Hrabrin Bachev

Bio: Hrabrin Bachev is an academic researcher from Agricultural & Applied Economics Association. The author has contributed to research in topics: Agrarian society & Sustainability. The author has an hindex of 20, co-authored 242 publications receiving 1521 citations. Previous affiliations of Hrabrin Bachev include Kyushu University & Tohoku University.

Governance of Agrarian Sustainability

Abstract: The new developing interdisciplinary methodology of the New Institutional and Transaction Costs Economics (combining Economics, Organization, Law, Sociology, Behavioral and Political Sciences) is incorporated into agrarian sphere, and a framework for governing of agrarian sustainability suggested. It takes into account the role of the specific institutional environment (formal and informal property rights, and systems of their enforcement); and the behavioral characteristics of individuals (bounded rationality, tendency for opportunism, entrepreneurships, preferences, risk aversion etc.); and the transaction costs associated with protection and exchange of property rights; and the critical factors of each transaction (such as frequency, uncertainty, asset specificity, and appropriability); and the comparative efficiency of market, private, public, and hybrid governing modes. The discrete structural analysis is applied, and the principle forms for governing of transactions with specific critical dimensions specified. The cases of market and private sector failures are identified, and the needs for a third party (Government, international assistance etc.) intervention justified. The comparative advantages and disadvantages of different modes for public involvement (property rights modernization, regulations, taxes, assistance and support, public provision, hybrid modes) are assessed. The effective governance mix for public intervention in environmental transactions is presented.

Efficiency of Agrarian Organizations

Abstract: The goal of this paper is to incorporate achievements of the New Institutional and Transaction Costs Economics to analysis of efficiency of agrarian organizations in transitional economies. That modern framework for analysis of agrarian organizations is based on their role to govern transactions between individual agents. Since governing (coordination, organization) of transactions is associated with significant costs (for finding best prices and partners, for negotiation and contracting, for monitoring and enforcement of contract terms, for adjustment and re-negotiation according to changed conditions of exchange, for dispute resolutions etc.), the economic efficiency of agrarian organizations has to assess not only their capacity to minimize the production costs, but their potential to economize transacting costs as well. Initially, main kinds of transactions of the managers of agrarian transactions (farms entrepreneurs) are clarified as land, labor, service, inputs, and finance supply; marketing; and collective actions. After that, the alternative market, non-market, and mixed modes for organization of different types of agrarian transitions are identified. Next, various types of costs associated with each form of transacting are determined. And then, the comparative efficiency of different governance structures is estimated according to (minimum) transacting costs criteria. One direction for evaluation of comparative efficiency of governing structures is based on direct assessment of items of costs for transaction in different organizations. However, that manner is often restricted since: difficulties (or impossibility) to measure absolute level of transaction costs; opposite dynamics of different items of costs in various organizations; great use of complex (and interlinked) rather than pure modes in transitional agriculture; and not existence (missing) of alternative form for organization (the base for comparison). Another direction is through comparative structural (qualitative) analysis of alternative governing forms. Firstly, critical factors of transactions in particular institutional environment are identified. These factors affect transaction costs variation, and they are associated: with behavioral characteristic of agrarian agents (bounded rationality, tendency for opportunism, building of reputation, risk aversion, level of trusts); and with economic dimensions of individual transactions (frequency, uncertainty, assets specificity and appropriability). Secondly, assessment is made on effective potential of alternative organizational modes to: minimize bounded rationality of agrarian agents and uncertainty associated with transacting; to appropriate and protect private rights and investments from possible opportunism; to recover long-term investments for organizational development through high recurrence of transactions between same agents; to exploit economy of size and scale on specific for relationship with a particular partner capital etc. Third, principal matrix of generic organizational modes is build for effective governance of transactions with different combination of critical dimensions: free market mode is effective to carry out transactions with high appropriability and low assets specificity; the special contract form is appropriate for transactions with high frequency, and increased uncertainty and assets specificity; the internal integration can manage effectively repeated transactions with high capital dependency and big uncertainty; the hybrid and public modes are the most effective forms for occasional transactions with low appropriability and high assets specificity. Finally, effective horizontal and vertical boundaries of every specific form within each generic modes could be determined through comparison of their potential to explore economy of size (scale) on specific or (and) specialized assets, and their comparative efficiency to minimize bounded rationality and to control opportunism of counterparts.

