Search

This study presents a micro-level indicator of farmers' positioning in the market chain, based on the conceptual framework outlined by Antràs and Chor (2013, 2018). The indicator considers the selling location of a farming household and its crop buyers. Using panel data from the World Bank's 'Living Standards Measurement Study: Integrated Surveys on Agriculture' for Ethiopia and Nigeria, this paper applies the proposed indicator empirically and showcases its superior performance in comparison to existing alternatives at the micro-level. Furthermore, by analyzing the dynamics of farmers' food and total consumption over time and controlling for various household and production characteristics, as well as potential confounding factors, this study shows that moving towards a downstream position in the market chain has a positive impact on farmers' food and total consumption levels. The results are validated through sensitivity analysis and robustness checks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper surveys some of the key themes in European agricultural policy research in recent decades. It identifies three main drivers of this research: a gradual broadening of the scope of the discipline in response to changing political priorities and values; an enlarged toolbox of policy instruments that has raised new questions and required the development of new modes of analysis; and the availability of new data sources, increased computing power, as well as the introduction of new methodological advances from economics, statistics and psychology that have opened the way to new and more powerful analytical tools. Particular attention is paid to direct payments and agri-environment-climate measures as examples of new policy instruments that have driven the research agenda. The paper concludes by identifying requirements to ensure that agricultural policy research remains vibrant and relevant in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract. This paper investigates the occurrence of common price shocks (co-exceedance) across different commodities. IMF monthly price series of 11 commodities are considered over the 1980-2021 period. The analysis considers two alternative stochastic processes. The first looks for common volatility clusters using individual GARCH models to detect whether and when respective clusters overlap. Through an appropriate battery of tests, the second alternative looks for a common Bubble Generating Process (BGP) by searching for individual explosive roots and then dating them to identify the possible overlaps and first movers. Evidence emerging about these shock generating processes is linked to the analogous behaviour of the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) to assess to what extent inflation shocks can be associated to the observed commodity price spikes. Results show that the detection of temporary bubbles and volatility clusters only partially agrees on the episodes of exuberance, on the first-moving commodities and on the involvement of the CPI. This provides helpful suggestions on the development of a real-time surveillance tool supporting policy intervention in periods of commodity price turbulence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food loss is a critical issue in Africa, but investigation has mainly been limited to quantity loss. Economic losses are likely to be more significant but are widely ignored. Regarding ruminant-related losses, it remains challenging to identify the optimal harvest point. Focusing on Sahelian agropastoral systems, where stakeholders operate in a shockprone environment, our paper explains how critical actor behaviour is, and it addresses economic losses on live-animal transactions while integrating market behaviours into the analysis. Loss elimination being illusory in such a context, our findings pioneer a loss reduction approach that is supported by an appropriate optimisation programme tested on primary data collected from 202 agropastoral households in Senegal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of culture in connection with the development of food and bioeconomy issues has gained growing importance in recent years. In this editorial we provide background information on the three key topics addressed by the papers published in this special issue: cultural ecosystem services, cultural issues in the organisation of food chains, culture and food characteristics. In a way, the common denominator of these papers is the link between culture, food and territory, taken from different angles. More research and methodological advances are needed for a better consideration of culture in economic research accounting for the current needs of more systemic and holistic vision of the topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past decade, the term bioeconomy has emerged in both policy and academic discourse. Implying a technology-driven approach to wealth generation from organic materials, the term has taken hold with so far limited critical engagement. It is a contestable rather than contested term. Noting the rise of numerous other 'economies' (blue, green, circular) on a similar timeframe, this paper undertakes a critical discourse analysis of academic literature and UK/EU policy documents using the term 'bioeconomy' to produce a contextualised understanding of how it is used in both theoretical and practical contexts. Our analysis shows that bioeconomy, as with the other 'sustainability' economies, which we term the 'S-economies', prioritises the economy and the markets as the solution brokers for the environmental and economic problems they seek to address. The apparent fragmentation of the theory and policy concerning the environmental sustainability of economic activity is expressed through the variability of terms that aspire to establish multiple economies functioning at the same time. Limited empirical analysis of the existing 'bioeconomy' is symptomatic of the dissociation between theory and practice, emphasizing technological approaches favouring capital intensive approaches over local solutions. The S-economies, including the bioeconomy, are an