IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jagris/v15y2025i7p678-d1618015.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Exploring the Role of EU Subsidies in Enhancing the Competitiveness of Slovak Farms

Author

Listed:
  • Ivana Kravčáková Vozárová

    (Faculty of Management and Business, University of Prešov, 08001 Prešov, Slovakia)

  • Rastislav Kotulič

    (Faculty of Management and Business, University of Prešov, 08001 Prešov, Slovakia)

Abstract

The discourse surrounding the determinants of agricultural competitiveness is extensively examined at both the farm and sectoral tiers within the European Union. The competitiveness of Slovak farms is currently strongly influenced not only by internal factors such as productivity, innovation, and management, but also by external factors, especially political and economic decisions at the EU level. Financial support from the EU plays a key role in enhancing the competitiveness of Slovak farms. Therefore, we examined the impact of subsidies, i.e., financial support, on the competitive position of farms in Slovakia in a broader context. The aim was to determine how these subsidies influence cost-effectiveness, productivity, and the ability of farms to compete in the market. Based on the conducted research, we can conclude that EU subsidies have a significant impact on the competitiveness of agricultural enterprises in Slovakia. A statistically significant correlation was confirmed between farm competitiveness and receiving financial support through subsidies, which was evident in all observed years, except for 2013. Statistically significant differences in competitiveness were also confirmed between enterprises that receive subsidies and those that do not. Based on the results, it has been confirmed that subsidies support the income side of farms and improve the overall cost-to-revenue ratio, which is reflected in better cost efficiency. These subsidies contribute to increasing the competitiveness of agricultural enterprises by allowing farms to better cover their costs, which can have a positive impact on their ability to compete in the market in both the short term and long term.

Suggested Citation

  • Ivana Kravčáková Vozárová & Rastislav Kotulič, 2025. "Exploring the Role of EU Subsidies in Enhancing the Competitiveness of Slovak Farms," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-15, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jagris:v:15:y:2025:i:7:p:678-:d:1618015
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/15/7/678/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/15/7/678/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yanwen Tan & Jianbo Guan & Hamid Reza Karimi, 2013. "The Impact of the Subsidy Policy on Total Factor Productivity: An Empirical Analysis of China's Cotton Production," Mathematical Problems in Engineering, Hindawi, vol. 2013, pages 1-8, March.
    2. Sha, Zhouhao & Ren, Dong & Li, Chengyou & Wang, Zeru, 2024. "Agricultural subsidies on common prosperity: Evidence from the Chinese social survey," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 1-18.
    3. Eliška Svobodová & Radka Redlichová & Gabriela Chmelíková & Ivana Blažková, 2022. "Are the Agricultural Subsidies Based on the Farm Size Justified? Empirical Evidence from the Czech Republic," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-18, September.
    4. Anna Nowak & Aneta Zakrzewska, 2024. "How Competitive Is the Agriculture in European Union Member States? An Assessment of Changes over the Past Decade," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-13, April.
    5. Kumbhakar, Subal C. & Li, Mingyang & Lien, Gudbrand, 2023. "Do subsidies matter in productivity and profitability changes?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    6. Ivana Kravčáková Vozárová & Rastislav Kotulič, 2024. "The Impact of EU Subsidies on the Competitiveness of Slovak Farms from the Perspective of Legal Form," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-15, August.
    7. Herda-Kopańska, Justyna & Kulawik, Jacek, 2022. "Key Problems of Using Subsidies Coupled with Agricultural Production," Problems of Agricultural Economics / Zagadnienia Ekonomiki Rolnej 329857, Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics - National Research Institute (IAFE-NRI).
    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. Ioan Prigoreanu & Gabriela Radu & Andreea Grigore-Sava & Carmen Luiza Costuleanu & George Ungureanu & Gabriela Ignat, 2025. "Assessing the Economic Sustainability of the EU and Romanian Farming Sectors," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(10), pages 1-33, May.
    2. Emilia Herman, 2025. "Changes and Challenges in EU Agricultural Holdings and Their Impact on Rural Development," Land, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-37, May.

