A Comparative Analysis of the Meat Sector in Hungary and Emilia-Romagna: Performance and Efficiency

In the last years, a lot of important changes occurred inside the European Union after the entering of 12 new member States. The rate of economic growth of the new member States has been higher the other EU members. In Hungary, particularly, the growth level has reached an intermediate position, placing itself at 4% GDP per capita. Comparative analysis are needed to better understand the process of catching-up and to evaluate how the integration between EU regions and countries is going on. The aim of this paper is to compare the economic and efficiency performance of firms in Hungary and Emilia-Romagna, considering a specific sector, meat processing and storage, of the food industry). We will investigate if in the last years the integration process has ultimately led to narrow the gap in the economic performances and efficiency of the firms. The choice of meat processing industry is due to the fact that in Hungary there's a remarkable animal production, whereas in the Emilia-Romagna region the meat industry reflects an organizational structure based on the concentration and specialization in agri-food 'districts;. This paper compares the financial-economic performances and the technical efficiency of firms involved in the industry of meat processing in Hungary and in an Italian region, Emilia-Romagna. We will also discuss and compare the different results obtained throughout governance and structure of meat industry. We will underline the main role of the "industrial districts" in Emilia-Romagna, and how the Hungarian entrepreneurial system could handle the competition in the global market.