Summary In the post‐quota era, competitiveness has become the key determinant of success of dairy sectors within the EU. To understand the evolution of the sector, we identify key determinants of the competitiveness of national dairy chains by combining an analysis of competitiveness indicators with case‐studies in selected EU countries. Around the Baltic Sea region, we find steady productivity growth on dairy farms in the old Member States, and no evidence that the newer Member States are managing to reduce their productivity gap. In contrast, growth accounting for the dairy processing sector indicates that newer Member States are catching up in terms of productivity. Competitiveness is heavily influenced by the efficiency with which economic units operate within their national dairy supply chains, in particular with respect to cost management, sales and marketing. Although there exist numerous quantitative competitiveness indicators, we stress the importance of several qualitative factors that strongly influence competitiveness, for example, the relationships of dairy chain actors with other economic sectors, the chain's weight in the national economy, national policy decisions, the availability of supporting services and the nature of public perceptions of the sector. Although often overlooked in competitiveness analyses, those factors should be given due consideration.
The milk sector has received much attention in Europe due to the abolition of milk quotas in 2015 and its potential effect on the geographical distribution of milk production across countries. As a way of assessing the competitive advantage of Nordic EU countries, we investigated the productivity level and productivity growth of milk farms across eight countries of the Baltic Sea region from 1995 to 2010. We found considerable discrepancy in the productivity performance of dairy farms across countries. TFP growth rates indicate that, at farm level, the competitive positions of the older EU members are stable, and that there is no catching up from the newer EU entrants. We offer explanations for this evolution based on the different patterns of structural change followed by the studied countries.
Summary The food industries in Central and Eastern Europe attracted considerable foreign direct investments (FDI) in the 1990s, most of which came from Western Europe and some from overseas. Large food processors spread their investments across the CEE region, while many medium and smail‐scale enterprises preferred adjacent or nearby markets. Investors favoured industries characterised by high seller concentration. The attainable market power was the strongest motivating factor as far as the distribution of FDI among the individual food processing industries was concerned. These capital infusions into the CEE region concurrently ensured both the corporate growth of foreign investors and promoted the competitiveness of the host country's food industry The second‐stage processing industries and tobacco were popular targets in the early 1990s. In the second half of the decade, however, increasing investments ‐ mostly from Western European companies ‐ were made in the first‐stage processing industries contributing to the development of grain, meat and dairy processing segments in a number of CEE countries. Considering the strong procurement, ownership and business links between agriculture and food manufacturing, food industry FDI has played and is going to play an important role in the process of integrating the CEE agri‐food sectors into that of the European Union. Les IDE dans l'agro‐alimentaire:une force d'intégration entre les secteurs alimentaires des pays d'Europe occidentale et orientale Les secteurs alimentaires dans les pays d'Europe centrale et orientale ont attiré dans les années 90 un gros volume d' IDE (investissements directs étrangers). La grande majorité d'entre eux venaient d'Europe occidentale, quelques uns d'outre‐mer. Les grands groupes alimentaires répartissent leurs investissements sur l'ensemble de la région, cependant que les industries petites et moyennes préferent des marchés adjacents on peu éloignés. Les investisseurs favorisent les industries caractérisées par une forte concentration. La répartition des investissements entre les différentes industries s'est effectuée en fonction du pouvoir de monopole susceptible d'être obtenu dans chaque branche. Ces injections de capital en Europe de l'Est ont eu pour résultat à ia fois la croissance des investisseurs étrangers et l'accroissement de la productivityé des industries alimentaires des pays hôtes. Les industries de seconde transformation et les tabacs ont eu la faveur au début des années 90. Au cours de la seconde moitié de la période, cependant, de plus en plus d'investissements ‐ surtout venant d'Europe de l'Ouest‐ se sont faits dans des industries de premiére transformation, contribuant ainsi dans beaucoup de pays d'Europe orientale au développement des transformateurs de céréales, de lait et de viandes. Compte tenu des liens étroits qui existent entre l'agriculture et les industries alimentaires, aussi bien en matiere de fourniture, que de propriété et de relations d'affaire, les IDE agro‐alimentaires ont joué dans le passé un rôle impo...
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