PhD entrance exam

Structural changes and their influence on agricultural production efficiency (1): 

Structural changes and their influence on agricultural production efficiency Martina Majorová FEM SUA

Structural changes and their influence on agricultural production efficiency (2): 

Topic of dissertation thesis: Structural changes and their influence on agricultural production efficiency Supervisor: doc. Ing. Peter Fandel, CSc. Department of Statistics and Operations Research, FEM SUA Study programme: Economics and management of an enterprise Field of specialization: 3.3.16 Economics and management of an enterprise Academic year: 2007/2008

Reasons for choosing the topic: 

Reasons for choosing the topic The topic of the dissertation thesis is up-to-date in relation to the study programme An apparent interest in methods of operations research, particularly mathematical programming Practical experience with measuring efficiency of Slovak agricultural enterprises by using the non-parametric approach (data envelopment analysis)

Aim of the dissertation thesis: 

Aim of the dissertation thesis To analyze the impact of structural changes in agriculture in the Slovak Republic on agricultural production efficiency Partial aims Change in structure from the point of view of: Legal form Size of structure (land size) Size of structure (number of employees)

1. Change in structure from the point of view of a legal form: 

1. Change in structure from the point of view of a legal form Slovakia is characterized by a relative huge number of cooperatives in comparison to other post-socialist countries as well as other legal forms (particularly plc., less inc.) Hypotheses: We assume differences in efficiency of various legal forms (motivation) Transition from cooperatives to public limited companies will result in the increase in efficiency

2. Change in structure from the point of view of size of structure (land size): 

2. Change in structure from the point of view of size of structure (land size) Disintegration of huge cooperatives to smaller ones Re-integration of cooperatives in bankruptcy by their stronger counterparts Existence of narrow-specialized enterprises Hypotheses: Merger and breakup of enterprises influences efficiency of the enterprise Efficiency of the enterprise is influenced by its production scope and scale, as well

3. Change in structure from the point of view of size of structure (employees): 

Employees – educational, sex, age structure ... Hypotheses: Change in technology (i.e. technical equipment of the enterprise) will lead to the increase in productivity, followed by the increase in efficiency of the enterprise 3. Change in structure from the point of view of size of structure (employees)

Methodology of the dissertation thesis: 

Methodology of the dissertation thesis Data envelopment analysis (DEA) scale efficiency scope efficiency size efficiency efficiency of merger and breakup of firms Malmquist TFP index Stochastic production frontier (SFA) Cluster and discriminant analysis

Data and literature: 

Data and literature Data VEGA 1/2565/05: Structural changes in Slovak agriculture and their influence on agricultural production efficiency (2005 – 2007) Literature Books, journals, publications, proceedings of conferences (national as well as international) Electronic libraries (Web of Science, Scopus, Springer ...)

Conclusion: 

Thank you for your attention!