attempt to bypass economic structural realities that otherwise would need to be addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Results-based, collective action, value chain, and land tenure contracts are means to improve the management of agri-environmental public goods. The objective of this paper is to assess the understandability, applicability, and perceived economic benefit of each of these contract types by land managers and stakeholders in twelve European countries, with a special emphasis on Ireland. Using survey data, we find that most land managers agree that results-based contracts are understandable, applicable to their farm, and economically beneficial. A lower portion of land managers in Ireland than other European countries agree that value chain and land tenure contracts are understandable or applicable to their farms. The results suggest that greater efforts are required to promote collective action contracts across Europe as they are paramount to the management of public goods. To increase the adoption of innovative contracts, providing financial certainty and autonomy should be prioritized by policymakers, particularly in Ireland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The agroecological transition promoted worldwide is supported by the European Union Common Agricultural Policy towards different strategies and policy tools. The agri-environmental schemes, offering farmers the possibility to adopt environment-friendly practices (thus mitigating negative externalities/providing positive ones) represent a straightforward example. However, there is dissatisfaction about their effectiveness and efficiency, while their improvement is envisaged through a flexible mix of new instruments: novel contract solutions fostering result-based payments, collective implementation, involving value chains and land tenure systems coupled to environmental conditionality. This paper investigates how farmers from Emilia-Romagna (Italy) perceive these innovative contract solutions as "easy to understand", "applicable", "economic beneficial", and their willingness to enroll. The applied ordered logistic regression models include socio-demographic characteristics, structural features of the holdings, and the farmers' preference(s) for 13 individual contract features. Farmers' perceptions are driven by the previous experience acquired from similar measures, key socio-demographic characteristics/holding structural features, and peculiar contractual elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Embedded within the European Union's Green Deal is a re-enforced scope to encourage farmers' participation in primarily voluntary agri-environmental schemes. Although outside of the European Union, the newly announced agri-environment schemes in England mirror such a policy shift towards incentivising participation in order to deliver more and better climate public goods. Farmers' viewpoints regarding such schemes and contracts are therefore important to examine, as they should be main determinants of current and future enrolment. In this paper, upland Yorkshire farmers were asked to express their opinions for the Landscape Recovery scheme that aims to encourage collaboration and achieve landscape-wide interventions to ensure lasting delivery of climate public goods. Viewpoints show divergent views between environmentally conscious farmers and pragmatic farmers objecting to the functioning of agri-environmental schemes. Farmer viewpoints lean towards 'broad and shallow' schemes that would have simple contract requirements and only achieve marginal gains in the delivery of agri-environmental climate public goods while still showing concern about the natural environment and its impact on farming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to provide a review of recent economic literature related to the Bioeconomy, in particular aimed at identifying relevant pathways for future research in this field. The paper is organised in four main parts. First, we illustrate the economic role of the Bioeconomy and its key statistics in the EU. Second we review economic topics related to the Bioeconomy production in a mainly private (company, consumer, market) perspective. Then we extend our attention to the review of wider social and environmental aspects with a focus on ecosystem services. Finally, we discuss the interplay of the above topics and cross cutting issues in the attempt to identify the most promising pathways for further research. While the economic literature is growing fast in all the fields of the Bioeconomy, we highlight in particular the need of more economic research focusing on transitions and innovation. However, we also highlight the need to take a system perspective and accounting explicitly for the trade-offs among the many objectives that the Bioeconomy is expected to target and to better account of the costs and benefits affecting different stakeholder groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing demand for raw materials for the production of biofuels may lead to an increase in the prices of these raw materials and, due to the shortage of land, to an increase in the prices of other crops. This is due to the fact that the growing demand for raw materials for the production of methyl esters and bioethanol (the most widely used biofuels), such as rape and corn, is a form of competition on the food and feed markets. It should be mentioned that although the topic is not new, it is still very relevant, taking into account the expansion of energy crops, as well as national, European and world energy policy. Especially due to the fact that, as has already been mentioned, the use of plant products for the production of biofuels has an impact on the regulations of the food market. This study is to analyze the volatility and dependence of ethanol, biodiesel, maize and rapeseed prices in the period of 2016-2019 and aims at assessing the correlation between the agricultural and biofuel markets. In this paper, the investigation regarding co-integration of biofuel and agricultural commodity prices has utilized ethanol and commodity prices with the use of the