    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. Bożena Nosecka & Łukasz Zaremba, 2025. "The International Competitiveness of Polish Fruit and Their Preserves," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-17, May.
    2. Ivana Kravčáková Vozárová & Rastislav Kotulič, 2024. "The Impact of EU Subsidies on the Competitiveness of Slovak Farms from the Perspective of Legal Form," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-15, August.
    3. Komorowska, Dorota, 2024. "Organizacja i Efektywność Polskich Gospodarstw Ekologicznych w Porównaniu do Konwencjonalnych," Roczniki (Annals), Polish Association of Agricultural Economists and Agribusiness - Stowarzyszenie Ekonomistow Rolnictwa e Agrobiznesu (SERiA), vol. 2024(2).
    4. Dawid Jabkowski, 2024. "Development Prospects for EU Trade in Agri-food Products with Japan and Vietnam," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(1), pages 288-302.
    5. Pengjing Zhang & Tao Xiong, 2025. "Can Agricultural Subsidies Reduce Cropland Abandonment in Rural China?," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-21, April.
    6. Bazyli CZYZEWSKI & Anna MATUSZCZAK, 2018. "Towards measuring political rents in agriculture: case studies of different agrarian structures in the EU," Agricultural Economics, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 64(3), pages 101-114.
    7. Kristina Alekseyevna Zakharova & Danil Anatolyevich Muravyev & Egine Araratovna Karagulian, 2024. "Modeling of Complex State Financial Support for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises," Economies, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-18, July.
    8. Tang, Dapeng & Yu, Qian & Gebrehans, Mebrahtu Tesfagebreal & Wang, Lulu, 2023. "The asymmetric innovation effects of heterogeneous government subsidies: A new perspective from GDP target deviation," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    9. Bingfei Bao & Anli Jiang & Shengtian Jin & Rui Zhang, 2021. "The Evolution and Influencing Factors of Total Factor Productivity of Grain Production Environment: Evidence from Poyang Lake Basin, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-21, June.
    10. Kumbhakar, Subal C. & Li, Mingyang & Lien, Gudbrand, 2023. "Do subsidies matter in productivity and profitability changes?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    11. You-Hua CHEN & Jun-Yi WAN & Chan WANG, 2015. "Agricultural subsidy with capacity constraints and demand elasticity," Agricultural Economics, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 61(1), pages 39-49.
    12. Tien D. N. Ho & John K. M. Kuwornu & Takuji W. Tsusaka, 2022. "Factors Influencing Smallholder Rice Farmers’ Vulnerability to Climate Change and Variability in the Mekong Delta Region of Vietnam," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 34(1), pages 272-302, February.
    13. Guangwei Zhang & Yahan Shi & Nuozhou Huang, 2024. "Government Subsidies, Green Innovation, and Firm Total Factor Productivity of Listed Artificial Intelligence Firms in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(8), pages 1-20, April.
    14. Cecilia ALEXANDRI & Bianca PAUNA & Corina SAMAN, 2020. "The Relationship Between Total Factor Productivity and Subsidies in the Case of Romanian Farms," Journal for Economic Forecasting, Institute for Economic Forecasting, vol. 0(4), pages 85-98, December.
    15. Lyu, Jiayu & Li, Lu & Liu, Yuqi & Deng, Qian, 2025. "Promoting common prosperity: How do digital capability and financial literacy matter?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    16. Vitunskienė Vlada, 2024. "Government-Funded Agribusinesses: Empirical Evidence to what Extent is Farming Supported in Lithuania," Management Theory and Studies for Rural Business and Infrastructure Development, Sciendo, vol. 46(4), pages 463-472.
    17. Deping Ye & Shangsong Zhen & Wei Wang & Yunqiang Liu, 2023. "Spatial double dividend from China’s main grain-producing areas policy: total factor productivity and the net carbon effect," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-22, December.
    18. Yi-Chang Chen & Yi-Xuan Fu & Yang Qiao & Shih-Ming Kuo, 2023. "Do Subsidy Policy and Transparency Impact Firm Value in the New Energy Industry? Evidence from Data Envelopment Analysis-Based Measurement of Corporate Subsidy Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-20, June.
    19. Meijun Zhu & Kengcheng Zheng & Baoliu Liu & Fang Jin, 2024. "Can Agricultural Support and Protection Subsidy Policies Promote High-Quality Development of Grain Industry? A Case Study of China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-22, September.
    20. Xu, Mingjun & Chen, Changling & Ahmed, Memon Aftab, 2024. "Market-oriented farmland transfer and outsourced machinery services: Evidence from China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 1214-1226.

    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:jagris:v:15:y:2025:i:7:p:678-:d:1618015. 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.