IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/iefi13/164745.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Agri-food Competitive Performance in the EU Countries: A Fifteen Years Retrospective

Author

Listed:
  • Carraresi, Laura
  • Banterle, Alessandro

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the competitive performance of different European countries at sector level in the intra-EU market from 1995 to 2011, comparing food industry and agricultural sector. In particular, we aim to assess the effect of the EU enlargement (first period) and the economic crisis (second period) on the competitiveness of EU countries. The data come from the Eurostat database of international trade. The competitive performance of EU countries is measured through several trade indices, such as Export and Import Market Share, Revealed Comparative Advantage, Net Export Index, and Vollrath indices, analysing their values over the last fifteen years. Our analysis showed that, in the EU countries, agriculture and food industry do not reveal strong differences in competitive performance during the last fifteen years. Among big countries, France and Spain showed a continuous worsening competitive performance. A similar trend is found for Belgium. On the contrary, the Netherlands revealed the best performance, both in agriculture and in food industry, together with Italy. Nevertheless, the Netherlands has lightly lost specialisation because of a rise of total exports that have affected the value of RCA. Italy is characterised by a smaller increase, especially in the food sector. The only country showing a significant difference in competitive trends between agriculture and food industry is Germany. It became leader in the food industry of EU, with a growing performance over the period analysed, while it is not competitive nor specialised in agriculture. Among small countries, it is worth to highlight the performance of Austria.