vector error correction model (VECM). Price dependencies between the prices of biodiesel, rapeseed, maize and ethanol were found, indicating the existence of long-term causality in at least one direction between the analyzed prices. The results indicated that biodiesel prices during the period in question were influenced by the previous week's prices of biofuel and rapeseed. Moreover, biodiesel prices had an impact on the level of ethanol and rapeseed prices. In the case of rapeseed, the correlation between its prices and those of corn is also noticeable, while prices of corn may also affect prices of ethanol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Once the EU has perceived the strategic importance of local peculiarities to support rural development and high-quality productions, it has emphasized the need for more place-sensitive agri-food policies. The importance of socio-economic, historical and cultural factors as transfers of intangible value-added is particularly evident in the agri-food sector. Place-blind and sectorial-oriented approaches have indeed not succeeded in dealing with the territorial heterogeneity of agri-food systems. By delving into the longstanding debate on the conceptualizations of territory and focusing on the territories of origin of the most economically performant Italian Protected Designation of Origins (PDOs), this paper empirically investigates what are the contextual conditions that have mainly contributed in the economic success of local productions. Drawing on an original geo-referenced database, the analysis is conducted on a panel of Italian municipalities and exploits non-linear dynamic panel models. Findings point out the heterogeneity of affecting territorial factors. Imbalances come from both socio-economic conditions (food PDOs) and socio-cultural knowledge (wine PDOs). This paper informs the evidence-based debate on the relevance of territorially-sensitive interventions for the future of EU agri-food and rural development policies. In the case of GIs, it should consider being more place-sensitive as well as more integrated with other agricultural and regional policies to meet the EU's socio-economic objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of COVID-19 have been highly heterogeneous, crucially depending on household livelihoods. In the context of households reliant on agri-food systems, the extent of these effects significantly depends on their position within the value chain. An assessment of the COVID-19 effects along the agri-food value chain and the identification of pivotal factors influencing these outcomes are key for designing appropriate responses and targeting the population most in need should a crisis akin to COVID-19 emerge in the future. Using a longitudinal dataset from Ethiopia, composed of a pre-COVID baseline and six follow-up phone-based surveys, this paper estimates the COVID-19-induced change in household income and job participation, tracing its evolution throughout seven months after the pandemic onset. Applying both longitudinal and cross-sectional econometric models, we show that the COVID-19 shock reduced both employment and income, with increasingly negative impacts over time. Despite initial resilience in the face of restrictive measures, farming eventually emerged as the most affected segment within the agri-food value chain over the medium term. Access to formal institutions such as insurance and credit services, formal contractual arrangements, and secured land ownership title played a key role in mitigating the likelihood of income loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the impacts of the Farm to Fork strategy (F2F) target of 25% organic farmland by 2030 in the EU using a farm level model. Two approaches are deployed to model conversion to organic agriculture. The first one, the endogenous approach, operates under the assumption that farm conversions to organic production result from assessing the utility difference between organic and conventional production systems. The exogenous approach relies on econometric estimation of the likelihood of farms to convert to organic driven by a combination of monetary and non-monetary drivers. The simulated impacts of the F2F target at the EU level vary depending on the chosen methodology. Gross income changes range from +3.8% under the endogenous approach to -1.3% under the exogenous approach. Both approaches forecast decreased production (-0.5% to -15%) for most crops and animal products upon achieving the organic target. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the evolution and policy drivers of the productivity of farmers' human capital in EU agriculture from 1986 to 2010. The empirical analysis employs farm data sourced from the Farm Accountancy Data Network Standard Results as well as Eurostat's information on farm holders' educational-attainment levels. Productivities of human capital are measured by the shadow prices for three levels of educational attainment of farm family labour, computed using Data Envelopment Analysis with variable returns to scale, and related to a Malmquist index of total factor productivity and to selected policy variables. The results indicate that productivities of farmers' human capital trend upwards and are positively associated with rural development payments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper applies a Bayesian approach to incorporate non-data information in estimating the opportunity cost for farmers in rural Cameroon to engage in biodiversity conservation and carbon sequestration efforts. Findings from our field survey reveal that only a small percentage of farmers are willing to participate in environmental protection programmes without compensation. A multidimensional preferences analysis indicates that this behavior may be attributed to a disconnection between environmental values and socioeconomic values. Bayesian analysis of the Tobit model, examining Willingness to Accept (WTA) compensation for agroforestry participation, highlights that factors such as aging, higher educational attainment, and higher socioeconomic status are highly likely to promote