sustainability Article Spatial Transformation of the Pig Sector in Hungary and Slovenia: A Comparative Analysis Arnold Csonka 1 , Štefan Bojnec 2 and Imre Fert ˝ o 1,3, *   Citation: Csonka, A.; Bojnec, Š.; Fert˝ o, I. Spatial Transformation of the Pig Sector in Hungary and Slovenia: A Comparative Analysis. Sustainability 2021, 13, 11851. https:// doi.org/10.3390/su132111851 Academic Editor: Ada Braghieri Received: 13 September 2021 Accepted: 25 October 2021 Published: 27 October 2021 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affil- iations. Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). 1 Faculty of Business Administration, Hungarian University of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Kaposvár Campus, Guba Sándor u. 40, P.O. Box 16, H-7400 Kaposvár, Hungary; csonka.arnold@uni-mate.hu 2 Faculty of Management, University of Primorska, Izolska Vrata 2, SI-6101 Koper-Capodistria, Slovenia; stefan.bojnec@fm-kp.si 3 Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Lorand Eotvos Research Network, Tóth Kálmán u. 4, H-1097 Budapest, Hungary * Correspondence: ferto.imre@krtk.hu Abstract: This paper presents a comparative analysis of the spatial transformation in the Hungar- ian and Slovenian pig sectors at the level of local administrative units (LAU). Concentration and inequality measures were applied in the empirical analyses, along with Markov transition probability matrices, to examine the stability and/or mobility over time and the presence of clustering effects. Both countries experienced a rapid decline in pig population. This profound structural change has led to a smaller number of more concentrated pig farms and increased territorial concentration. The degree of farm and territorial concentration and inequality in Hungary has been much higher than in Slovenia, and the concentration gap between the countries has increased. Between 2000 and 2010, the degree of concentration was much higher in Hungary than in Slovenia; average herd size per holding increased by 68 percent in Hungary, and only seven percent in Slovenia. In Hungary, clustering effects were particularly significant, with the pig sector moving towards large-scale concentration. The former effect was also confirmed in the Slovenian pig sector, but significantly weakened during the period under investigation. The exploitation and policy management of spatial externalities justifies these agricultural, economic, and agri-environmental practices. Keywords: spatial concentration; clustering effects; restructuring; pig sector; Gini coefficient decomposition; Lorenz curve; Markov transition probability matrix; local indicators of spatial association/local Moran’s I cluster maps; Central and Eastern Europe 1. Introduction The spatial concentration of economic activities and clustering effects has received substantial attention for more than a decade, and there is a wealth of research in various strands of the economic and regional literature. However, studies of the agricultural sectors are still limited. The pork sector is one of the best examples of industrialized agriculture, with strong input–output linkages to the manufacturing sector. The farm structure of the pork industry is strongly affected by economies of scale [1,2], but can differ between countries and regions. An increase in the concentration in global hog production has been accompanied by a spatial concentration of pork production [3,4], which has been explained using agglomeration economies [5]. European pig production was also characterized by structural concentration in the 2000s, accompanied by a rapid increase in technological performance, specialization, and the modernization of farm economies of scale [6]. Thus, intensification of production created economic benefits for the sector, but also increased social tension, particularly in the area of environmental sustainability and environmental protection [6,7]. Sustainability 2021, 13, 11851. https://doi.org/10.3390/su132111851 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability