as the basis of charging and collecting the fee for watershed management, respectively. Besides, contingent valuation result shows that about 82 percent of the respondents were willing to pay for upland degraded watershed management. The mean willingness to pay from the spike model was computed to be 97 Ethiopian birr (ETB) per annum for five years whereas the mean willingness to pay from the open-ended elicitation method was computed 70 ETB per year. Urban freshwater user willingness to pay is affected by total income, initial bids, marital status, ownership of house and educational levels. The study recommends that any watershed management activities need to consider the socio-economic variables of the affected respondents. Besides, it is worthy to consider the demand of the urban dweller (downstream users) for any upland degraded watershed management. https://roaae.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/RAAE_1_2016_Mezgebo_et_al.pdf degraded watershed management urban freshwater users willingness to pay eng Faculty of Economics and Management of the Slovak Agricultural University in Nitra and the Association of Agricultural Economists in Slovakia Review of Agricultural and Applied Economics 1336-9261 2016-04-15 19 1 21 29 10.15414/raae.2016.19.01.21-29 638-1 article Adel Shakeeb MOHSEN Soo Y. CHUA Che Normee CHE SAB This study investigates the determinants of agricultural output in Syria, 1980-2010. The Johansen cointegration test results indicate that agricultural outputs are positively related to the capital, food exports, expenditure and arable land, and negatively related to the oil price. Arable land has the biggest effect on agricultural outputs. The Granger causality test indicates bidirectional short-run causality relationships between capital, food exports, expenditure, arable land and agricultural outputs, and unidirectional short-run causality relationship running from oil price to agricultural outputs. There are also unidirectional long-run causality relationships moving from agricultural outputs to gross fixed capital formation of agriculture, oil price, food exports and arable land. However, there is no long-run causality relationships between final consumption expenditure and agricultural outputs. The result indicates that it is important to speed up the land reclamation process and encourage the investment in the agricultural sector. https://roaae.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/RAAE_1_2016_Mohsen_et_al.pdf Syria agricultural output VAR cointegration test Granger causality test eng Faculty of Economics and Management of the Slovak Agricultural University in Nitra and the Association of Agricultural Economists in Slovakia Review of Agricultural and Applied Economics 1336-9261 2016-04-15 19 1 30 49 10.15414/raae/2016.19.01.30-49 638-1 article Stephan G.H. MEYERDING Labour costs account for 40 % of all the costs in German horticulture. Employee satisfaction has a significant impact on the economic and social sustainability of horticultural companies. Traditional linear relationships between environmental characteristics and subjective job satisfaction have been assumed in psychological research. Warr (2007) challenged this conception with the non-linear vitamin model. The present study examines the possibility of non-linear relationships between job characteristics and job satisfaction. For this purpose, a survey was carried out using an online and a paper-and-pencil questionnaire from August 2013 to February 2015. In addition, the preferences of employees (N=229), vocational and master craftsman scholars (N=205) and students of horticulture science (N=204) regarding job characteristics were examined. This article focuses on the later two. The relationships between characteristic values and work and life satisfaction are analysed and the results of the three groups are compared. The strongest relationships with job satisfaction can be observed for vocational and master craftsman scholars for the job features emotional dissonance and considerate leadership. Additionally, employers' fair treatment of the society as a whole has a strong impact on job satisfaction. The salary can be found only in the lower middle range. The data support the assumption of non-linear relationships between job characteristic values and satisfaction. Furthermore, the personal characteristics of the study participants are included in the analysis. The study indicates a change in the preference structure of employees, who in the future would prefer a good work–life balance in particular as well as other "soft" factors. https://roaae.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/RAAE_1_2016_Meyerding.pdf employee well-being horticulture human resources management job satisfaction social sustainability eng Faculty of Economics and Management of the Slovak Agricultural University in Nitra and the Association of Agricultural Economists in Slovakia Review of Agricultural and Applied Economics 1336-9261 2016-04-15 19 1 50 55 10.15414/raae.2016.19.01.50-55 638-1 article Ubon A. ESSIEN U. C. IBEKWE S. B. AKPAN N. G. BEN-CHENDO The study examined the determinants of informal credit delinquencies among food crop farmers in rural Niger Delta of Nigeria using Akwa Ibom State as a case study. A multi-stage random sampling technique was adopted to select 96 beneficiaries and structured questionnaires as well as personal interview were used to collect data. Probit and logit models were used to analyse the factors influencing credit delinquency among food crop farmers in the state. Result of the descriptive analysis of the socio-economic characteristic of respondents revealed that 93% of male and 72% of female food crop farmers had one form of formal education ranging from primary to tertiary education. Empirical result from the Probit and logit models were similar and showed that borrower’s non-farm income, credit amount received, household size, net farm profit and farm size are determinants of credit delinquencies among food crop farmers in Akwa Ibom state. The study also discovered that the probability of food crop farmers being credit delinquent is about 0.427 ceteris paribus. It is recommended that food crop farmers should form marketing co-operative societies as a means of generating additional income to augment loan obtained. Furthermore, local government authorities should set up credit programmes that should focus on soft loans to rural farmers at a subsidize interest rate. https://roaae.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/RAAE_1_2016_Essien_et_al.pdf Credit delinquency informal credit food crop farmers Rural Niger Delta Akwa Ibom eng Faculty of Economics and Management of the Slovak Agricultural University in Nitra and the Association of Agricultural Economists in Slovakia Review of Agricultural and Applied Economics 1336-9261 2016-04-15 19 1 56 64 10.15414/raae/2016.19.01.56-64 638-1 article Jaka ZGAJNAR We develop a static simulation model to analyse income losses and income risks at aggregated agriculture sector level. Our empirical case study is based on farm level records for direct payments claims (IACS data) and covers the period 2010–2011. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we investigate the impact of different levels of risk on income trends. Results show that 80% of farms are extremely dependent on direct payments. Farm production types highly supported by direct payments consequentially fall into the low-risk group. Results show that a significant share of income loss at sector level is carried by small farms (by economic class). Average probability of larger losses at the sector level ranges between 2% and 64%. Our results also indicate that larger farms often have better risk-return ratios and thus face lower relative income risks. https://roaae.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/RAAE_1_2016_Zgajnar.pdf income stabilisation tool risk analysis direct payments MCS EU