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on Central and Western Asia |
| By: | Kožar, Maja; Pintar, Marjeta; Volk, Tina; Rednak, Miro; Rac, Ilona; Erjavec, Emil |
| Abstract: | The paper presents the agriculture and agricultural policies of eight countries emerging from the former Soviet Union: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Ukraine, Russia, Georgia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. These countries hold a great agricultural production potential; nevertheless, some of them are still relatively unanalysed from the point of view of agricultural policy. One of the aims was to find out whether and how policies are converging, considering recent geopolitical developments. Policy analysis was conducted qualitatively (document analysis and literature review) and quantitatively by applying the OECD PSE approach to analyse sector policy support. The quantitative analysis of the agri-food sector was based on the data collected in the framework of the AGRICISTRADE project. The key issues in the region are food security and competitiveness; policy approaches range from strong interventionism to almost complete liberalisation. Budgetary support is relatively low compared to averages for EU and OECD countries. Transfers to producers dominate in all countries, especially input subsidies and on-farm investment support, whereas the support to rural development and for general services is weak. While the prices for crops are near world prices, prices for animal products are fairly high in some countries, indicating high developmental needs. Based on the results of the analysis, it is possible to discern four rough political/economic clusters of countries: Transcaucasia countries, Russia and Kazakhstan,Ukraine and Moldova and Belarus. |
| Keywords: | Eastern European Neighbourhood, CIS, agriculture, agricultural policy, producer support, PSE, AGRICISTRADE, Agricultural and Food Policy, |
| Date: | 2016–09–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa155:245877&r=cwa |
| By: | Angela Greulich (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Aurélien Dasre (IEDUB - Institut d'Études Démographiques de l'Université Montesquieu-Bordeaux IV - Université Montesquieu - Bordeaux 4); Ceren Inan (COMPTRASEC - Centre de Droit Comparé du Travail et de la Sécurité Sociale - Université Montesquieu - Bordeaux 4 - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | In Turkey, female employment and education are still relatively low, while fertility levels are high compared with other European countries. However, Turkey stands just at the edge of an important social transition. Increasing female education and employment come along with important decreases in fertility. By mobilizing census and survey data, this paper finds that fertility decreases are mainly caused by fewer transitions to a third birth. Graduate women participating in the formal labor market are most at risk of deciding against child arrival in comparison with inactive or unemployed women. The third rank is particularly concerned, as women’s income contribution seems to be crucial for many families that already have two children, and the arrival of a third child risks reducing or stopping women’s working activities in the absence of institutional childcare support. Policies enabling women to combine work and family life, which have been proven effective in other European countries, emerge as useful to avoid a further fertility decline below replacement level in Turkey. |
| Keywords: | fertility, gender, Turkey |
| Date: | 2015–04–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-01298857&r=cwa |
| By: | Svanidze, Miranda; Götz, Linde; Djuric, Ivan; Ilyasov, Jarilkasin; Glauben, Thomas |
| Abstract: | Efficient functioning of grain markets is an important component of food security in South Caucasus and Central Asia. Wheat provides almost half of total daily calories in those food-insecure countries. We examine the degree of integration of South Caucasian and Central Asian wheat markets with world wheat markets employing linear and threshold cointegration models. Results indicate that markets in South Caucasus region function more efficiently than in Central Asia. In addition, reduction of trade costs is critical for Central Asia as it hinders efficient functioning of wheat markets. Improvement of the transport infrastructure would improve food security in these countries. |
| Keywords: | Food security, wheat price transmission, trade costs, Central Asia, South Caucasus., Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Security and Poverty, International Relations/Trade, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:gewi16:244889&r=cwa |
| By: | Petrick, Martin |
| Keywords: | This article explores the current practice of motivating agricultural workers in post-socialist settings. In addition, it attempts to evaluate the different wage systems observed in reality and better understand under which conditions they are reformed. It does so by contrasting the experience of two extreme cases representing fast and slow reform advance, East Germany and North Kazakhstan. The primary data for the analysis comes from cross-sectional farm surveys conducted by various researchers in both countries. East German farmers quickly replaced the inherited Soviet-style piece rate payment system by simple time rate schemes, augmented by wage premia for certain performance parameters, especially in livestock. To the contrary, the piece rate approach persists in many farms in North Kazakhstan. Moreover, the latter rarely use non-wage incentives to motivate their workers. In Kazakhstan, farms using either mixed systems or pure piece rates were more productive than the reference group using pure time rates. Labour cost per worker were lowest for pure time rate systems in both countries, followed by mixed bonus systems, whereas pure piece rate systems implied the highest cost in Kazakhstan. Kazakhstani managers tend to move away from the Soviet piece rate system if external investors become engaged in farming operations., Labor and Human Capital, M52, P32, Q12, |
| Date: | 2016–09–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa155:245171&r=cwa |