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Economic sustainability plays an important role in shaping conditions for economic growth and social development. The importance of answering the question about the level of sustainability of family farms results from the fact that the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, apart from exceptions (e.g., the Czech Republic and Slovakia), are characterized by a fragmented agrarian structure. Hence, the main goal of this article was to answer two questions: (1) whether the countries of Central and Eastern Europe differ in the level of economic sustainability of small family farms; and (2) whether the same socioeconomic factors impact similarly on the level of economic sustainability of small family farms from countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The study was based on surveys conducted in small family farms: in 2018 from Poland (672 farms) and in 2019 in four other countries (Lithuania; 999 farms, Romania; 834 farms, Serbia; 523 farms, Moldova; 530 farms). The publication includes a critical analysis of the literature, structure analysis and correlation analysis. The results show the occurrence of large differences between the economic sustainability of small family farms from the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The research indicates that the larger the area of a small-scale family farm, the greater its economic sustainability. The productivity of these farms increases with their economic sustainability. The results also prove a negative relationship between the age of the farmer and the economic sustainability of their farm in all analysed countries. These trends were found in all analysed countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The results of the analyses support the conclusion that agricultural policy instruments aimed at increasing the economic sustainability of small family farms should lead to: land consolidation, a decrease in the age of farm owners through generational changes, and a decrease in employment in agriculture, which would lead to a reduction in labour input in the agricultural sector.
Katarzyna Smędzik-Ambroży; Marta Guth; Adam Majchrzak; Andreea Muntean; Silvia Maican. The Socio-Economics Factors in Family Farms with Different Economic Sustainability Levels from Central and Eastern Europe. Sustainability 2021, 13, 8262 .
AMA StyleKatarzyna Smędzik-Ambroży, Marta Guth, Adam Majchrzak, Andreea Muntean, Silvia Maican. The Socio-Economics Factors in Family Farms with Different Economic Sustainability Levels from Central and Eastern Europe. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (15):8262.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKatarzyna Smędzik-Ambroży; Marta Guth; Adam Majchrzak; Andreea Muntean; Silvia Maican. 2021. "The Socio-Economics Factors in Family Farms with Different Economic Sustainability Levels from Central and Eastern Europe." Sustainability 13, no. 15: 8262.
The agricultural sector ensures food security and is a major source of employment, income, and economic activity in rural areas. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) considers that family farms are the key to a sustainable future in Europe and Central Asia. In Romania, small farms represent the pillar on which Romanian society has been developed. Although the trend has been a reduction in the number of small farms and an increase in the number of large farms, the Government of Romania understands the importance of small farms and therefore supports them through policies involving direct payments, rural development instruments, special initiatives, and loans and outstanding obligations, among others, which focus on increasing their economic performance. The aim of our research was to determine the relationship between farmers’ motivation, their job satisfaction, and the farm economic performance in the case of small Romanian farms. The research sample consisted of 900 small farms (utilized agricultural area (UAA): under 20 ha; standard output (SO): under EUR 15,000). The data obtained after applying the questionnaires were analyzed using SPSS 20.0 and Amos 24.0. For the exploratory factor analysis, values of Bartlett’s test of sphericity, the Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin test, and Cronbach’s alpha coefficient were calculated for each dimension of the proposed model. The hypothesis that motivation, job satisfaction, and farm economic performance directly and positively influence each other was confirmed. An important finding was that the correlation coefficient between farmers’ motivation and farm economic performance was ρ = 0.78, while that for the relation between farmers’ job satisfaction and farm economic performance was ρ = 0.53, which was similar to the correlation coefficient calculated for the relationship between farmers’ motivation and farmers’ job satisfaction. This result allows us to conclude that the influence of farmers’ motivation factors on farm economic performance is stronger than the influence of job satisfaction in the case of Romanian farmers on small farms. This might explain why, although work in agriculture is considered to be worse than an office job and the people that work in agriculture are sometimes stigmatized and receive lower incomes, there are still very strong motivators for Romanian farmers to continue their work in agriculture. This is proven by the fact that Romania has the highest number of small farms in Europe, and this number is not decreasing.
Silvia Maican; Andreea Muntean; Carmen Paștiu; Sebastian Stępień; Jan Polcyn; Iulian Dobra; Mălina Dârja; Claudia Moisă. Motivational Factors, Job Satisfaction, and Economic Performance in Romanian Small Farms. Sustainability 2021, 13, 5832 .
AMA StyleSilvia Maican, Andreea Muntean, Carmen Paștiu, Sebastian Stępień, Jan Polcyn, Iulian Dobra, Mălina Dârja, Claudia Moisă. Motivational Factors, Job Satisfaction, and Economic Performance in Romanian Small Farms. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (11):5832.
Chicago/Turabian StyleSilvia Maican; Andreea Muntean; Carmen Paștiu; Sebastian Stępień; Jan Polcyn; Iulian Dobra; Mălina Dârja; Claudia Moisă. 2021. "Motivational Factors, Job Satisfaction, and Economic Performance in Romanian Small Farms." Sustainability 13, no. 11: 5832.
