No 3/2013, September | Agris on-line Papers in Economics and Informatics

Continuity of Demarcation Process of the Regions for Concentrated State Support

A. Hornická H. Brožová No 3/2013, September

ABSTRACT

The paper analyses the continuity of the demarcation process of Czech regions for the state support. This support aims to reduce negative disparities among the regions. The process of demarcation of the region includes criteria as an unemployment rate, number of applicants per one job vacancy, income tax rate, number of private entrepreneurs and purchasing power. These criteria and weights of these criteria have been changed during the last 20 years.The main aim of this paper is the analysis of the criteria set and the criteria weights modification during the years 1991 – 2010 and the examination of the modification of values of the criteria weights using two different methods - Analytic Hierarchy Process and Analytic Network Process. These methods are used for synthesis of the criteria weights, which shows the continuity of the region demarcation process during its modification in time.

KEYWORDS

Multi-criteria Decision Making, Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), Analytic Network Process (ANP). Regions with Concentrated State Support.

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Comparative Advantage: Products Mapping of the Russian Agricultural Exports

N. Ishchukova L. Smutka No 3/2013, September

ABSTRACT

This paper contains an analysis of the Russian foreign trade in agricultural products and foodstuffs from the two points of view: international competitiveness and country’s trade balance.The aim of the analysis is to distinguish from the total agricultural export flows specific groups of products according to their comparative advantage (or disadvantage) and trade balance, to trace changes that have occurred in this groups over the period and to explain why these changes have taken place.The analysis is based on the combination of two indices i.e. Revealed Symmetric Comparative Advantage, and Trade Balance Index that were used to represent an analytical tool named “products mapping”.During the study, from the total export flows we distinguished a group of products (Group A) that includes 5% of the exported goods, but accounts for about 50% of the value of total agricultural exports. Items in this group have a comparative advantage and positive trade balance. The greatest weight in the group A has wheat.There was also identified the group D where 80% of items account for only about 30% of total exports, but 95-99% of the total imports. These items have comparative disadvantage and negative trade balance. But there was a reduction in the value of group D, while the group A has been steadily growing. These trends can be considered as a strengthening of the comparative advantages of Russian agricultural export.

KEYWORDS

Revealed Comparative Advantage, Trade Balance, Russia, Agricultural Trade, Products Mapping.

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A Study on Forecasting Prices of Groundnut Oil in Delhi by Arima Methodology and Artificial Neural Networks

G. C. Mishra A. Singh No 3/2013, September

ABSTRACT

Forecasting of prices of commodities specially those of agricultural commodities is very difficult because they are not only governed by demand and supply but by so many other factors which are beyond control like weather vagaries, storage capacity, transportation etc. In this paper times series namely ARIMA (Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average) methodology given by Box and Jenkins has been used for forecasting prices of edible oils and this approach has been compared with ANN (Artificial Neural Network) methodology.

KEYWORDS

Forecasting, Prices, Groundnut oil, Delhi, ARIMA, ANN, Feed forward network.

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Assessment of the Economics and Resource-Use Efficiency of Rice Production in Ogun State, Nigeria

A. Muhammad-Lawal I. J. Memudu A. F. Ayanlere A. B. Mohammed M. E. Olajogun No 3/2013, September

ABSTRACT

Nigeria is a major importer of rice in the world with over 756 million USD annual expenditure on rice importation. This is probably due to insufficient domestic production occasioned by inefficient utilization of resources and other farm inputs. This study is therefore designed to estimate the costs and returns to rice production; and analyze resource use efficiency in rice production in Ogun State, Nigeria. A three-stage sampling technique was used to select a total of 120 rice farmers. Gross margin and regression analyses were used to analyse the data for the study. The study revealed that an average small scale rice farmer realizes a gross margin of N 90, 634.35 per hectare. While farm size, labour and crop production systems account for 80.5% (coefficient of multiple determination, R2) of the changes in rice production, the study revealed that farm size, labour and seeds were grossly underutilized in rice production. The study therefore recommends the need for policy that would enhance increase in the allocation of land, seeds and labour in the production of rice.

KEYWORDS

Resources, Rice Production, Regression, Gross Margin, Ogun State.

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Analysis of the Demand for Rice in Kaduna State, Nigeria

O. Oyinbo R. A. Omolehin Z. Abdulsalam No 3/2013, September

ABSTRACT

The kernel of this study was to ascertain the determinants of rice consumption and the compensated as well as the uncompensated demand for rice in Kaduna State using household consumption data obtained from a sample of 310 households through the instrumentality of a structured questionnaire. LA-AIDS model was employed to analyse the data and the result of the data analysis showed that the price of rice, price of beans, price of maize, price of yam, food expenditure, age of household head, household income and number of household income earners were all significant in influencing the households demand for rice. The estimated compensated (-0.7921) and uncompensated(-0.8887) own price elasticities of rice indicated that rice was price inelastic and the estimated expenditure(0.69) elasticity of rice indicated that rice is not a luxury in the households food basket but a necessity. From the findings of the study, it is recommended that efforts at increasing supply of local rice should be intensified as this will reduce the prices of local rice brands and invariably enhance demand for local rice by households as rice was estimated to be own-price inelastic and also, rice should be prioritized as a core food crop in food security programmes as it was found to be a necessity in households food basket.

KEYWORDS

Consumption, Demand, Rice, LA-AIDS Model, Kaduna State.