pro-environmental behaviors. The estimated opportunity cost of supplying environmental services is 10,775 CFA francs with a standard deviation of 333.6 CFA francs per farmer. These results differ qualitatively from the existing literature, underscoring the relative significance of considering expert knowledge in the interpretation of environmental policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With a view to integration into the European Union, the efficiency and competitiveness of the Kosovo' different sectors (including agriculture) must be improved. This paper assesses the technical efficiency (TE) of horticultural farms through Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) applying output orientation. It was founded that the TE of these farms is positively affected by their size, with large-size farms presenting overall higher technical efficiency. The research findings indicate that the degree of agricultural education does not have a significant impact on TE, whereas public assistance through subsidies and grants has a substantial and negative impact on TE, as confirmed by statistical analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to assess the potential impacts of different fertilizer subsidy reform options on the performance of the Iranian crops production sector. This is achieved using a Regional Crop Programming (RCP) model, based on Positive Mathematical Programming, which includes in total 14 crop activities and encompasses 31 administrative regions. The RCP model is a collection of micro-economic models, working with exogenous prices, each representing the optimal crop allocation at the regional level. The model is calibrated against observed data on crop acreage, yield responses to nitrogen application, and exogenous supply elasticities. Simulation results show that a total removal of nitrogen fertilizer subsidies would affect the competitiveness of crops with the highest nitrogen application rates and lead to a slight reduction of national agricultural income, at approximately 1%. This effect, which is more pronounced at the regional level, is driven by area reallocation rather than land productivity. The reallocation of nitrogen fertilizer subsidy to only strategic crops boost their production and income but increase disparity among regions and affects negatively welfare compared to the current universal fertilizer program. The transfer efficiency analysis shows that both target and universal simulated options are inefficient with an efficiency score below one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the existing literature on the effect of attribute framing on consumers' attitudes and intentions with regard to food products. Attribute framing includes a broader interpretation of gains and losses when a product attribute is presented in a dichotomous way, such as fat vs. lean or harm vs. benefit. Meta-analysis results for the whole sample indicate that product attributes framed as gains have a higher effect on attitudes and intentions than product attributes framed as losses. Grouping studies by outcome variables, the meta-analysis demonstrates a larger effect size for studies that assess consumer attitude while for studies dealing with consumer intention, the effect size is close to zero and insignificant. We observe from the metaregression results that the gain frame, the use of interaction terms, a specific product, and a student sample significantly influence consumers' attitudes and intentions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The succession of systemic crises in the last 20 years have affected our lives and have shaken the old order. The global community, represented by UN-based institutions, has encouraged a common effort to address global challenges. In the agri-food sector, one of the most relevant to the emerging societal challenges, the need of a new generation of agri-food policies is evident. The present paper reviews the recent literature on transformative policies, identifying their key characteristics - directionality, reflexivity, and market articulation - and proposing a framework to adapt these characteristics to the policy cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyses the determinants of farmers' adoption of innovations and studies the effect of the source of information and the connection with agricultural research on the contribution of innovation to farm performance. The paper uses primary data collected ad hoc in the Province of Bologna (Emilia-Romagna, Italy) and analyses it through an econometric analysis. The results indicate that structural factors and farm specialisation still play a relevant role in innovation adoption. Connection to scientific research triggers significant improvements in terms of value-added and quality of production but does not affect other profitability-related parameters. The results confirm the need for policy to better consider the role of intermediate actors between research and the farmer as well as to better clarify the final performance strategy in order to set the policy instruments right. The paper also highlights the need for further research about farms' proactivity in searching for and selecting information during the process of innovation adoption and competitive advantages in terms of profitability components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumers' food choices often deviate from rationality. This paper explores whether deviations from rationality impact home-grown values elicited using either bid- or choice-based value elicitation techniques. The paper focuses on second-price Vickrey auctions and discrete choice experiments, which are widely used to value innovative private goods and the welfare benefits of policy interventions. The paper reports the results of an experiment that combines induced value and home-grown value elicitation procedures. Home-grown values are elicited for a public food policy. The experiment has two treatments that differ in the elicitation technique: secondprice Vickrey auction and discrete choice experiment. For each technique, inducedvalue elicitation procedures are used to measure