IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i12p6846-d576587.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Eco-Efficiency and Human Capital Efficiency: Example of Small- and Medium-Sized Family Farms in Selected European Countries

Author

Listed:
  • Jan Polcyn

    (Department of Economics, Stanislaw Staszic State University of Applied Sciences, 64-920 Piła, Poland)

Abstract

Small- and medium-sized family farms are places to live and sources of income for about half of the population. The aim of this analysis was to determine the relationship between eco-efficiency and human capital efficiency on small- and medium-sized family farms. The analysis was carried out using an economic measure (value of agricultural production per work hour calculated per hectare) and two synthetic measures (human capital and environmental measures). The synthetic measures were determined using the TOPSIS-CRITIC method by defining weights for variables used in the measures. The analysis covered five countries: Lithuania (960 farms), Moldavia (532 farms), Poland (696 farms), Romania (872 farms) and Serbia (524 farms). All of these countries are characterised by a high fragmentation of agricultural holdings. The analysis allowed us to formulate the following conclusions: eco-efficiency and human capital efficiency indices increased with area for small- and medium-sized family farms. An increase in the eco-efficiency index with an increase in farm area suggests that the smaller the farm area, the more extensive the agricultural production that was carried out. In addition, an increase in human capital efficiency with an increase in farm area indicates that there was inefficiency in the utilisation of human capital resources on the agricultural farms studied.

