Honey production competitiveness between the Visegrad countries analysis based on the relative comparative advantages indices

Abstract

Honey has beneficial physiological effects, it is a valuable agricultural export product and widely used worldwide as food and medicine also. The primary aim of this present study is to demonstrate the honey production and trade of the EU member states known as Visegrad Four between 2000 and 2018. Also an objective of this article is the calculation of the actual comparative advantages of the Visegrad Four in foreign trade in natural honey using the RCA (relative comparative advantages) indices. During the research and analysis, different international and EU Databases were used. Secondary data used in the analysis derive from the reports of National Apiculture Programmes, the European Commission and the European Committee and from the databases of Faostat, Trademap and the United Nations Comtrade Database. V4 countries account for about 25% of the total EU apiculture sector, and the cooperation of Visegrad Four countries in the field of beekeeping could make a major contribution to the competitiveness of the sector. Examining the import and export data, using RCA indices it was proved that Hungary has a comparative advantage in terms of natural honey, however the competitiveness of the beekeeping sector in the region depends on the common performance of all four countries. Due to the stability of the sector and the positive externalities, authors suggest the further support of the apiary in the region.