IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i15p8262-d600273.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Socio-Economics Factors in Family Farms with Different Economic Sustainability Levels from Central and Eastern Europe

Author

Listed:
  • Katarzyna Smędzik-Ambroży

    (Institute of Economics, Poznań University of Economics and Business, 61-875 Poznań, Poland)

  • Marta Guth

    (Institute of Economics, Poznań University of Economics and Business, 61-875 Poznań, Poland)

  • Adam Majchrzak

    (Institute of Economics, Poznań University of Economics and Business, 61-875 Poznań, Poland)

  • Andreea Cipriana Muntean

    (Faculty of Economic Sciences, “1 Decembrie 1918” University of Alba Iulia, 510009 Alba Iulia, Romania)

  • Silvia Ștefania Maican

    (Faculty of Economic Sciences, “1 Decembrie 1918” University of Alba Iulia, 510009 Alba Iulia, Romania)

Abstract

Economic sustainability plays an important role in shaping conditions for economic growth and social development. The importance of answering the question about the level of sustainability of family farms results from the fact that the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, apart from exceptions (e.g., the Czech Republic and Slovakia), are characterized by a fragmented agrarian structure. Hence, the main goal of this article was to answer two questions: (1) whether the countries of Central and Eastern Europe differ in the level of economic sustainability of small family farms; and (2) whether the same socioeconomic factors impact similarly on the level of economic sustainability of small family farms from countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The study was based on surveys conducted in small family farms: in 2018 from Poland (672 farms) and in 2019 in four other countries (Lithuania; 999 farms, Romania; 834 farms, Serbia; 523 farms, Moldova; 530 farms). The publication includes a critical analysis of the literature, structure analysis and correlation analysis. The results show the occurrence of large differences between the economic sustainability of small family farms from the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The research indicates that the larger the area of a small-scale family farm, the greater its economic sustainability. The productivity of these farms increases with their economic sustainability. The results also prove a negative relationship between the age of the farmer and the economic sustainability of their farm in all analysed countries. These trends were found in all analysed countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The results of the analyses support the conclusion that agricultural policy instruments aimed at increasing the economic sustainability of small family farms should lead to: land consolidation, a decrease in the age of farm owners through generational changes, and a decrease in employment in agriculture, which would lead to a reduction in labour input in the agricultural sector.

Suggested Citation

  • Katarzyna Smędzik-Ambroży & Marta Guth & Adam Majchrzak & Andreea Cipriana Muntean & Silvia Ștefania Maican, 2021. "The Socio-Economics Factors in Family Farms with Different Economic Sustainability Levels from Central and Eastern Europe," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-12, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:15:p:8262-:d:600273
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/15/8262/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/15/8262/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Marta Guth & Katarzyna Smędzik-Ambroży & Bazyli Czyżewski & Sebastian Stępień, 2020. "The Economic Sustainability of Farms under Common Agricultural Policy in the European Union Countries," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-20, January.
    2. Marcin Błażejowski & Jacek Kwiatkowski & Jakub Gazda, 2019. "Sources of Economic Growth: A Global Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-14, January.
    3. Guiomar, N. & Godinho, S. & Pinto-Correia, T. & Almeida, M. & Bartolini, F. & Bezák, P. & Biró, M. & Bjørkhaug, H. & Bojnec, Š. & Brunori, G. & Corazzin, M. & Czekaj, M. & Davidova, S. & Kania, J. & K, 2018. "Typology and distribution of small farms in Europe: Towards a better picture," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 784-798.
    4. Colnago, P. & Dogliotti, S., 2020. "Introducing labour productivity analysis in a co-innovation process to improve sustainability in mixed family farming," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    5. Aznar-Sánchez, José A. & Piquer-Rodríguez, María & Velasco-Muñoz, Juan F. & Manzano-Agugliaro, Francisco, 2019. "Worldwide research trends on sustainable land use in agriculture," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    6. Wrzaszcz, Wioletta & Zegar, Jozef St., 2014. "Sprawność Ekonomiczna Wybranych Form Rolnictwa Przyjaznego Dla Środowiska Przyrodniczego," Roczniki (Annals), Polish Association of Agricultural Economists and Agribusiness - Stowarzyszenie Ekonomistow Rolnictwa e Agrobiznesu (SERiA), vol. 2014(1).
    7. Sakketa, T.G., 2018. "Relative Deprivation in Income, Assets, and Social Capital: Motivational and Deterrent Impacts on the Well-Being of Rural Youth," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277116, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    8. Jing You & Sangui Wang & Laurence Roope, 2018. "Intertemporal deprivation in rural china: income and nutrition," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 16(1), pages 61-101, March.
    9. Shen Cheng & Zhihao Zheng & Shida Henneberry, 2018. "Farm size and use of inputs: explanations for the inverse productivity relationship," China Agricultural Economic Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 11(2), pages 336-354, November.
    10. Katarzyna Smędzik-Ambroży & Anna Matuszczak & Ryszard Kata & Piotr Kułyk, 2021. "The Relationship of Agricultural and Non-Agricultural Income and Its Variability in Regard to Farms in the European Union Countries," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-17, February.
    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. Tingting Huang & Jiangfeng Hu & Qinghua Huang, 2023. "Sustainable Development between Demonstration Farm and Agricultural Labor Productivity: Evidence from Family Farms in the Mountainous Area of Western China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-20, June.

