What drives rural out-migration? Insights from Kosovo

Drawing on household, network and relative deprivation models of migration, this paper empirically tests the probability to migrate utilising data for agricultural households in Kosovo (circa 13,500 observations). We identify the determinants of the propensity to migrate and length of migration in the previous year, considering gender-related differences. The results reveal the significance of household/personal characteristics, farm characteristics and network effects on the propensity to migrate and length of migration in the previous year. However, we find no significant effect of relative deprivation on the propensity to migrate and length of migration. While education has a strong, positive effect on migration by women, this is not the case for men. Unprofitability and a lack of inputs, manpower and equipment, causing farmland to be left uncultivated, also stimulate out-migration.     

Does Cross-Sector Collaboration Lead to Higher Nonprofit Capacity?

This study examines determinants of retail chains’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication on their web pages. The theoretical foundation for the study is signaling theory, which suggests that firms will communicate about their CSR efforts when this is profitable for them and when such communication makes it possible for outsiders to distinguish good from bad performers. Based on this theory, I develop hypotheses about retail chains’ CSR signaling. The hypotheses are tested in a sample of 208 retail chains in the Norwegian market. As hypothesized, I find that foreign chains, chains using private brands, and vertically integrated chains are more likely to signal, but I find no relationship between pricing and signaling. In further analysis using chains’ CSR memberships and certifications as the measure of signals, only the relationship between organizational form and signaling is replicated. In total, the findings give partial support to signaling theory.     

Investigation of the acceptance of a handbook for safe driving at an older age

The objective of this research is the investigation of older drivers' attitudes towards a handbook for safe driving at an older age. The handbook was developed with the purpose of increasing elderly drivers' awareness of their driving abilities and providing information about the effects of ageing on driving and about safe driving practices and compensation strategies. A survey was carried out in which 64 active drivers between 65 and 74 years of age participated. Participants regard the handbook for safe driving as useful, interesting, providing knowledge and relevant information. More than half of them reported that they had become more aware of changes in their driving after reading it. Binary logistic analysis was conducted to identify individual driver characteristics that might predict acceptance of the handbook by active older drivers in terms of reported increased awareness and intended repeated use. The findings of the research indicate a positive attitude of elderly active drivers towards the handbook, implying acceptance by its users. The characteristics of the drivers' who reported increased awareness after reading have been identified.     

Semi‐Subsistence Farming: An Elusive Concept Posing Thorny Policy Questions

The massive expansion of semi‐subsistence farming in the European Union after the Eastern enlargements poses a real challenge to rural development. The problems of semi‐subsistence farms are low cash incomes and incidence of poverty, sub‐optimal use of land and labour, a lack of capital and poor contribution to rural growth. However, they play an important welfare function in some rural areas in Europe; they manage more than 11 million ha of agricultural land and deliver ecosystem services. The Common Agricultural Policy will have to accommodate this now widespread production system, through existing or new policy packages. Particularly important is support for commercialisation to incentivise and smooth the transition to commercial agriculture, and agri‐environmental payments to compensate the semi‐subsistence farmers for the provision of ecosystem services.     

An empirical analysis of inventory turnover behaviour in Greek retail sector: 2000-2005

In this study we investigate the determinants of inventory turnover. The study is based on an econometric analysis of inventory behaviour using an inventory turnover model. The empirical implementation of the model was conducted on a sample of financial data for 566 Greek retail firms for the period 2000-2005. By employing panel data techniques it was found that inventory turnover ratio is negatively correlated with gross margin and positively correlated with capital intensity and a measure of sales surprise.Decomposing the variance into its components associated with year, firm and retail segment effects, we found that a substantial amount of inventory turns variability is due to segment-wise effects. Moreover, the inventory turnover reaction to different sales changes was also studied. It was estimated that changes in sales bring on bigger changes when firms operate in sales-declined region. These results are useful in identifying methods and applications to improve inventory performance among firms and over time.     

The Location of Markets,Perceived Entrepreneurial Risk,and Start-up Capital of Micro Rural Firms

It is argued that when founders of SMEs perceive the probability of a successful and lucrative venture to be greater, they are more likely to provide a greater proportion of the start-up capital. This paper provides an empirical examination of two concurrent hypotheses. Firstly, that the size of the debt or equity is affected by factors influencing perceived entrepreneurial risk. Secondly, that the location of the market for the firm’s output is a major factor reducing perceived entrepreneurial risk and increasing equity of the start-up capital. A statistical analysis based on the simultaneous tobit model is used. Results show that significant factors influencing risk perception include the size of the new business and the sector of economic activity, as well as entrepreneurial experience and the location of the markets for the firm’s output. The results highlight implications for the design and implementation of rural development policies and especially for the instruments supporting rural business creation.     

Relationships between Technical Efficiency and Financial Management for Czech Republic Farms

This paper provides the first analysis of the relationship between farm financial structure and technical efficiency in Central and Eastern European farming during the transition to a market economy. First, technical efficiency scores for a sample of Czech farms are computed with data envelopment analysis, accounting for sampling variability by using the Simar and Wilson bootstrapping procedure. The confidence intervals show that corporate livestock farms are the most homogenous in terms of technical efficiency. Second, a Tobit model is applied for the investigation of factors, including financial considerations, which influence the variation in technical efficiency. The potential endogeneity of the financial variables in the explanation of efficiency is examined, following Smith and Blundell. The Amemiya estimator is used for those cases which are revealed as endogenous. The analysis indicates substantial differences in the way in which the different management structures are treated by lenders. De novo, individual farms are subject to stringent evaluation of their loan applications, which is not the case for the successors of the former collective and state farms.     

Zu früh geboren

Zusammenfassung  Das Heidelberger Konzept der Frühgeborenenversorgung — Frühgeborene haben einen schweren Start ins Leben, meistens überstehen sie die ersten Wochen nur mit Hilfe der High-Tech-Intensivmedizin. Heute ist es m?glich, ab der Vollendung der 23. Schwangerschaftswoche das überleben eines frühgeborenen Kindes zu sichern und es besteht eine reale Chance, gravierende Behinderungen zu vermeiden. Um das zu erreichen, muss sich die Betreuung auch auf das unreife Gehirn des frühgeborenen Kindes ausrichten.     

Consumer Behaviour in a Country in Transition with a Strongly Contracting Economy: The Case of Food Consumption in Bulgaria

This paper presents estimates of demand elasticities in Bulgaria using the Almost Ideal Demand system while using interval priors for the parameters. Expenditure elasticities are found to be considerably higher than unity for food items. These results are interpreted as being due to a substantial divergence between consumption and expenditure on food items. It is concluded that under conditions of falling incomes, policies which focus exclusively on food provision may not be appropriate. In the event of a return to income growth, an initial increase in demand for selected food items could outstrip the potential to increase domestic supply, and lead to an increase in imports, or decrease in exports, of a number of agricultural products.