subjects' deviations from rationality. Deviations from rationality are more likely in the second-price Vickrey auction. Subjects who behave irrationally have higher home-grown values than rational subjects in the second-price Vickrey auction. The impact of deviations from rationality is weaker in the discrete choice experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long criticized, pluriactivity is now perceived as an alternative agricultural strategy and it is becoming a subject of support policies. However, having an off-farm job generates organizational issues that can penalize the viability of this strategy. In this paper, we study the initial motivations of pluriactivity and the strategies developed by farmers over time to handle pluriactivity difficulties and we examine conditions that lead to permanent pluriactivity or not. We use an original qualitative approach interviewing 29 pluriactive farmers in "Nord-Pas de Calais", region located in northern France. Our results show that pluriactivity is a dynamic strategy and farmers develop different strategies to adapt their pluriactivity over time to their farm requirements and time constraints. We find that most of the trajectories lead to a permanent pluriactive status, but pluriactivity lasts longer when both activities adapt to each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The provision of public goods by agriculture and forestry has been a major topic of the agricultural policy debate in the EU. The objective of this paper is to investigate local stakeholder perceptions regarding the cause-effect relations between agriculture and forestry activities and a broad set of public goods and bads, and hence to contribute to the identification of improved policy options for a more efficient delivery of public goods from rural areas. The study presents an assessment based on 71 stakeholder questionnaires collected from seven case study regions in different EU countries. The survey was based on a list of the most relevant public goods and bads developed with the local stakeholders, and aimed to collect stakeholder perception of positive and negative impacts of agriculture and forestry on a range of environmental assets and their relationship with local drivers, socio-economic and cultural features, and policy mechanisms. The analysis shows that the role of agriculture and forestry in the provision of public goods is perceived as generally positive across the selected case study regions. Stakeholder opinions concerning the negative impacts on the environment were more divergent. In particular, differences regarding the impact of different socio-economic and cultural features, and policy mechanisms are evidenced. The results outline the importance of regulations. Also, payments for environmental services are considered relevant in particular for biodiversity, landscape, and water quality. Beside that, aspects such as expectations of society and the attitude of farmers towards the environment resulted noteworthy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a summary of the evolution of the bioeconomy and compares it with trends in related economics literature. The objective is to discuss how the bio-based economics literature from recent years matches real world concerns and to emphasise emerging needs, in order to derive implications for economic research. Though 'bioeconomy economics and policy' is still far from being a well-established discipline, the current literature seems to recognise scope for its development together with (and contributing to) the development of the bioeconomy as a whole. Several emerging research areas are identified, ranging from the quantification of bioeconomy components and biomass flows, to the political economy of the bioeconomy. However, the economics of the bioeconomy needs most likely to develop not as an independent research area, but rather in close connection with the more 'traditional', but highly lively and innovating, areas of agriculture and food economics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While higher effort in research is advocated for agriculture, there continues to be a lack of measurement of its impact in economic terms, at least in Europe. This paper seeks to assess the economic impact of public agricultural R&D investments in Europe. Different panel models are applied on 16 European countries, by employing productivity and investment data. Results show positive impacts with returns on public R&D investments on agricultural productivity of between 6.5% and 15.2%, varying according to model specifications and computation techniques. These values confirm that research expenditure in agriculture is well justified in economic terms. However, the results are highly dependent on the analytical approach and limited by the paucity of expenditure data. Further research is recommended to take into account the role of other important determinants of impact, such as climate, spill overs and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). However, a proper consideration of these variables will first require a major improvement of data availability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the potential usefulness and possible pitfalls of using integrated choice and latent variable models (hybrid choice models) on stated choice data to inform policy. Using a series of Monte-Carlo simulations, we consider how model selection depends on the strength of relationship between the latent variable and preferences and the strength of relationship between the latent variable and the indicator. Our findings show that integrated choice and latent variable models are difficult to estimate, even when the data generating process is known. Ultimately, we show that their use should be driven by the analyst's belief about the strength of correlations between preferences, the latent variable and indicator. We discuss the implications of our results for policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rural to urban migration has always been an inherent part of the economic development process, but its impacts are poorly understood, and are often feared by