Risk Management in the Agri-Food Sector

Abstract: This paper incorporates the interdisciplinary New Institutional Economics in a comprehensive framework for analyzing risk management in the agri-food sector. First, it specifies the diverse types of agri-food risks (natural, technical, behavioral, economic, policy, etc.) and the modes of their management (market, private, public, and hybrid). Second, it defines the efficiency of risk management and identifies the factors (personal, institutional, dimensional, technological, and natural) of governance choice. Next, it presents stages in the analysis of risk management and the improvement of public intervention in the governance of risk. Finally, it identifies the contemporary opportunities and challenges for risk governance in the agri-food chain.

Structures for Organization of Transactions in Bulgarian Agriculture

Abstract: In this paper we extend our previous efforts to incorporate achievements of the New Institutional and Transaction Cost Economics to the agrarian sphere. First, we demonstrate that Bulgarian agrarian economy is a Transaction cost economy, and clarify various types of transacting costs in transitional conditions. Next, we describe existing structures for governing of agrarian transactions, and evaluate their costs minimizing and incentive potential. Lastly, we estimate prospects for organizational modernization, and determine effective boundaries of market, private, public, and mixed modes for agrarian transacting. Neoclassical scenario for transformation of previous communist model ("free market plus private ownership") has not worked in Bulgarian agriculture. Transition has changed "rules of the game" but it has not made agrarian agents "more rational" and "less opportunistic". Consequently costs for new property rights and institutional development, and for market and private modes of individual transacting, have taken a good part of all social expenditures. High assets dependency, big uncertainty, low appropriability, and less frequency have determined a specific transitional structure of agrarian transacting. Less market transacting, big reliance on informal relationships at large scale, great extent of "over" integrated modes, part time farming and production cooperation phenomenon, block of all classes of transactions etc, all have come to existence. Besides, a large number of inefficient or contradictory third party (e.g. Government, Non-governmental organizations, international assistance etc) involvements in agrarian transacting have been in place. All this has deformed substantially emerging farming system, and domination of primitive and "gray" structures, little sustainability of large business and cooperative farms, significant distortion of national agrarian capital, and backward technological "development", have come to agenda. Low efficiency of public in-house organization and limited budget sources would restrict Government direct intervention in agrarian transactions. Agrarian policy should be toward exploring potential of market, private, and cooperative modes through new property rights provision, institutional and infrastructural support, improving law and contract enforcement, market information, extension education, assisting farmers association etc. Less expensive modes for trilateral governance (coordination, control on opportunism, incentives for specific investments) with active involvement of private sector and farmers organizations are to be preferred.

