No 3/2014, September | Agris on-line Papers in Economics and Informatics

Identification of the Patterns Behavior Consumptions by Using Chosen Tools of Data Mining - Association Rules

R. Benda Prokeinová J. Paluchová No 3/2014, September

ABSTRACT

The research and development in sustainable environment, that is a subject of research goal of many various countries and food producers, now, it has a long tradition. The research aim of this paper allows for an identification of the patterns behaviour consumptions by using of association rules, because of knowledge's importance of segmentation differences between consumers and their opinions on current sustainable tendencies.The research area of sustainability will be in Slovakia still discussed, primarily because of impacts and consumer's influencing to product's buying, that are safety to environment and to nature.We emphasize an importance of sustainability in consumer behaviour and we detailed focused on segmentation differences between respondents. We addressed a sample made by 318 respondents. The article aims identifying sustainable consumer behaviour by using chosen data mining tool - association rules.The area of knowledge-based systems is widely overlaps with the techniques in data mining. Mining in the data is in fact devoted to the process of acquiring knowledge from large amounts of data. Its techniques and approaches are useful only when more focused external systems as well as more general systems to work with knowledge. One of the challenges of knowledge-based systems is to derive new knowledge on the basis of known facts and knowledge. This function in a sense meets methods using association rules. Association rules as a technique in data mining is useful in various applications such as analysis of the shopping cart, discovering hidden dependencies entries or recommendation. After an introduction and explanation of the principle of sustainability in consumption, association rules, follows description of the algorithm for obtaining rules from transaction data. Then will present the practical application of the data obtained by questionnaire survey. Calculations are performed in the free data mining software Tanagra.

KEYWORDS

Responsible consumption, apriori, association rules, consumer, sustainability.

VIEW MORE PDF (.pdf, 288.42 KB)

Quantification of Changes in the State of the CR Agricultural Land Fund from 2001-2013

Z. Gebeltová H. Řezbová D. Pletichová No 3/2014, September

ABSTRACT

The price of agricultural land in the Czech Republic is significantly lower than in other EU states; however, its fertility and method of cultivation does not differ from surrounding countries. Agricultural land area in the CR is decreasing about 12 ha/day (MoA, 2012). Arable land in the CR is losing its production value, from a food security standpoint, through the conversion of arable land into perennial cultures or permanent grassland, outplanting of fast-growing woody plants, afforestation, etc. The main aim of the research was to analyse developments in the state of agricultural land in the CR in the period 2001-2013. Result: One negative phenomenon is the fact that a larger decrease in agricultural land is happening even on higher-quality lands (an evaluation according to the average official price based on CSEU – Classified Soil-Ecological Units). The decrease in qualitatively better agricultural land in selected regions (50.1 % of the ALF CR – Agricultural Land Fund of the Czech Republic) is lower in comparison with the nationwide decrease. The development of the decrease in arable land in the three qualitatively worst regions of the CR, within the monitored period, is significantly higher than the CR average; however, farming on lower-quality lands is not economically advantageous. A deeper evaluation of twenty-one districts in the CR (30.15 % of the ALF CR) shows that only three districts are experiencing a positive development in the relative changes in the state of agricultural land in relation to the area of the district. 13 districts have relative decreases lower than the relative decrease in the CR. A partial aim was to find out whether there is any dependency between the size of a municipality (according to the number of inhabitants) and a change in the acreage of agricultural land, especially from the viewpoint of decreases in agricultural land. From a sample of 56 municipalities, no strong dependence between the monitored quantities was proven.

KEYWORDS

The loss of agricultural land, arable land, permanent grass growths, market price of agricultural land, official land price, subsidies, rent.

VIEW MORE PDF (.pdf, 388.49 KB)

Microsimulation Model Estimating Czech Farm Income from Farm Accountancy Data Network Database

Z. Hloušková M. Lekešová E. Slížka No 3/2014, September

ABSTRACT

Agricultural income is one of the most important measures of economic status of agricultural farms and the whole agricultural sector. This work is focused on finding the optimal method of estimating national agricultural income from micro-economic database managed by the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN). Use of FADN data base is relevant due to the representativeness of the results for the whole country and the opportunity to carry out micro-level analysis. The main motivation for this study was a first forecast of national agricultural income from FADN data undertaken 9 months before the final official FADN results were published. Our own method of estimating the income estimation and the simulation procedure were established and successfully tested on the whole database on data from two preceding years. Present paper also provides information on used method of agricultural income prediction and on tests of its suitability.