governments, which has led to policies that either attempt to explicitly or implicitly hinder migration. A major concern is that rural-urban migration can threaten food security, through reductions in agricultural production. In this paper, I examine the recent literature on migration and agriculture, which takes the challenge of statistically identifying impacts of migration seriously. I begin by discussing rural-urban productivity gaps and implications for policy, following through to impacts on agricultural production and rural investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the co-evolution of the CAP expenditure and of the farms' performance and choices to assess whether and to what extent CAP assessment itself meets the requisites of Causal Inference. In order to identify some regularities in this co-evolution, the analysis is performed on a constant group of professional farms over a long enough time period. The Italian 2008-2019 FADN balanced sample is here considered. Results points to two major empirical implications. First of all, they question whether CAP expenditure is actually accompanied by any significant farmers' response. An exception may actually concern the support specifically focused on environmental standards. Secondly, they raises some major methodological issues about the applicability of the Treatment Effect logic to CAP assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the interest in food loss and waste has been gaining momentum from researchers and policy-makers. Much of the attention on the matter is centered in industrialized countries, creating a knowledge gap within developing countries, among which is the Philippines. This lack of information impedes the countrylevel response in solving the issue, whose implications extend to food and nutrition security, productivity, and resource use. For this reason, our paper estimates the food loss and waste levels in the Philippine food supply chain of rice, corn, and banana commodities. We were first to identify the percentage accumulation of food loss and waste in each stage of the food supply chain and translated such portions into edible food volumes initially intended for human consumption. Our findings revealed that between one-seventh to one-fifth of edible rice, corn, and banana quantities are lost/wasted in their respective food supply chains. For each of the commodities analyzed, the principal activities responsible for the problem are drying, dehanding, and harvesting, respectively. Our results suggest the following for policy intervention and research: establish an agreed-upon food loss and waste definition; calibrate interventions at the level of the food supply chain; follow a supply chain system approach in reducing the problem; and determine an acceptable level of loss/waste. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper adds to the ongoing debate about low farmers' uptake of risk management (RM) tools subsidised by the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). In particular, the research pioneers the investigation of whether and how trust towards the relevant intermediaries and the perceived barriers to adopting may influence farmers' intention to adopt the insurance and to participate in mutual funds (MF) and in the Income Stabilisation Tool (IST). In the light of the current CAP reform, as a novel contribution this paper also questions the efficiency of the new operating rules established by the Omnibus Regulation. The research proposes a conceptual framework to simultaneously assess these under investigated factors and several other determinants of the intention to adopt (e.g. risk attitude). Data were gleaned from direct interviews among 105 Italian farmers and analysed through structural equation modeling. The results confirm the positive role of trust in influencing the intention to adopt the insurance, which is notoriously affected by problems of information asymmetry. Similarly, trust is a key element in influencing the intention to participate in the IST, which is a collective instrument based on solidarity and mutuality indeed. Moreover, the higher the perceived barriers to adopting, the lower the intention to participate in a mutual fund, for which therefore further informative initiatives (e.g. on benefits from the adoption and the ease of use) are required. Interestingly, the results show a positive impact of the new CAP policy changes on the intention to both take out the insurance and participate in the IST, thus opening up to positive prospects for the EU risk management strategy post-2020. To conclude, this study paves the way for new research avenues in the field of farmers' adoption of subsidised RM tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using export market shares as a measure of international competitiveness, this paper studies wine exports in terms of propensity and intensity. Based on data for the period 1999-2014, a two-part fractional regression model is applied. The results suggest that for importing countries GDP per capita, their own wine production, and EU membership have a positive effect on the probability of importing wine but tend to evolve inversely to market shares, as taste for variety becomes more important. Additionally, export propensity is positively affected by regional trade agreements, common language, similarity of religious culture, wine production in the exporting country, and the exporting country being from the Old World, while export intensity is boosted by common language and wine production in the exporting country. Bilateral distance has a negative effect on both margins of trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the need to improve the provision of Agri-Environmental-Climate Public Goods (AECPGs) in European agricultural and forest ecosystems. It suggests that innovative and more effective instruments, such as result-based and value chain-based solutions, as well as approaches that promote collective implementation, are necessary. The article discusses the challenges and criticisms associated with current action-based AECS and proposes alternative approaches to improve their environmental effectiveness. It presents various contract solutions, including value chain contracts and land tenure contracts, that aim to improve the delivery of public goods from agriculture and forestry. The article also highlights the importance of farmers' perspectives and previous experiences in determining their acceptance of these contracts. Additionally, it emphasizes the need for enhanced promotion, education, and financial certainty to encourage the adoption of these contracts. [Extracted from the article]

