Holistic assessment of competitiveness of Bulgarian farming enterprises

The problem of determining the level of competitiveness of various economic organizations is among the most topical academic and practical issues. However, there is no widely accepted and comprehensive framework for understanding and assessing the competitiveness of farming enterprises in different market, economic, institutional and natural environments. This presentation suggests and applies a holistic approach for assessing the competitiveness of Bulgarian farms as a whole and different specializations. This novel framework includes appropriate criteria, indicators and reference values for the four pillars of farm competitiveness – Economics efficiency, Financial endowment, Adaptability and Sustainability. The multi-criteria assessment of farm competitiveness in Bulgaria has found that the level of competitiveness of farms is at a good level, with low adaptive potential and economic efficiency, to the greatest extent contributing to lower competitiveness. More than a third of all farms in the country has a low level of competitiveness. The most competitive are the farms in the beekeeping, followed by field crops, mixed livestock and crop productions, and the lowest in grazing livestock. The proposed approach should be improved and applied more widely and periodically, increasing accuracy and representativeness.