KEYWORDS

Farm income estimation, FADN, production and cost approximation, microsimulation model.

VIEW MORE PDF (.pdf, 603.93 KB)

Towards a Normalized Economic Mechanism Based on E-services

A. V. Ilyin V. D. Ilyin No 3/2014, September

ABSTRACT

The article describes the conceptual foundations, architecture and main systems of the normalized economic mechanism based on e-services. This mechanism corresponds to the normalized model of the economy, called NEc-model. In this model money is treated as an electronic document that proves the cost of goods and property status of economic agents, and money issue is canceled. The model defines rules for e-banking, e-trade, e-investment, cleaner production and other.

KEYWORDS

Normalized economic mechanism, e-service, e-banking, e-trade, e-investment.

VIEW MORE PDF (.pdf, 390.62 KB)

Agritourism Farms and the Web. An Exploratory Evaluation of their Websites

M. Platania No 3/2014, September

ABSTRACT

In the last few years, the contribution of the agricultural sector to tourism has been increasingly evident. Agritourism provides the possibility to have a green holiday experience and allows farmers to diversify their income. In the tourist sector, communication is decisive in determining consumption choices, and the Web plays an important role. Considering that the Internet can bring potential benefits and reach new customers, it is important that websites are complete and attractive. This paper evaluates agritourism websites in an Italian region (Sicily) to analyse the strategic choices made by farmers. This study uses the eMICA methodological approach to analyse the quality of the websites and a cluster analysis to find homogeneous groups of farms. The results indicate that there is a large group of Sicilian agritourism providers that have been slow in taking advantage of the new opportunities offered by the Web, whereas another group, which is less numerous, makes use of social networking tools, demonstrating web 2.0 communication.

KEYWORDS

Agritourism, websites, eMICA model, cluster analysis.

VIEW MORE PDF (.pdf, 240.81 KB)

Semantic Network in Information Processing for the Pork Market

J. Rydval J. Bartoška H. Brožová No 3/2014, September

ABSTRACT

The main aim of this paper is to capture the elements of individual information frames and their relations using semantic network; and to express the loss of information and information asymmetry in the market environment. Preferences of elements in the network are evaluated by the Analytical network process. The benefits of applying semantic networks in the market environment are in increasing consumer information and reducing information asymmetry.The use of semantic networks will be shown in the analysis of the information frames of the producer, distributor and consumer in the pork market. The consumer’s frame expresses expectations and preferences, according to which decisions are made. Producer operates with greater range of information about the product than is available to the consumer. Distributor receives information from both the producer and from the consumer, but this information is not usually fully shared to the consumers or producers. This creates information asymmetry.

KEYWORDS

Semantic Network, Framing Effect, Producer’s Frame, Distributor's Frame, Consumer’s Frame, Asymmetric Information, Analytic Network Process.

VIEW MORE PDF (.pdf, 707.17 KB)

Appropriate tools of Marketing Information System for Citrus Crop in the Lattakia Region, R. A. SYRIA

H. Sulaiman K. Malec M. Maitah No 3/2014, September

ABSTRACT

Citrus production represents the only livelihood source for many families in Lattakia region. Citrus farmers are not informed about expected prices. This information is crucial to make business decisions. For the farmers is necessary to take into account the spatial and temporal arbitrage of citrus harvest and storage, which may improve citrus farmer’s position in marketing chain and reduce the influence of intermediaries. The aim of the paper is to verify using of SARIMA models as a tool of Agricultural Marketing Information System for citrus price forecasting in Lattakia region, R. A. Syria.The SARIMA model were tested for citrus wholesale prices prediction at Lattakia market in the paper. SARIMA model was applied on the empirical data, obtained from the actual Marketing Information System in the Lattakia Region. Results showed that SARIMA model (2,1,0) (1,0,1)12 is suitable for seasonal prices prediction. This method is suitable to be part of AMIS. The data was processed in software Minitab.