E-commerce’s latest trends, highlighted by the global phenomena of the COVID-19 pandemic, explicitly show substantial changes in the online consumers’ behavior as well. More and more specialists are talking about the emergence of a new paradigm in consumption, and of possible evolutions toward sustainable consumption. The purpose of this research is to investigate how the antecedents of e-loyalty have changed their effect on consumer attitudes and perceptions of e-commerce sites. The results, obtained through a structural model of 523 validated questionnaires of Romanian consumers of electronic and household appliances, show the importance of the effect of website accessibility, a factor that, until recently, exerted an influence mediated by other elements grouped either under the umbrella of site quality or site design. The model validated after the analysis shows the direct effect of the accessibility of the websites on e-loyalty, satisfaction and trust of the consumers. Based on the results, the value of this study lies in the fact that it presents arguments on how the boost of e-commerce systems leads to sales processes’ sustainability improvement and, to the same extent, the improvement of the ways for reporting sustainability using IT tools (online databases with customers, software integrated into e-commerce platforms, electronic financial management).
Carmen Paștiu; Ionica Oncioiu; Daniel Gârdan; Silvia Maican; Iuliana Gârdan; Andreea Muntean. The Perspective of E-Business Sustainability and Website Accessibility of Online Stores. Sustainability 2020, 12, 9780 .
AMA StyleCarmen Paștiu, Ionica Oncioiu, Daniel Gârdan, Silvia Maican, Iuliana Gârdan, Andreea Muntean. The Perspective of E-Business Sustainability and Website Accessibility of Online Stores. Sustainability. 2020; 12 (22):9780.
Chicago/Turabian StyleCarmen Paștiu; Ionica Oncioiu; Daniel Gârdan; Silvia Maican; Iuliana Gârdan; Andreea Muntean. 2020. "The Perspective of E-Business Sustainability and Website Accessibility of Online Stores." Sustainability 12, no. 22: 9780.
The purpose of the article was to indicate selected distribution channels in groups and organizations of fruit and vegetable producers in countries with different agrarian structures and cultures of horizontal organization, as well as identify differences in preferred distribution channels. Based on the literature review, changes in the supply chain of agri-food products were presented and the growing importance of retail chains was pointed out. Using the data obtained from the European Commission, the weight of individual distribution channels was presented, and by Ward agglomeration cluster analysis using Euclidean distances, 3 disjointed clusters of countries with different characteristics of fruit and vegetable producer groups/organizations were selected. The first cluster consisted of few producer groups/organizations from Great Britain, Denmark and Romania, whose members engaged in a relatively large area of land and dedicated (65%) their production to retail chains, thus obtaining, on average, higher effects (measured by sales value) attributable to both the group/organization and hectare of land. In contrast, the third cluster included producers from countries that are leaders in the production of fruit and vegetables in Europe, that is, from Spain, Italy, France and Poland. What was characteristic for them was that many members possessing a relatively small area of land joined groups/organisations. They dedicated their production (25%) to retail chains, and their advantage, which may affect the largest share of the average value of sales per member, is the processing of raw materials as part of their own operations.
Marta Guth; Maryla Bieniek-Majka; Silvia Maican. MARKET ADJUSTMENTS OF FRUIT AND VEGETABLE PRODUCERS TO CHANGING DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS IN SELECTED EUROPEAN UNION COUNTRIES AFTER 2012. Annals of the Polish Association of Agricultural and Agribusiness Economists 2019, XXI, 134 -142.
AMA StyleMarta Guth, Maryla Bieniek-Majka, Silvia Maican. MARKET ADJUSTMENTS OF FRUIT AND VEGETABLE PRODUCERS TO CHANGING DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS IN SELECTED EUROPEAN UNION COUNTRIES AFTER 2012. Annals of the Polish Association of Agricultural and Agribusiness Economists. 2019; XXI (3):134-142.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMarta Guth; Maryla Bieniek-Majka; Silvia Maican. 2019. "MARKET ADJUSTMENTS OF FRUIT AND VEGETABLE PRODUCERS TO CHANGING DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS IN SELECTED EUROPEAN UNION COUNTRIES AFTER 2012." Annals of the Polish Association of Agricultural and Agribusiness Economists XXI, no. 3: 134-142.
The travel agencies play an important role in tourism development. Alba County can be considered an important touristic destination in Romania. Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to underline the role of travel agencies in sustaining tourism development in Alba County. Design – A survey was conducted to find the opinion of these companies managers regarding the role they plays in the valorisation of touristic potential. Methodology – The survey that was carried out was going to be a quantitative type of research. The means of communication with the investigated unit: interviews based on a questionnaire administered by the operators. The primary data was collected out of a sample of 16 travel agencies operating in Alba county, from a total number of 20s. The sample for the target group has been identified using purposive sampling method. Purposive sampling method was applied to travel agencies managers’ participants because this sample was considered to meet the objectives of the research, though it did not represent the whole population. The questionnaires were administered by face to face interviews with representatives of the participating travel agencies at the Albac Tourism Fair held between 6th-8th September 2013, but also at the agencies' headquarters. Approach – Travel agencies operating both locally as well as nationally and internationally, should be encouraged to provide tourism products in the county. It is necessary to find solutions to improve the quality of tourism services in Alba County. Findings – According to the acquired results, the most important factors affecting the implication of travel agencies in Alba County tourism development are the insufficient development of tourism resources in the area, lack of financial resources and poor general infrastructure. Less important are considered to be laws and excessive bureaucracy. Originality – The paper presents the results of the first research of this kind on the travel agencies from Alba County
Carmen Pastiu; Andreea Muntean; Claudia Moisa; Silvia Maican. The role of travel agencies in tourism development in Alba county. 2014, 1 .
AMA StyleCarmen Pastiu, Andreea Muntean, Claudia Moisa, Silvia Maican. The role of travel agencies in tourism development in Alba county. . 2014; ():1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleCarmen Pastiu; Andreea Muntean; Claudia Moisa; Silvia Maican. 2014. "The role of travel agencies in tourism development in Alba county." , no. : 1.