Suggested Citation

  • Carraresi, Laura & Banterle, Alessandro, 2013. "The Agri-food Competitive Performance in the EU Countries: A Fifteen Years Retrospective," 2013 International European Forum, February 18-22, 2013, Innsbruck-Igls, Austria 164745, International European Forum on System Dynamics and Innovation in Food Networks.
  • Handle: RePEc:ags:iefi13:164745
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.164745
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/164745/files/16-Carraresi-Banterle.pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.164745?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fogarasi, Jozsef & Latruffe, Laure, 2009. "Farm performance and support in Central and Western Europe: a comparison of Hungary and France," 83rd Annual Conference, March 30 - April 1, 2009, Dublin, Ireland 51053, Agricultural Economics Society.
    2. Niemi, Jyrki S. & Huan-Niemi, Ellen, 2007. "EU-China Agricultural Trade in Relation to China's WTO Membership," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 10(3), pages 1-22.
    3. Štefan Bojnec & Imre Fertő, 2015. "Agri-Food Export Competitiveness in European Union Countries," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(3), pages 476-492, May.
    4. Gregory Yom Din, 2013. "Performance and profit sensitivity to risk: a practical evaluation of the agro-industrial projects developed by Israeli companies for the CIS and Eastern European countries," Agricultural and Food Economics, Springer;Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA), vol. 1(1), pages 1-23, December.
    5. Gallagher, Paul & Schamel, Guenter & Shapouri, Hosein & Brubaker, Heather, 2006. "The international competitiveness of the U.S. corn-ethanol industry: A comparison with sugar-ethanol processing in Brazil," ISU General Staff Papers 200601010800001441, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    6. W. H. Furtan & J. Sauer, 2008. "Determinants of Food Industry Performance: Survey Data and Regressions for Denmark," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(3), pages 555-573, September.
    7. F. Gerard Adams & Byron Gangnes & Yochanan Shachmurove, 2006. "Why is China so Competitive? Measuring and Explaining China's Competitiveness," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 95-122, February.
    8. Juhász, Anikó & Wagner, Hartmut, 2013. "An analysis of Hungarian agri-food export competitiveness," Studies in Agricultural Economics, Research Institute for Agricultural Economics, vol. 115(3), pages 1-7, December.
    9. Andrea Zaghini, 2005. "Evolution of trade patterns in the new EU member states," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 13(4), pages 629-658, October.
    10. Boehlje, Michael & Roucan-Kane, Maud & Broring, Stefanie, 2011. "Future Agribusiness Challenges: Strategic Uncertainty, Innovation and Structural Change," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 14(5), pages 1-29, December.
    11. Bojnec, Stefan & Ferto, Imre, 2009. "Agro-food trade competitiveness of Central European and Balkan countries," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 417-425, October.
    12. Harling, Kenneth, 2008. "Competing in a Mature Market: The Case of Super AM Food Markets," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 11(4), pages 1-22, November.
    13. Marc J. Melitz & Giancarlo I. P. Ottaviano, 2021. "Market Size, Trade, and Productivity," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Firms and Workers in a Globalized World Larger Markets, Tougher Competition, chapter 4, pages 87-108, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    14. Marc J. Melitz & Gianmarco I. P. Ottaviano, 2008. "Market Size, Trade, and Productivity (DOI:10.111/j.1467-937x.2007.00463.x)," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 75(3), pages 985-985.
    15. Paul Gallagher & Guenter Schamel & Hosein Shapouri & Heather Brubaker, 2006. "The international competitiveness of the U.S. corn-ethanol industry: A comparison with sugar-ethanol processing in Brazil," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(1), pages 109-134.
    16. Claudiu T. Albulescu, 2011. "Economic and Financial Integration of CEECs: The Impact of Financial Instability," Czech Economic Review, Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Economic Studies, vol. 5(1), pages 027-045, March.
    17. Bernhard Brümmer & Thomas Glauben & Geert Thijssen, 2002. "Decomposition of Productivity Growth Using Distance Functions: The Case of Dairy Farms in Three European Countries," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 84(3), pages 628-644.
    18. Imre Fertö & L. J. Hubbard, 2003. "Revealed Comparative Advantage and Competitiveness in Hungarian Agri–Food Sectors," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(2), pages 247-259, February.
    19. Wubben, Emiel F.M. & Nuhoff-Isakhanyan, Gohar, 2013. "The Wicked Problem of Promoting Sustainability by Means of Enhanced Biomass Utilization," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 16(A), pages 1-6.
    20. Štefan Bojnec & Imre Fertő, 2012. "Complementarities of trade advantage and trade competitiveness measures," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(4), pages 399-408, February.
