Sector-wide and country-specific drivers of firm performance in the visegrad group dairy industry

Abstract

The paper investigates the effects of sector-wide and country-specific determinants on profitability of the dairy industry in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary over the period of years 2006- 2014. Using an econometric approach, a hypothesis about the impact of various drivers of firm performance on both sector and country level was tested. The findings confirm that these factors have a significant impact on the dairy firms' performance in the V4 countries. It was found out that foreign competition measured by the import penetration ratio had significant negative impact on dairy firm performance. The positive development of GDP and market concentration affected profitability positively. The results could help in designing common agricultural and industrial policy in the European Union as well as in managing the mutual trade of milk products in V4 countries.