This paper focuses on questions related to the regulation of quality in the food chain. The paper first recalls the new challenges related to quality in the food chain, with an emphasis on the issue of sustainability. This first part underlines that the numerous dimensions related to sustainability make the regulation necessary but difficult. Then the paper introduces a partial equilibrium model calibrated with empirical data, for helping evaluate which regulatory instrument should be socially preferred ex ante on a case-by-case basis. An application to the milk market focuses on linseed for feeding dairy cows, which reduces methane emissions and increases the omega-3 content of milk. Simulations compare the impact of the exclusive use of one label signaling omega-3, versus the impact of a minimum-quality standard imposing linseed in the diet of all dairy cows. Both instruments would have a positive impact on consumers' surpluses and some producers' profits. This application shows that details about the influence of regulatory tools on surpluses may be given on a case-by-case basis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diversification is a polymorphic strategy to increase agricultural income and reduce the risks deriving from the surrounding environment. This strategy can also be successfully adopted in the context of organic farming. However, there is a lack of confirmation in this regard given the scarcity of studies that explicitly focus on diversification in organic farms. The objective of this paper is to analyse the influence of some territorial, socio-economic, and political factors on the probability of diversifying in both organic and conventional farms. To this aim, multinomial and binary logit models are applied to the Italian case. Results suggest that on-farm diversification requires specific competences and adequate organization. However, the reasons for diversifying differ depending on the production model. In conventional farming, farmers diversify to achieve income levels comparable with those of a more competitive agriculture. Conversely, for organic farmers, diversification represents an integrated part of the production model to take advantage of synergies between organic production and diversification. From these results, some policy implications are drawn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses the impact of assistance on the wellbeing of Palestinian households. The impact evaluation analysis uses a difference-in-difference approach for the treatment of sample selection bias. The paper uses data from the 2013 and 2014 rounds of the Palestinian Socio-Economic and Food Security survey to estimate the impact of assistance to West Bank and Gaza Strip (WBGS) households on their poverty and food security status. Results suggest that both poverty and food insecurity would have been much higher for WBGS as a whole without assistance, further increasing in areas with lower levels of assistance. However, the average positive impact of assistance hides a lot of heterogeneity. In fact, while there is a clear positive impact of the intensity of assistance on poverty reduction, food consumption and diet diversity in the West Bank, Gaza Strip analysis shows mixed results. Results highlight how the international community cannot disengage from supporting Palestinian households without severely impacting their wellbeing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the legal and policy relationships amongst international standards for GIs, food safety requirements, and voluntary claims related to a food's attributes. The paper addresses those relationships within the context of international trade agreements protecting GIs, such as the 1994 TRIPS Agreement, the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), and the chapter on intellectual property and geographical indications in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) currently under negotiation. Trade agreements also discipline food safety measures and non-GI indications of quality or safety such as "organic" and "GMO-free." Accordingly, the paper also considers the extent to which international trade agreements such as the WTO Agreements on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Standards (SPS Agreement) and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) might interact with the analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large amount of policy support is spent to foster the development of rural areas in Europe. However, empirical evidence on the well-being differential between rural and urban areas in Europe is scant and incomplete. The present study develops a systematic literature review on this topic, bridging a gap in research as a systematic analysis on the subject has not been developed as far as we know. It uses the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) method. The review focuses on definitions of rural-urban most used in the literature, main dimensions of well-being that are analyzed, nature of the data and, finally, evidence that emerged regarding the differences in the various dimensions of well-being between rural and urban populations. The analysis confirms that available evidence is controversial and provides advice on how to develop new and better empirical analyses on this topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the latest release of employment and value added numbers in the bioeconomy sectors, we conducted an analysis on the performance of the EU bioeconomy during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Our findings point to a possibly higher level of resilience of the