Can Direct Payments Facilitate Agricultural Commercialisation: Evidence from a Transition Country

We investigate the impact of direct payments on agricultural commercialisation in Kosovo. Kosovo is one of the poorest countries in Europe but, with European assistance, provides substantial funds to support agriculture, made up of many small and often semi‐subsistence farms. Thus, the effect of this support is a central policy issue. Identifying the effect of direct payments on market participation faces endogeneity issues arising from the possible simultaneous determination of participation in support programmes and market participation. In order to achieve proper identification of the endogenous direct payments, we use a strategy of targeted identification search that employs several different methodological approaches. We find that direct payments for fruit and vegetables, and those for cereals and oilseeds have a positive effect on market participation. However, we cannot identify any definite effect of livestock payments.     

Southeastern Europe,Transitions, and the EU – Is Ever-widening Desirable?

The paper addresses the issue of further widening of the EU, given theevident tensions between deepening and widening, in light of thecommitments made to southeastern Europe since the Kosovo intervention.After clarifying the portent of Kosovo for the EU's enlargement, themeaning of EU integration in its proper context is recalled. Mext thepaper sketches how the approach to southeastern Europe fits into therelations the EU has built up with transition economies. Thereafter itexamines the promises made to southeastern Europe, the nature of theagreements entertained for southeastern Europe, and what has since cometo the fore. Before concluding, the paper proposes a more realisticassistance approach, given the area's urgent need for economic, political,and social transformations prior to lodging a credible request for EUmembership.     

The Effect of Tax as an Instrument of Fiscal Policy in Kosovo

This paper analyzes and discusses the tax system applied in Kosovo during the period from 1999 until now. It demonstrates the effects of tax policies on the country＇s economic growth and development of businesses in general. This paper also addresses the impact of those policies in maintaining the social equilibrium of a population and economic stability of the country. Applied tax policies in Kosovo have been aimed more at maintaining a stable fiscal and budgetary policy. Based on the analysis of real cases of Kosovo tax laws and their impact on particular businesses, this paper will demonstrate how tax policies applied in Kosovo have given less attention to the need of economic development, which should have been reflected through promoting the development of domestic production, reduction of unemployment, and reduction of the high trade deficit. Empirical evidence from this analysis is discussed, conclusions are derived, and the recommendations of this paper are provided.     

科索沃和阿富汗:美国争夺石油利益的战略通道

在新旧世纪之交的短短3年内，美国以避免“人道主义危机”和“反恐”为由先后发动了科索沃战争和阿富汗战争。今天看来，尽管这两场战争有着不同的理由和不尽一致的战略意图，但都隐藏着一个共同的战略目标：依靠军事力量在世界“石油供应心脏地带”及其油气连接通道地带进行油气地缘政治(oil-gas geopolitics)扩张，维护和控制美国主导的中亚通往西欧的石油运输通道和通向印度洋的石油供应通道，阻隔通向中国和俄罗斯实施的石油连接战略要道，以实现美国新的“大中东”石油霸权战略。     

Attitudes and Preferences of Kosovar Consumer Segments Toward Quality Attributes of Milk and Dairy Products

ABSTRACT

The dairy market is one of the fastest growing agri-food sectors in Kosovo, yet the farm structure is fragmented. The level of productivity is lower compared with European Union levels and shows potential for improvements. The consumption of dairy products is expected to rise due to income growth and segmentation of consumers that would reflect different preferences for low-fat or zero-fat products, products with natural additives, and so on. On the market level, a significant share of the consumed milk and dairy products is imported. This study aims to better understand attitudes and preferences of Kosovar consumer segments toward milk and dairy products. A quantitative survey with 300 consumers was conducted in major Kosovo cities. Applying a reduced version of the Food Related Lifestyle instrument identified three distinct consumer segments: the conservative consumer segment, the socially oriented foodie, and the information-seeking eco-consumer. The latter two segments are especially open to trying new food products and actively search information about food. All three consumer segments show strong consumer patriotism by believing that domestic milk and cheese are safer than imported products and are of higher quality. This indicates the strong market potential for dairy farmers and companies in the Kosovo, which should develop new food products having these segments in mind. The authors explore the strategies that farmers and companies should use to better target these consumer groups and gain greater access to desirable segments.     

Determinants of Smallholders’ Decisions to Leave Land Fallow: The Case of Kosovo

This article investigates why farmers in Kosovo leave land fallow when their farms’ total land area is small and households, almost fully dependent on farming for their livelihoods, are large. It uses a comprehensive survey carried out during the agricultural year 2005/2006 to explore agricultural households’ perceptions of production, market conditions and general security 6 years after the end of the military conflict in the former Yugoslavia. Several locational, household and farm characteristics empirically approximate the significance of different factors for the amount of land left idle. Two different econometric models are used to address the characteristics of the dependent variable distribution by accounting for endogeneity. The main determinants of the share of land left fallow are found to be related to the economic and institutional structure, and to the general feeling of insecurity.     

Do remittances support consumption during crisis? Evidence from Kosovo

This paper focuses on the effect of remittances on per capita consumption over time in a context of conflict, war-to-peace transition and crisis. We use two household surveys from Kosovo with unique timing, one collected immediately after the civil war in 2000 and the other during the economic crisis in 2010. This territory, in which the tension among ethnic groups is the focus of international concern, is one of the top remittance-receiving countries in the world. We examine the effect of remittances not only at the average level of consumption, but also at various parts of the distribution of consumption using quantile regressions. We find that remittances alleviate poverty by enhancing the consumption level of the most vulnerable households, and the positive effect of remittances on consumption has remained constant between 2000 and 2010. This result may be connected with the resilience of remittances.     

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.     

Migration and farm technical efficiency: evidence from Kosovo

This article investigates the effect of migration on farm technical efficiency drawing on a large and representative sample of agricultural households in Kosovo. A two‐stage estimation procedure is applied: a frontier technique to estimate the effect of migration on farm efficiency, followed by a propensity score based matching approach to robustly estimate the sample average effect on efficiency for different levels of migration intensity. Migration is found to have an efficiency decreasing effect, which is amplified for better educated workers. The observed negative effect of migration on efficiency is evident even at low levels of migration intensity.