Acta Scientiarum Polonorum. Oeconomia

FISCAL RESPONSE IN COVID-19 CRISIS – CASE OF THE EUROZONE

Maria Karamanoli — 2024-09-30

Aim: The paper makes two important contributions to the fiscal policy literature during the COVID-19 pandemic, analyzing the way Eurozone countries responded with fiscal expansion or restriction as a means to manage the pandemic crisis. This research investigates the national governments’ fiscal policies introduced to manage the COVID-19 pandemic within economic, political and institutional contexts, focusing on European countries that are part of the Eurozone. It demonstrates similarities and heterogeneity in three dimensions of fiscal policy responses to COVID-19 (the size of fiscal spending, the type and targets of fiscal policy responses) across 19 Eurozone countries, in the period effective from the pandemic until January 2022. Methods: A Cross-Country Analysis and Statistical Analysis in 19 Eurozone Countries was applied. Results: Eurozone countries with strong economies (Germany, France) implemented fiscal expansion directly to cope with the pandemic while weaker economies (Estonia, Spain) responded late. Additionally, the business sector was supported first, instead of the health sector, by governments. Conclusions: The paper makes two important contributions to the fiscal policy literature during the COVID-19 pandemic. The original contribution of this research is that it is one of the first comparative analysis studies to focus on the European region regarding national fiscal policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Existing studies on COVID-19 policy responses have primarily focused on public health measures.

PROSUMER DILEMMA: DOES CHOOSING NET BILLING LOWER HOUSEHOLD ELECTRICITY COSTS?

Piotr Mielziuk — 2024-09-30

Aim: The study generates information about the expected electricity costs under several scenarios including PV panel and storage battery additions using the case of a rural prosumer operating a micro-PV installation and faced with a decision to switch to the new net-billing (NB) system or continue with net-metering (NM) (given the new subsidy for a storage battery). Methods: The benchmark data about prosumer electricity production and use and predicted electricity prices for the 15-year period serve to calculate future changes in electricity costs under alternative scenarios, including a household without a micro-PV installation. The prosumer cost for electricity used is calculated using the Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) and the modified LCOEC accounting for consumption (LCOEC). Results: The average electricity price is estimated at 2.33 PLN/kWh in 2037 (almost three times more than in 2022). A similar increase is calculated for prices using the G12 tariff applied to households. The prosumer flexibility in electricity self-consumption determines the advantage of a storage battery, but the subsidy for a micro-PV installation is crucial. Without the subsidy, having a micro-PV installation with a storage battery in the NB system would not lower the LCOEC as compared to the NB scenario without storage. Conclusions: The NB system is associated with higher electricity bills than the NM system, although owning a micro-PV installation still lowers electricity costs as compared to a household without it. The adoption of micro-PV installations by households is likely to continue, albeit at a slower rate than in recent years.

ANALYSIS OF THE CHALLENGES OF CASHEW REHABILITATION TECHNIQUES (CRTs) IN OSUN STATE, NIGERIA

Qudus Ogunwolu — 2024-09-30

Aim: This study sought to analyze the challenges faced by cashew farmers in the adoption of cashew rehabilitation techniques (CRTs) in Osun State, Nigeria. Methods: Data was collected from primary sources using structured questionnaires. A total of eighty (80) respondents were considered, forty (40) from each of the selected local government areas. The study adopted descriptive analysis to examine the socio-economic characteristics of the farmers, multinomial logistic (MNL) regression was used to evaluate the factors affecting the level of adoption of the CRTs while a Likert scale was adopted to measure the level of severity of identified constraints to CRTs adoption in the state. Results: The adoption level of coppicing is significantly affected by farm size, age of farmers and access to extension services. The adoption level of side-grafting is affected by farm size and level of education, and the level of adoption of total replanting is significantly influenced by age of farmers, age of farms and level of education. High labor costs, the high cost of agrochemicals and a labor shortage are highly severe constraints to the adoption of CRTs, while a lack of adequate knowledge and the existence of fire incidences are considered to be mildly severe constraints. Conclusions: Adoption of techniques is affected by factors such as age, education, farm size, and access to extension. Constraints to adoption include a lack of knowledge, high labor and chemical costs, labor shortage, and fire risk. Farmer education is highly encouraged to improve the technology adoption among cashew farmers in the study area.

IMPACT OF THE GREEN TRANSITION ON THE PRODUCTION OF CEREALS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION. NEW INSIGHTS BASED ON THE FGLS PANEL DATA MODEL

Błażej Suproń — 2024-09-30

Aim: The aim of this study is to econometrically assess the long-term impact of Green Deal-related regulatory areas on cereal crop production in European Union countries. Methods: The study is based on an analysis of panel data for 21 European Union countries for the period 1995–2021. The FGLS, PCSE and CCEMG models, which are robust to heteroskedasticity and cross-sectional dependence, were used to determine the impact of agricultural CO2 emissions, agricultural area, food production volumes and fertilizer consumption on cereal production. In addition, a robust test of the Westerlund ECM panel test model was applied to confirm cointegration. All models were bootstrapped to strengthen the results. Results: The results show that, in the long run, a 10% increase in CO2 emissions from agriculture leads to an average decrease in cereal production of 0.5%. A 1% increase in cultivated area leads to a 1.1% positive change in the value of cereal production, and a 1% increase in fertilizer use per hectare leads to a 0.38% increase in cereal production. The value of the food production index also shows a positive effect on cereal production. If the index increases by 1 p.p., cereal production increases by 1.13% in the long term. The study also found a positive relationship between an increase in the share of renewable energy and the volume of cereal production. If the share of renewable energy increases by 1%, the volume of cereal production in the EU countries increases by 0.11%. Conclusions: Overall, it can be concluded that the green transformation brings both negative and positive aspects of change to agriculture. The decrease in cultivated land and reduced use of artificial fertilizers may negatively impact farm productivity in crop production areas. On the other hand, the improvement of climatic conditions and the development of renewable energies could be beneficial for agriculture in the long term. The study is original in the sense that it fills an empirical and theoretical gap related to the verification of the impact of the Green Deal on the cereal production sector and thus on agriculture in the European Union.