    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. Katarzyna Smędzik-Ambroży & Anna Matuszczak & Ryszard Kata & Piotr Kułyk, 2021. "The Relationship of Agricultural and Non-Agricultural Income and Its Variability in Regard to Farms in the European Union Countries," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-17, February.
    2. Stępień Sebastian & Smędzik-Ambroży Katarzyna & Polcyn Jan & Kwiliński Aleksy & Maican Ionut, 2023. "Are small farms sustainable and technologically smart? Evidence from Poland, Romania, and Lithuania," Central European Economic Journal, Sciendo, vol. 10(57), pages 116-132, January.
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. Katarzyna Smędzik-Ambroży & Marta Guth & Sebastian Stępień & Agnieszka Brelik, 2019. "The Influence of the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy on the Socio-Economic Sustainability of Farms (the Case of Poland)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-15, December.
    6. Baldini, Carolina & Marasas, Mariana Edith & Tittonell, Pablo & Drozd, Andrea Alejandra, 2022. "Urban, periurban and horticultural landscapes – Conflict and sustainable planning in La Plata district, Argentina," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    7. Magdalena Florek & Jakub Gazda, 2021. "Traditional Food Products—Between Place Marketing, Economic Importance and Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-14, January.
    8. Shirvani Dastgerdi, Ahmadreza & Sargolini, Massimo & Broussard Allred, Shorna & Chatrchyan, Allison Morrill & Drescher, Michael & DeGeer, Christopher, 2022. "Climate change risk reduction in cultural landscapes: Insights from Cinque Terre and Waterloo," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    9. Barasa Bernard & Majaliwa J. G. Mwanjalolo & Banduga Moses & Katwere James & Magaya Paul & Sadadi Ojoatre & Wanjiru Lydia & Margaret N. Walusimbi, 2022. "A Simplified Spatial Methodology for Assessing Land Productivity Status in Africa," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-19, May.
    10. Liang Chi & Mengshuai Zhu & Chen Shen & Jing Zhang & Liwei Xing & Xiangyang Zhou, 2023. "Does the Winner Take All in E-Commerce of Agricultural Products under the Background of Platform Monopoly?," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-16, February.
    11. Mark F. J. Steel, 2020. "Model Averaging and Its Use in Economics," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 58(3), pages 644-719, September.
    12. Radu Lucian Pânzaru & Daniela Firoiu & George H. Ionescu & Andi Ciobanu & Dragoș Mihai Medelete & Ramona Pîrvu, 2023. "Organic Agriculture in the Context of 2030 Agenda Implementation in European Union Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-31, July.
    13. Dacinia Crina Petrescu & Florina Bran & Carmen Valentina Radulescu & Ruxandra Malina Petrescu-Mag, 2020. "Green Procurement through Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Certification in the Private Sector. Perceptions and Willingness to Buy of Private Companies from Romania," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 22(53), pages 1-42, February.
    14. Berrueta, Cecilia & Giménez, Gustavo & Dogliotti, Santiago, 2021. "Scaling up from crop to farm level: Co-innovation framework to improve vegetable farm systems sustainability," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    15. Veronica Polin & Laura Cavalli & Matteo Spinazzola, 2023. "Bottom-Up Initiatives for Sustainable Mountain Development in Italy: An Interregional Explorative Survey," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-30, December.
    16. Yari Vecchio & Paolo De Castro & Margherita Masi & Felice Adinolfi, 2021. "Do Rural Development Policies Really Help Small Farms? A Reflection from Italy," EuroChoices, The Agricultural Economics Society, vol. 20(3), pages 75-80, December.
    17. Ernesto Mesa-Vázquez & Juan F. Velasco-Muñoz & José A. Aznar-Sánchez & Belén López-Felices, 2021. "Three Decades of Behavioural Economics in Agriculture. An Overview of Global Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-21, September.
    18. Bojnec, Štefan & Fertő, Imre, 2022. "Do different types of Common Agricultural Policy subsidies promote farm employment?," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    19. Rodica Chetroiu & Ana Elena Cișmileanu & Elena Cofas & Ionut Laurentiu Petre & Steliana Rodino & Vili Dragomir & Ancuța Marin & Petruța Antoneta Turek-Rahoveanu, 2022. "Assessment of the Relations for Determining the Profitability of Dairy Farms, A Premise of Their Economic Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-17, June.
    20. Concetta Cardillo & Orlando Cimino, 2022. "Small Farms in Italy: What Is Their Impact on the Sustainability of Rural Areas?," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-25, November.

    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:15:p:8262-:d:600273. 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.