Suggested Citation

  • Jan Polcyn, 2021. "Eco-Efficiency and Human Capital Efficiency: Example of Small- and Medium-Sized Family Farms in Selected European Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-15, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:12:p:6846-:d:576587
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/12/6846/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/12/6846/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Philip Kostov & John Lingard, 2004. "Subsistence Agriculture in Transition Economies: Its Roles and Determinants," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(3), pages 565-579, November.
    2. Yurii Kharazishvili & Aleksy Kwilinski & Olena Grishnova & Henryk Dzwigol, 2020. "Social Safety of Society for Developing Countries to Meet Sustainable Development Standards: Indicators, Level, Strategic Benchmarks (with Calculations Based on the Case Study of Ukraine)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-21, October.
    3. Yasemin Y. Kor & Joseph T. Mahoney, 2005. "How dynamics, management, and governance of resource deployments influence firm‐level performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(5), pages 489-496, May.
    4. Erik Mathijs & Nivelin Noev, 2004. "Subsistence Farming in Central and Eastern Europe : Empirical Evidence from Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania," Eastern European Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(6), pages 72-89, November.
    5. Anna Ruzik-Sierdzinska & Claudia Villosio & Michele Belloni & Maciej Lis & Monika Potoczna, 2013. "Age and productivity. Human Capital Accumulation and Depreciation," CASE Network Reports 0114, CASE-Center for Social and Economic Research.
    6. Robert M. Grant, 1996. "Prospering in Dynamically-Competitive Environments: Organizational Capability as Knowledge Integration," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 7(4), pages 375-387, August.
    7. Bazyli Czyżewski & Marta Guth, 2021. "Impact of Policy and Factor Intensity on Sustainable Value of European Agriculture: Exploring Trade-Offs of Environmental, Economic and Social Efficiency at the Regional Level," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-19, January.
    8. Sophia Davidova & Lena Fredriksson & Alastair Bailey, 2009. "Subsistence and semi‐subsistence farming in selected EU new member states," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 40(s1), pages 733-744, November.
    9. Michał Dudek & Wioletta Wrzaszcz, 2020. "On the Way to Eco-Innovations in Agriculture: Concepts, Implementation and Effects at National and Local Level. The Case of Poland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-22, June.
    10. Ludger Wößmann, 2005. "Educational production in Europe [‘Does class size matter?’]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 20(43), pages 446-504.
    11. Göbel, Christian & Zwick, Thomas, 2013. "Are personnel measures effective in increasing productivity of old workers?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 80-93.
    12. Michał Borychowski & Sebastian Stępień & Jan Polcyn & Aleksandra Tošović-Stevanović & Dragan Ćalović & Goran Lalić & Milena Žuža, 2020. "Socio-Economic Determinants of Small Family Farms’ Resilience in Selected Central and Eastern European Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-30, December.
    13. Aleksy Kwilinski & Oleksandr Vyshnevskyi & Henryk Dzwigol, 2020. "Digitalization of the EU Economies and People at Risk of Poverty or Social Exclusion," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-14, July.
    14. Heyuan You & Xiaoling Zhang, 2016. "Ecoefficiency of Intensive Agricultural Production and Its Influencing Factors in China: An Application of DEA-Tobit Analysis," Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society, Hindawi, vol. 2016, pages 1-14, March.
    15. Marlena Gołaś & Piotr Sulewski & Adam Wąs & Anna Kłoczko-Gajewska & Kinga Pogodzińska, 2020. "On the Way to Sustainable Agriculture—Eco-Efficiency of Polish Commercial Farms," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-24, September.
    16. Wiggins, Steve & Kirsten, Johann & Llambí, Luis, 2010. "The Future of Small Farms," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(10), pages 1341-1348, October.
    17. Bazyli Czyżewski & Agnieszka Sapa & Piotr Kułyk, 2021. "Human Capital and Eco-Contractual Governance in Small Farms in Poland: Simultaneous Confirmatory Factor Analysis with Ordinal Variables," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-16, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Qiuxing Chen & Qiaozhu Chi & Yang Chen & Oleksii Lyulyov & Tetyana Pimonenko, 2022. "Does Population Aging Impact China’s Economic Growth?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-15, September.
    2. Yao Wei & Fanglei Zhong & Xijing Luo & Penglong Wang & Xiaoyu Song, 2021. "Ways to Improve the Productivity of Oasis Agriculture: Increasing the Scale of Household Production and Human Capital? A Case Study on Seed Maize Production in Northwest China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-18, December.
    3. Hao Yao & Xiulin Gu & Qing Yu, 2023. "Impact of Graduate Student Expansion and Innovative Human Capital on Green Total Factor Productivity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-15, January.
    4. Aijun Guo & Xiaoyun Wei & Fanglei Zhong & Penglong Wang & Xiaoyu Song, 2022. "Does Cognition of Resources and the Environment Affect Farmers’ Production Efficiency? Study of Oasis Agriculture in China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-18, April.
    5. Yang Chen & Aleksy Kwilinski & Olena Chygryn & Oleksii Lyulyov & Tetyana Pimonenko, 2021. "The Green Competitiveness of Enterprises: Justifying the Quality Criteria of Digital Marketing Communication Channels," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-13, December.
    6. Lin Shi & Xiaofei Shi & Fan Yang & Lixue Zhang, 2023. "Spatio-Temporal Difference in Agricultural Eco-Efficiency and Its Influencing Factors Based on the SBM-Tobit Models in the Yangtze River Delta, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(6), pages 1-22, March.