    21. Gregory Yom Din, 2013. "Performance and profit sensitivity to risk: a practical evaluation of the agro-industrial projects developed by Israeli companies for the CIS and Eastern European countries," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 1(1), pages 1-23, December.
    22. Alessandro ANTIMIANI & Anna CARBONE & Valeria COSTANTINI & Roberto HENKE, 2012. "Agri-food exports in the enlarged European Union," Agricultural Economics, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 58(8), pages 354-366.
    23. van Rooyen, Johan & Esterhuizen, Dirk & Stroebel, Lindie, 2011. "Analyzing the Competitive Performance of the South African Wine Industry," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 14(4), pages 1-22, November.
    24. Diemo Dietrich & Tobias Knedlik & Axel Lindner, 2011. "Central and Eastern European countries in the global financial crisis: a typical twin crisis?," Post-Communist Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(4), pages 415-432, April.
    25. Lall, Sanjaya, 2001. "Competitiveness Indices and Developing Countries: An Economic Evaluation of the Global Competitiveness Report," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(9), pages 1501-1525, September.
    26. J. Caetano & A. Galego & E. Vaz & C. Vieira & I. Vieira, 2002. "The Eastward Enlargement of the Eurozone: Trade and FDI," Eastward Enlargement of the Euro-zone Working Papers wp07, Free University Berlin, Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence, revised 01 Aug 2002.
    27. Klaus Drescher & Oswin Maurer, 1999. "Competitiveness in the European dairy industries," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 15(2), pages 163-177.
    28. Piazolo, Daniel, 1996. "Trade integration between Eastern and Western Europe: Politics follows the market," Kiel Working Papers 745, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    29. William M. Liefert, 2002. "Comparative (Dis?) Advantage in Russian Agriculture," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 84(3), pages 762-767.
    30. Laure Latruffe, 2010. "Competitiveness, Productivity and Efficiency in the Agricultural and Agri-Food Sectors," OECD Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Papers 30, OECD Publishing.
    31. Nanno Mulder & Alexandre Vialou & Beatriz David & Monica Rodriguez & Marta Castilho, 2004. "La compétitivité de l’agriculture et des industries agroalimentaires dans le Mercosur et l’Union européenne dans une perspective de libéralisation commerciale," Working Papers 2004-19, CEPII research center.
    32. Hermans, C.M.L. & Geijzendorffer, I.R. & Ewert, F. & Metzger, M.J. & Vereijken, P.H. & Woltjer, G.B. & Verhagen, A., 2010. "Exploring the future of European crop production in a liberalised market, with specific consideration of climate change and the regional competitiveness," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 221(18), pages 2177-2187.
    33. Sarker, Rakhal & Ratnesena, Shashini, 2014. "Revealed Comparative Advantage and Half-A-Century Competitiveness of Canadian Agriculture: A Case Study of Wheat, Beef and Pork Sectors," Working Papers 165675, Canadian Agricultural Trade Policy Research Network.
    34. Rademakers, Martijn F.L., 2012. "VION Food Group: New Challenges," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 15(2), pages 1-17, May.
    35. Thomas Vollrath, 1991. "A theoretical evaluation of alternative trade intensity measures of revealed comparative advantage," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 127(2), pages 265-280, June.
    36. V. Eldon Ball & Jean‐Pierre Butault & Carlos San Juan & Ricardo Mora, 2010. "Productivity and international competitiveness of agriculture in the European Union and the United States," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 41(6), pages 611-627, November.
    37. Inka Havrila & Pemasiri Gunawardana, 2003. "Analysing Comparative Advantage and Competitiveness: An Application to Australia's Textile and Clothing Industries," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(1), pages 103-117, March.
    38. Sophia Davidova & Matthew Gorton & Belen Iraizoz & Tomas Ratinger, 2003. "Variations in Farm Performance in Transitional Economies: Evidence from the Czech Republic1," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2), pages 227-245, July.
    39. Jo H.M. Wijnands & Harry J. Bremmers & Bernd M.J. van der Meulen & Krijn J. Poppe, 2008. "An economic and legal assessment of the EU food industry's competitiveness," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(4), pages 417-439.
    40. Eckhard Siggel, 2006. "International Competitiveness and Comparative Advantage: A Survey and a Proposal for Measurement," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 6(2), pages 137-159, June.
    41. Banterle, Alessandro, 2005. "Competitiveness and Agri-food Trade: An Empirical Analysis in the European Union," 2005 International Congress, August 23-27, 2005, Copenhagen, Denmark 24692, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Mariusz Hamulczuk & Karolina Pawlak, 2022. "Determinants for international competitiveness of the food industry in 43 countries worldwide: evidence from panel models," Equilibrium. Quarterly Journal of Economics and Economic Policy, Institute of Economic Research, vol. 17(3), pages 635-667, September.