Framework For Assessing Sustainability Of Farms

Abstract: The traditional approach for assessing farm sustainability (based on indicators of “productivity”, “profitability”, and “financial dependency”) fails to explain why there exist highly sustainable farms with different levels of “efficiency” such as low productive subsistent and part-time farming, non-for profit and cooperative enterprises, small commercial farms and large agro-corporations, etc. In this paper we adapt the New Institutional and Transaction Costs Economics perspective to agrarian sphere, and suggest a new framework for assessing sustainability of farms and farm structures. Firstly, an analysis is made on various approaches for defining sustainability of agricultural systems: as “an ideology”, as “a set of strategies”, as “the ability to fulfill a set of goals”, and as “ability to continue”. The “problem of sustainability” in the economic model (mainly associated with “negative externalities”, “tragedy of commons”, “jointness of farm production”) is also presented, and the “institutional” solutions of that problem discussed. Second, we prove that analysis of institutions and transacting costs is important for proper understanding the farms sustainability. Institutional environment is the crucial factor, which determines the restrictions and costs of farm activities, and eventually - the level of sustainability of different farm organizations. In the specific institutional setting, agrarian agents use (or develop) a great variety of effective (cost economizing) market and non-market modes for governing of their exchanges. Therefore, studying the farm as a governance (rather than production) structure is the key for understanding the farm efficiency and sustainability. Third, we define sustainability of farm as a state when it manages all transactions in the most economical way – that is the situation when there exist no transaction, which could be carried out with net benefit. When a farm experiences high costs and difficulties meeting institutional restrictions and carrying out transactions, comparing to other feasible modes, it will be unsustainable. That is because there will be strong incentives for exploring the existing potential (adapting to sustainable state) through reduction or enlargement of farm size, or via reorganization or liquidation of the farm. Thus the farm potential for adaptation to changing (market, institutional, technological etc.) environment is to be the main indicator for farm sustainability. Furthermore, the most effective form for organization of farm transactions will depend on individuals’ characteristics (preferences, entrepreneurial abilities, risk aversion etc.) and specific attributes of each transaction (uncertainty, frequency, assets specificity, and appropriability). Consequently, effective farms of different type and size could persist (sustain) in agriculture. Finally, we develop a principle matrix with the effective modes for governing of agrarian sustainability. Discrete structural analysis is used to define the transactions for which market, contract, and integral forms are efficient (sustainable). We also determine the situation(s), where there is strong need for a third-party public involvement in agrarian sphere - that is for transactions with low appropriablity, and high uncertainty and asset specificity. In later case, there are no sustainable market and private modes to organize such transactions effectively (e.g. supply of environmental goods). Next, we specify the spectrum of possible public forms for intervention in market and private transactions - assistance, regulation, hybrid and in-house organization, international cooperation, property rights and institutional modernization. The comparative efficiency of feasible modes for public involvement is to be assessed taking into account the overall costs and benefits. Sustainable agrarian development is compromised when both market and private forms fails, and no effective public intervention takes place.

Marketing for management.

Abstract: MKT 6009 Marketing Internship (0 semester credit hours) Student gains experience and improves skills through appropriate developmental work assignments in a real business environment. Student must identify and submit specific business learning objectives at the beginning of the semester. The student must demonstrate exposure to the managerial perspective via involvement or observation. At semester end, student prepares an oral or poster presentation, or a written paper reflecting on the work experience. Student performance is evaluated by the work supervisor. Pass/Fail only. Prerequisites: (MAS 6102 or MBA major) and department consent required. (0-0) S MKT 6244 Digital Marketing Strategy (2 semester credit hours) Executive Education Course. The course explores three distinct areas within marketing and sales namely, digital marketing, traditional sales prospecting, and executive sales organization and strategy. The continuing convergence of the digital marketing and sales funnels has created a strategic continuum from digital lead generation to digital sales. The course identifies the current composition of this digital continuum while providing opportunities to evaluate sales and marketing digital strategies. Prerequisites: MKT 6301 and instructor consent required. (2-0) Y MKT 6301 (SYSM 6318) Marketing Management (3 semester credit hours) Overview of marketing management methods, principles and concepts including product, pricing, promotion and distribution decisions as well as segmentation, targeting and positioning. (3-0) S MKT 6309 Marketing Data Analysis and Research (3 semester credit hours) Methods employed in market research and data analysis to understand consumer behavior, customer journeys, and markets so as to enable better decision-making. Topics include understanding different sources of data, survey design, experiments, and sampling plans. The course will cover the techniques used for market sizing estimation and forecasting. In addition, the course will cover the foundational concepts and techniques used in data visualization and \"story-telling\" for clients and management. Corequisites: MKT 6301 and OPRE 6301. (3-0) Y MKT 6310 Consumer Behavior (3 semester credit hours) An exposition of the theoretical perspectives of consumer behavior along with practical marketing implication. Study of psychological, sociological and behavioral findings and frameworks with reference to consumer decision-making. Topics will include the consumer decision-making model, individual determinants of consumer behavior and environmental influences on consumer behavior and their impact on marketing. Prerequisite: MKT 6301. (3-0) Y MKT 6321 Interactive and Digital Marketing (3 semester credit hours) Introduction to the theory and practice of interactive and digital marketing. Topics covered include: online-market research, consumer behavior, conversion metrics, and segmentation considerations; ecommerce, search and display advertising, audiences, search engine marketing, email, mobile, video, social networks, and the Internet of Things. (3-0) T MKT 6322 Internet Business Models (3 semester credit hours) Topics to be covered are: consumer behavior on the Internet, advertising on the Internet, competitive strategies, market research using the Internet, brand management, managing distribution and supply chains, pricing strategies, electronic payment systems, and developing virtual organizations. Further, students learn auction theory, web content design, and clickstream analysis. Prerequisite: MKT 6301. (3-0) Y MKT 6323 Database Marketing (3 semester credit hours) Techniques to analyze, interpret, and utilize marketing databases of customers to identify a firm's best customers, understanding their needs, and targeting communications and promotions to retain such customers. Topics

