Milk production related to price of raw cow’s milk in selected european countries

Abstract

Dairy industry and its production contributes to the economies of many regions and countries worldwide. Except the milk production there is also number of other impacts such as the human nutrition, landscape creation and environment among the others. The European dairy sector undergoes numerous changes a period of crises and regulations in last few decades. After abolition of milk quota system, the European milk producing countries started to be exposed to the milk prices of the world market. In the submitted article, the impact of five explanatory variables, which cow's milk, butter, milk powder, cheese, and farm milk production belong among, is analysed to the explained variable the price of raw cow's milk coming from the countries whose data is available in the Eurostat database; that is, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Regression analysis of panel data with territorial and time dimensions is applied using three techniques, which the pooling, the random, and the between approach belong to. Supplementary analytical approach represented by the cluster analysis resulted into triplet of clusters, selected for the further modelling process. Results of the regression analysis showed no influence of butter production to the level of raw cow's milk. The visualised outcome signifies the distribution of the individual countries among the examined clusters. It underlines the fact that the cheaper raw cow's milk price causes a concentration on the specific part of the production that is easier to produce. It is important to realise that the coefficient of determination of the regression models reveal their statistical significance as a whole. Obtained results can serve as the background for further analysis of impact of other milk products as the factors influencing the raw cow's milk prices.