Prospects of improving the competitiveness of Serbian agriculture in (re)industrialization process

Abstract

Competitiveness in the international business environment is a key instrument of success and evaluation of created value of all participants in the value chain. It can be assessed using a variety of indicators, taking into account many factors affecting its complex structure. Hence, it is a framework affirming the competitive advantages/disadvantages on the macro and micro-level as well as on the level of companies and their product offer. Competitiveness can be analyzed at the levels of national economy, industrial sectors, as well as individual products level. The most common approach to the comparison of achieved competitiveness level relates to product costs and/or market price compared to quality (value) aspects of the product/service. Prices and the quality of inputs feature as the starting points for competitiveness of the national economy. Efficiency of operations recognizes the impact of all inputs, especially those whose relative share in the total production cost is high. In contrast to the highly automated production processes, agriculture remains a labour-intensive activity, despite the increase in the level of automation. It is an exception compared to other industries due to the high impact of the effects of climate and other natural factors productivity. At the same time, agriculture is a very important economic and social field of activity, and different concepts of macroeconomic measures are developed in different national economies to stimulate the balanced regional development of agricultural production. Macroeconomic factors that determine overall business environment for the development and competitiveness of agriculture have a very high level of impact on the competitiveness of agricultural products in the Republic of Serbia.