COMPARISON OF COMPETITIVENESS BETWEEN BULGARIA, EU, USA, AND NEW ZEALAND DAIRY SECTORS

Abstract

Defining the state of competitiveness for a particular agricultural sector is of great importance. By retaining a competitive market position sustainable economic development of the specific agricultural production is supported. Continuation of its multiple economic functions like providing raw materials for the processing industry, securing rural employment, and utilization of scarce agricultural resources is the focus of competi_x0002_tiveness goals. In the economic theory, there is no unified definition for competitiveness, while there are a va_x0002_riety of approaches to measure it, which is reflected in different applied theoretical frameworks. The research aims to compare the competitiveness of the Bulgarian dairy sector versus the EU, the USA, and New Zealand dairy sectors on the world market for the period after the accession of Bulgaria in the EU. Therefore, a con_x0002_ceptual framework has been chosen developed by Canada’s Task Force for Competitiveness. The framework is based on the ability to gain and sustainably maintain market share. For the chosen period the results show a trend of decline in the competitiveness of the Bulgarian dairy sector and improvement in the competitive_x0002_ness of the EU dairy sector. For the EU comparison, indexes of competitiveness have been calculated for the USA and New Zealand. The USA’s index slightly decreased at the end of the explored period reflecting the increased competition on the world markets while New Zealand’s high index values reveal its position as a leading dairy products exporter.