The Economic Institutions of Capitalism

Abstract: The 2008 crash has left all the established economic doctrines - equilibrium models, real business cycles, disequilibria models - in disarray. Part of the problem is due to Smith’s "veil of ignorance": individuals unknowingly pursue society’s interest and, as a result, have no clue as to the macroeconomic effects of their actions: witness the Keynes and Leontief multipliers, the concept of value added, fiat money, Engel’s law and technical progress, to name but a few of the macrofoundations of microeconomics. A good viewpoint to take bearings anew lies in comparing the post-Great Depression institutions with those emerging from Thatcher and Reagan’s economic policies: deregulation, exogenous vs. endoge- nous money, shadow banking vs. Volcker’s Rule. Very simply, the banks, whose lending determined deposits after Roosevelt, and were a public service became private enterprises whose deposits determine lending. These underlay the great moderation preceding 2006, and the subsequent crash.

The Social Psychology of Groups

Abstract: The Social Psychology of Groups. J. W Thibaut & H. H. Kelley. New York: alley, 1959. The team of Thibaut and Kelley goes back to 1946 when, after serving in different units of the armed services psychology program, the authors joined the Research Center for Group Dynamics, first at M.LT and then at the University of Michigan. Their continued association eventuated in appointments as fellows at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, 19561957. It is during these years that their collaboration resulted in the publication of The Social Psychology of Groups. The book was designed to "bring order and coherence to present-day research in interpersonal relations and group functioning." To accomplish this aim, the authors introduced, defined, and illustrated basic concepts in an effort to explain the simplest of social phenomena, the two-person relationship. These basic principles and concepts were then employed to illuminate larger problems and more complex social relationships and to examine the significance of such concepts as roles, norm, power, group cohesiveness, and status. The lasting legacy of this book is derived from the fact that the concepts and principles discussed therein serve as a foundation for one of the dominant conceptual frameworks in the field of family studies today-the social exchange framework. Specifically, much of our contemporary thinking about the process of interpersonal attraction and about how individuals evaluate their close relationships has been influenced by the theory and concepts introduced in The Social Psychology of Groups. Today, as a result of Thibaut and Kelley, we think of interpersonal attraction as resulting from the unique valence of driving and restraining forces, rewards and costs, subjectively thought to be available from a specific relationship and its competing alternatives. We understand, as well, that relationships are evaluated through complex and subjectively based comparative processes. As a result, when we think about assessing the degree to which individuals are satisfied with their relationships, we take into consideration the fact that individuals differ in terms of the importance they attribute to different aspects of a relationship (e.g., financial security, sexual fulfillment, companionship). We also take into consideration the fact that individuals differ in terms of the levels of rewards and costs that they believe are realistically obtainable and deserved from a relationship. In addition, as a result of Thibaut and Kelley's theoretical focus on the concept of dependence and the interrelationship between attraction and dependence, there has evolved within the field of family studies a deeper appreciation for the complexities and variability found within relationships. Individuals are dependent on their relationships, according to Thibaut and Kelley, when the outcomes derived from the existing relationship exceed those perceived to be available in competing alternatives. Individuals who are highly dependent on their relationships are less likely to act to end their relationships. This dependence and the stability it engenders may or may not be voluntary, depending on the degree to which individuals are attracted to and satisfied with their relationships. When individuals are both attracted to and dependent on their relationships, they can be thought of as voluntarily participating in their relationship. That is, they are likely to commit themselves to the partner and relationship and actively work for its continuance. Thibaut and Kelley termed those relationships characterized by low levels of satisfaction and high levels of dependence "nonvoluntary relationships. …