    7. Joanna Domagała, 2021. "Economic and Environmental Aspects of Agriculture in the EU Countries," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-23, November.
    8. Manel Plana-Farran & José Luis Gallizo, 2021. "The Survival of Family Farms: Socioemotional Wealth (SEW) and Factors Affecting Intention to Continue the Business," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-16, June.
    9. Marius Mihai Micu & Eduard Alexandru Dumitru & Catalin Razvan Vintu & Valentina Constanta Tudor & Gina Fintineru, 2022. "Models Underlying the Success Development of Family Farms in Romania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-17, February.
    10. Aleksandra Kuzior & Oleksii Lyulyov & Tetyana Pimonenko & Aleksy Kwilinski & Dariusz Krawczyk, 2021. "Post-Industrial Tourism as a Driver of Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-14, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Štefan Bojnec & Kristina Knific, 2021. "Farm Household Income Diversification as a Survival Strategy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-16, June.
    2. Michał Borychowski & Sebastian Stępień & Jan Polcyn & Aleksandra Tošović-Stevanović & Dragan Ćalović & Goran Lalić & Milena Žuža, 2020. "Socio-Economic Determinants of Small Family Farms’ Resilience in Selected Central and Eastern European Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-30, December.
    3. Silvia Ștefania Maican & Andreea Cipriana Muntean & Carmen Adina Paștiu & Sebastian Stępień & Jan Polcyn & Iulian Bogdan Dobra & Mălina Dârja & Claudia Olimpia Moisă, 2021. "Motivational Factors, Job Satisfaction, and Economic Performance in Romanian Small Farms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-23, May.
    4. Szumelda Anna, 2013. "Is Small Beautiful? The Debate on the Future of Small Individual Farms in Poland," Eastern European Countryside, Sciendo, vol. 19, pages 219-250, December.
    5. Sophia Davidova & Lena Fredriksson & Matthew Gorton & Plamen Mishev & Dan Petrovici, 2012. "Subsistence Farming, Incomes, and Agricultural Livelihoods in the New Member States of the European Union," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 30(2), pages 209-227, April.
    6. Radosław Miśkiewicz, 2020. "Efficiency of Electricity Production Technology from Post-Process Gas Heat: Ecological, Economic and Social Benefits," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-15, November.
    7. Oleksii Lyulyov & Tetyana Pimonenko & Aleksy Kwilinski & Henryk Dzwigol & Mariola Dzwigol-Barosz & Vladyslav Pavlyk & Piotr Barosz, 2021. "The Impact of the Government Policy on the Energy Efficient Gap: The Evidence from Ukraine," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-13, January.
    8. Kujáni, Katalin Olga, 2011. "The French multifunctional model and the short food supply chain as adaptable examples in the case of small and self- subsistence farms in the EU new member states," Problems of World Agriculture / Problemy Rolnictwa Światowego, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, vol. 11(26), pages 1-10, September.
    9. Jan Polcyn, 2022. "Determining Value Added Intellectual Capital (VAIC) Using the TOPSIS-CRITIC Method in Small and Medium-Sized Farms in Selected European Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-20, March.
    10. Bitencourt, Claudia Cristina & de Oliveira Santini, Fernando & Ladeira, Wagner Junior & Santos, Ana Clarissa & Teixeira, Eduardo Kunzel, 2020. "The extended dynamic capabilities model: A meta-analysis," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 108-120.
    11. Jolanta Droždz & Vlada Vitunskienė & Lina Novickytė, 2021. "Profile of the Small-Scale Farms Willing to Cooperate—Evidence from Lithuania," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-21, October.
    12. Yao Wei & Fanglei Zhong & Xijing Luo & Penglong Wang & Xiaoyu Song, 2021. "Ways to Improve the Productivity of Oasis Agriculture: Increasing the Scale of Household Production and Human Capital? A Case Study on Seed Maize Production in Northwest China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-18, December.
    13. Sauer, Johannes & Davidova, Sophia & Latruffe, Laure, 2009. "Determinants for fallowing land: The case of Kosovo," 2009 Conference, August 16-22, 2009, Beijing, China 51626, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    14. Oleksii Lyulyov & Ihor Vakulenko & Tetyana Pimonenko & Aleksy Kwilinski & Henryk Dzwigol & Mariola Dzwigol-Barosz, 2021. "Comprehensive Assessment of Smart Grids: Is There a Universal Approach?," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-26, June.
    15. Eriksson, Taina, 2014. "Processes, antecedents and outcomes of dynamic capabilities," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 65-82.
    16. Iddo Kan & Ayal Kimhi & Zvi Lerman, 2006. "Farm output, non-farm income and commercialization in rural Georgia," The Electronic Journal of Agricultural and Development Economics, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, vol. 3(2), pages 276-286.
    17. Yurii Kyrylov & Viktoriia Hranovska & Viktoriia Boiko & Aleksy Kwilinski & Liudmyla Boiko, 2020. "International Tourism Development in the Context of Increasing Globalization Risks: On the Example of Ukraine’s Integration into the Global Tourism Industry," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-18, December.
    18. Aleksy Kwilinski & Nataliya Dalevska & Vyacheslav V. Dementyev, 2022. "Metatheoretical Issues of the Evolution of the International Political Economy," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-14, March.
    19. Sauer, Johannes & Davidova, Sophia & Latruffe, Laure, 2009. "Determinants of the Fallowing Decision in Kosovo," 83rd Annual Conference, March 30 - April 1, 2009, Dublin, Ireland 51072, Agricultural Economics Society.
    20. Giuliani, Elisa & Martinelli, Arianna & Rabellotti, Roberta, 2016. "Is Co-Invention Expediting Technological Catch Up? A Study of Collaboration between Emerging Country Firms and EU Inventors," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 192-205.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:12:p:6846-:d:576587. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.