Spatial Transformation of the Pig Sector in Hungary and Slovenia: A Comparative Analysis

Arnold Csonka, Štefan Bojnec and Imre Fertő
Additional contact information
Arnold Csonka: Faculty of Business Administration, Hungarian University of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Kaposvár Campus, Guba Sándor u. 40, P.O. Box 16, H-7400 Kaposvár, Hungary
Štefan Bojnec: Faculty of Management, University of Primorska, Izolska Vrata 2, SI-6101 Koper-Capodistria, Slovenia

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 21, 1-15

Abstract: This paper presents a comparative analysis of the spatial transformation in the Hungarian and Slovenian pig sectors at the level of local administrative units (LAU). Concentration and inequality measures were applied in the empirical analyses, along with Markov transition probability matrices, to examine the stability and/or mobility over time and the presence of clustering effects. Both countries experienced a rapid decline in pig population. This profound structural change has led to a smaller number of more concentrated pig farms and increased territorial concentration. The degree of farm and territorial concentration and inequality in Hungary has been much higher than in Slovenia, and the concentration gap between the countries has increased. Between 2000 and 2010, the degree of concentration was much higher in Hungary than in Slovenia; average herd size per holding increased by 68 percent in Hungary, and only seven percent in Slovenia. In Hungary, clustering effects were particularly significant, with the pig sector moving towards large-scale concentration. The former effect was also confirmed in the Slovenian pig sector, but significantly weakened during the period under investigation. The exploitation and policy management of spatial externalities justifies these agricultural, economic, and agri-environmental practices.

Keywords: spatial concentration; clustering effects; restructuring; pig sector; Gini coefficient decomposition; Lorenz curve; Markov transition probability matrix; local indicators of spatial association/local Moran’s I cluster maps; Central and Eastern Europe (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/21/11851/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/21/11851/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:21:p:11851-:d:665550

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().