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Hierarchical Cluster Analysis – Various Approaches to Data Preparation

Z. Pacáková J. Poláčkova No 3/2013, September

ABSTRACT

The article deals with two various approaches to data preparation to avoid multicollinearity. The aim of the article is to find similarities among the e-communication level of EU states using hierarchical cluster analysis. The original set of fourteen indicators was first reduced on the basis of correlation analysis while in case of high correlation indicator of higher variability was included in further analysis. Secondly the data were transformed using principal component analysis while the principal components are poorly correlated. For further analysis five principal components explaining about 92% of variance were selected. Hierarchical cluster analysis was performed both based on the reduced data set and the principal component scores. Both times three clusters were assumed following Pseudo t-Squared and Pseudo F Statistic, but the final clusters were not identical. An important characteristic to compare the two results found was to look at the proportion of variance accounted for by the clusters which was about ten percent higher for the principal component scores (57.8% compared to 47%). Therefore it can be stated, that in case of using principal component scores as an input variables for cluster analysis with explained proportion high enough (about 92% for in our analysis), the loss of information is lower compared to data reduction on the basis of correlation analysis.

KEYWORDS

Hierarchical clustering, PCA, correlation, Pseudo t2, Pseudo F Statistic, e-communication, Internet satisfaction index, Mobile phone satisfaction index.

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Development of Market Prices of Agricultural Land within the Conditions of the EU

D. Pletichová Z. Gebeltova No 3/2013, September

ABSTRACT

Market prices of agricultural land in the world have increased significantly in recent years. Important factors in regard to this trend are not only the fact that land is a basic, irreplaceable resource for the production of food and natural resources of each country, but also the fact that it is generally perceived as a favorable holder of capital, not succumbing to the effects of inflation. Market prices of agricultural land and the rent level in individual EU member countries are affected by historical development, the size structure of agricultural businesses, legislation, regulation of the land market, natural conditions and the intensity of agricultural production (e.g. the Netherlands). Market prices of agricultural land in the Czech Republic are monitored by the Czech Statistical Office (CSO), Institute for Agricultural Economics and Information (IAEI) and Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), but output of the data base is not comparable within a time series 1993-2012, as institutions work with differing methodology. On the basis of the description of prices of agricultural land and regression analysis, the hypothesis that the market price of agricultural land for agricultural use in the Czech Republic is affected primarily by its quality was not confirmed. The official (administrative) price is only an orientational and subsidiary tool for the determination of the market price. The development of the agricultural land market in the Czech Republic was affected by the privatization of land after 2000. According to an estimate (of the author), after the completion of privatization, and also in view of changes in tax policy, the prices of transacted land for agricultural use can decline within 3 years (2014) by up to 30%. It is probable that the demand will be focused on transactions with land for speculative and investment purposes, as, according to world trends, the average increase in value of investments in land in a time of economic crisis is higher (6-7% p.a.) as compared to investments in stock markets (1.8-2.2%).The article has been processed as part of VZ MSM 6046070906 “The economy of resources of Czech agriculture and their effective utilization within multifunctional agricultural-food systems”.

KEYWORDS

Agricultural land, arable land, market price of agricultural land, official price of agricultural land, quality of land, subsidies, tenure.

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The Importance of Congress Tourism for Regional Development

E. Šilerova S.Maneva J. Hřebejkova No 3/2013, September

ABSTRACT

Congress tourism is one of the fastest developing and most profitable industries in the tourism sector nowadays. This document creates a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the sector in Bulgaria and the Czech Republic on the basis of observations and data obtained from reliable sources at national and international level. In general, the tendency of increasing the number of meetings - congresses, conferences - can be obtained in both countries and much higher values for the Czech Republic in comparison with Bulgaria. Equalization in both countries for the next 5-10 years is not expected. Under the current economic situation it can be expected to remain in the state of stagnation in both countries. Development of congress tourism significantly affects the quality of website in the countries. Status of congress tourism in the Czech Republic is also influenced by the information provided on the website.

KEYWORDS

Congress tourism, comparison, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, number of meetings, quality website.

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The Ways of Fuzzy Control Algorithms Using for Harvesting Machines Tracking

L. Tóth M. Olejár D. Hrubý S. Paulovič M. Pap No 3/2013, September

ABSTRACT

This contribution is oriented to ways of a fuzzy regulation using for machine tracking of the harvest machines. The main aim of this work was to practice verify and evaluate of functionality of control fuzzy algorithms for an Ackerman’s chassis which are generally used in agriculture machines for the crops harvesting. Design of the fuzzy control algorithm was focused to the wall following algorithm and obstacle avoidance. To achieve of the reliable results was made the real model of vehicle with Ackerman’s chassis type, which was controlled by PC with using development board Stellaris LM3S8962 based on ARM processor. Fuzzy control algorithms were developed in LabView application. Deviations were up to 0.2 m, which can be reduced to 0.1 m by hardware changing.

KEYWORDS

Fuzzy control, algorithm, Ackerman, tracking automation, harvest.

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Information Support of Regions – Organic Farming

J. Vaněk I. Brožová J. Masner P. Šimek T. Vogeltanzova No 3/2013, September

ABSTRACT

The paper strives to introduce opportunities for information support of regions by means of a map output within www application. It presents a recent solution of a map portal using a database of organic farms in the Czech Republic. The map outputs are visualized by means of a new version of the MPPR 2.0 system (Map Portal for Regional Development – version 2.0) and have been processed for the South Bohemian Region organic farms in the pilot stage. The results account for initial data from 2012 (organic farms in the records of the Ministry of Agriculture as at 31st December 2011) that have been verified and recorded in the database. Out of the total number of 516 organic farms in the region, it was feasible to verify, localize and position 472 entities.

KEYWORDS

Organic farming, www, regional development, Google Maps, map output.

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