    2. K.M. Thomé & A.B.P. Soares, 2015. "International market structure and competitiveness at the malted beer: from 2003 to 2012," Agricultural Economics, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 61(4), pages 166-178.
    3. Tamás Mizik, 2021. "Agri-Food Trade Competitiveness: A Review of the Literature," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-14, October.
    4. Jámbor, Attila & Tóth, Andrea Tímea & Kőröshegyi, Domonkos, 2017. "Az agrárexport versenyképessége - a nemzetközi fűszer-kereskedelem esete [Export competitiveness in agriculture: the case of the international spice trade]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(11), pages 1202-1223.
    5. Carraresi, Laura & Banterle, Alessandro, 2008. "Measuring competitiveness in the EU market: a comparison between food industry and agriculture," 2008 International Congress, August 26-29, 2008, Ghent, Belgium 43692, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    6. Hoang, Viet Van & Tran, Khai Tien & Tu, Binh Van, 2017. "Assessing the Agricultural Competitive Advantage by the RTA index: A Case Study in Vietnam," AGRIS on-line Papers in Economics and Informatics, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Economics and Management, vol. 9(3), September.
    7. Sarker, Rakhal & Ratnesena, Shashini, 2014. "Revealed Comparative Advantage and Half-A-Century Competitiveness of Canadian Agriculture: A Case Study of Wheat, Beef and Pork Sectors," Working Papers 165675, Canadian Agricultural Trade Policy Research Network.
    8. Beňuš Ondrej, 2019. "Competitiveness of the Czech Meat Industry on the Single Market," European Countryside, Sciendo, vol. 11(3), pages 443-461, September.
    9. Junshi Li & Yao Pan, 2023. "EU and China’s comparative advantage, trade complementarity and trade specialization dynamics in agricultural products," Asia Europe Journal, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 351-379, September.
    10. Jambor, A. & Toth, A.T. & Koroshegyi, D., 2018. "Competitiveness in the trade of spices: A global evidence," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277195, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    11. Kluge, Jan & Lappoehn, Sarah & Plank, Kerstin, 2020. "The Determinants of Economic Competitiveness," IHS Working Paper Series 24, Institute for Advanced Studies.
    12. Bojnec, Stefan & Ferto, Imre, 2009. "Former Central European Free Trade Agreement countries’ agri-food trade specialisation," German Journal of Agricultural Economics, Humboldt-Universitaet zu Berlin, Department for Agricultural Economics, vol. 58(08), pages 1-9, November.
    13. Banterle, Alessandro & Carraresi, Laura, 2006. "International trade and competitiveness analysis in the European Union: the case of prepared meat sector," 98th Seminar, June 29-July 2, 2006, Chania, Crete, Greece 10058, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    14. Bachev, Hrabrin & Koteva, Nina & Ivanov, Bojidar & Mitova, Dilyana & Boevski, Ivan & Terziev, Dimitar & Dimova, Nadejda & Dimitrova, Reneta & Marinov, Petar & Zvyatkova, Daniela & Sarov, Angel & Koste, 2021. "Холистичен Подход За Дефиниране, Оценяване И Подобряване На Конкурентоспособността На Земеделските Стопанства В България [A holistic framework for defining, evaluating, and improving the competitiv," MPRA Paper 111498, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Beňo, Michal, 2021. "E-working: Country Versus Culture Dimension," AGRIS on-line Papers in Economics and Informatics, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Economics and Management, vol. 13(2), June.
    16. Lajos Baráth & Imre Fertő, 2017. "Productivity and Convergence in European Agriculture," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(1), pages 228-248, February.
    17. Katarzyna Lukiewska, 2022. "Impact of Labor Productivity on the Export Performance of the Food Industry in EU Member States," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(3), pages 74-83.
    18. Éltető, Andrea, 2003. "Versenyképesség a közép-kelet-európai külkereskedelemben [Competitiveness in Central and Eastern European foreign trade]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(3), pages 269-281.
    19. Matkovski, Bojan & Zekić, Stanislav & Đokić, Danilo & Jurjević, Žana & Đurić, Ivan, 2022. "Export competitiveness of agri-food sector during the EU integration process: Evidence from the Western Balkans," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 11(1).
    20. Destaw M. Mazengia & Xia Youfu, 2021. "The Moderating Effect of Institutional Environment on Oilseed Export Competitiveness in Sub-Saharan African Countries," International Journal of Science and Business, IJSAB International, vol. 5(4), pages 189-206.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Agribusiness; Agricultural and Food Policy; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q17 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agriculture in International Trade
    • F1 - International Economics - - Trade
    • L66 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - Food; Beverages; Cosmetics; Tobacco

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:ags:iefi13:164745. 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: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ilbonde.html .

    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.