KEYWORDS

Marketing Information System, Lattakia, Syria, citrus fruits, decision-making, SARIMA model.

VIEW MORE PDF (.pdf, 789.52 KB)

Russian Agrarian Foreign Trade Development – the Impact of Selected Factors

M. Svatoš L. Smutka N. Ishchukova V. Vasilyonok No 3/2014, September

ABSTRACT

Russian agricultural foreign trade is changing. Its value, volume and especially commodity and territorial structures are under the permanent development. The period of transformation together with several crises completely changed the character of Russian agricultural sector and foodstuff industry. To be able to develop the country‘s strategy for the upcoming decades it is necessary to identify the key trends and drivers affecting the Russian agricultural trade performance and development. The main objective of this paper is to analyze the influence of selected key variables (agricultural production, exchange rate, and world food price and government subsidies) on Russian agricultural trade and to identify if there is existing the significant relationship or not. The secondary objective of the paper is the analysis of relationship existence between Russian food price development and World food price development. On the basis of the results coming from the analyses the following can be highlighted. The value of imports was growing much faster comparing to value of exports. The result is constantly increasing negative trade balance. Russian agrarian export commodity structure became more concentrated, on the other hand the commodity structure of agrarian imports became more heterogeneous. Talking about individual hypotheses analyzing the relations between individual variables the following can summarized. There do exist the relationships between Russian foreign trade and agricultural production development, government subsidies development and world food price development. On the other hand the existence of relationship between exchange rate and Russian agrarian export and import performance was not proved.

KEYWORDS

Russia, agrarian foreign trade, value, relation, agricultural production, support, exchange rate, food price, development, character.

VIEW MORE PDF (.pdf, 498.81 KB)

Age Management Principles in Czech Agrarian Sector

H. Urbancová T. Hlavsa No 3/2014, September

ABSTRACT

Within the frame of the entire economy, the modern conception of Age Management enables each and every employee to use their full potential without being put at a disadvantage for age reasons. Despite the fact that this area is important in terms of current demographic development, there are organisations that do not implement its measures. The article therefore concentrates on the identification and evaluation of Age Management application by Czech agricultural businesses. The data analysed was obtained based on a quantitative survey in which data was collected by means of a questionnaire survey (total companies: n=315, agricultural businesses: na=60). The outcomes show that Czech agricultural businesses are not quite familiar with the application of Age Management measures. One of the conclusions of the article is that from the social point of view Age Management measures may help improve the situation on the labour market, labour productivity, encourage young people to work in the agricultural sector and, last but not least, build, on the organisational level, an employer’s brand. Application of Age Management causes on the employees performance but also on the costs reduce and profit increase.This contribution is a follow-up to the project of University – wide internal grant agency (CIGA), number 20141002 - Human resource branding using of the new strategic trends in organisations in the Czech Republic.

KEYWORDS

Age Management, demography development of population, agriculture, cost, the Czech Republic, survey.

VIEW MORE PDF (.pdf, 283.98 KB)

Dimensions and Determinants of Growth in Micro and Small Enterprises: Empirical Evidence from Mekelle City, Ethiopia

H. T. Woldeyohanes No 3/2014, September

ABSTRACT

This paper aims to investigate the dimensions and determinants of growth in Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) based on a survey covering 178 randomly selected MSEs in Mekelle city, northern Ethiopia through the test of four main hypotheses and arguments of Gibrat’s law and the learning theory hypothesis. Semi-structured questionnaire and interview were used to collect data, and the binary choice model was used to identify factors that significantly affect the growth of MSEs. Employment size index is used as a proxy to measure firm growth in which about 76.4 percent of MSEs are found survival and the remaining 23.6 percent are growing type. There is also an evidence supporting the law of proportional effect could hold in the MSEs context. Moreover, the logit model result reveals that there is a significant gender difference in growth of MSEs. Furthermore, the start up capital, location and sector in which MSEs operate matter a lot for their growth. Hence, government and non-government organizations that are concerned with the promotion and development of MSEs need to take these factors in to account to accomplish better result and increase the potential contribution of MSEs to the economic growth.

KEYWORDS

Determinants, dimensions, growth, MSEs, binary choice model, Tigray, Ethiopia.

VIEW MORE PDF (.pdf, 394.9 KB)