bioeconomy sectors compared to the overall economy. While employment in the bioeconomy registered a similar (but slightly sharper) decrease to the total EU average (-1.7% vs. -1.4%), the value added fell substantially below average (-0.4% vs. -4.0%). The more contemporary biomass-processing sectors (chemicals and pharmaceuticals, as well as bioelectricity) performed better than the more traditional sectors (such as food or textiles). At the Member State level, we observe a high degree of heterogeneity in sectoral performance. By discussing these estimates alongside previous qualitative insights from the related literature, we emphasize the relevance of the bioeconomy not only for environmental sustainability but also for socioeconomic resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quality assurance is a dominant feature of organic production and, currently, third-party certification is recognized as the official authenticity assurance strategy by the majority of worldwide organic regulations. This model, however, is less accessible to smallholders because it is costly and its application time-consuming. Furthermore, this certification system has been accused on several fronts to be responsible for the standardization of the organic production process leading to a "conventionalization" of organic productions. Contextually, in several countries, groups of small producers have started to implement alternative quality assurance systems for their organic products, better known as Participatory Guarantee Systems. Research to date has not yet determined how these models can survive within a highly competitive market such as that of certification. In this framework, the paper aims to theoretically unveil and explain the alternative certification phenomenon and its coexistence with third-party certification by applying an evolutionary game (rationally bounded agents that adopt the more rewarding strategy). The results of simulations suggest that symbolic attributes such as localness, healthiness, quality, producers and consumers embeddedness can differentiate products guaranteed by alternative schemes, meeting consumers' preference. The discussion of findings provides an assessment of the performance of both quality assurance systems, explain their coexistence within the organic market, identify critical aspects, and suggest some policy implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For some time, individuals in multiple contexts have been moving from rural to urban areas for economic reasons. In recent years, however, young people in Japan have been increasingly turning to rural areas to embrace a slower, less-hectic lifestyle. Despite this interesting development, researchers have thus far failed to identify determinants of residents' well-being in rural and urban areas in Japan. Moreover, recent empirical work has shown that stated happiness or subjective well-being (SWB) can serve as an empirical proxy for perceived utility. To expand upon this line of research, in this paper, I use SWB to gauge disparities between the Japanese rural and urban environments. In addition, I determine how natural capital and social capital affect SWB for both rural and urban residents. Results show that on average, rural residents report higher SWB than urban residents despite low average income. I also identify multiple factors other than household income that affect SWB; these relationships are particularly pronounced for rural residents. Finally, results demonstrate that residents that migrate from urban to rural areas reported high levels of SWB. Taken together, the results of this study provide new insight into rural values and the attractiveness of rural residency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although representing less than 20% of total CAP expenditure, the Rural Development Policy (RDP) 2007-2013 is supposed to support rural areas which are facing new challenges. Currently, many EU rural areas are experiencing major transformations and the traditional urban-rural divide seems outdated (OECD, 2006). Going beyond dichotomous definitions and approaches, the paper applies at EU NUTS 3 level a new composite and comprehensive measure of rurality and peripherality (the PeripheRurality Indicator, PRI): the higher this index, the more rural and peripheral a given region is. Within a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) approach, this indicator takes into account both conventional socio-economic indicators and the relevant geographical characteristics of the region. On the basis of this analysis, the paper also puts forward a clusterisation of NUTS 3 regions across Europe and assesses the correlation between the RDP expenditure intensity, the PRI and the different regional clusters. This analysis is aimed at assessing the coherence of RDP fund allocation with the real characteristics of EU rural space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The instability of commodity prices and the hypothesis that speculative behaviour was one of its causes has brought renewed interest in futures markets. The paper analyses the European wheat futures markets (feed and milling) and the Chicago Board of Trade's wheat contract as a comparison. Although the main purpose of the paper is to analyse whether futures markets are still useful for hedging (considering the demands from different market participants), implicitly this can be seen as testing whether the increasing presence of speculation has made futures markets divorced from physical markets. The results indicate that hedging with futures markets is still a viable alternative for dealing with price risk. This is particularly true in short period hedges (e.g. merchants and processors), where the basis seems to have been affected by the observed price instability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper will address the changes the CAP post-2013 may bring to its second pillar in EU countries. After the presentation of the legislative package put forward by the European Commission, a debate emerged in some countries on how to define rural development strategies for the period 2014-2020. he paper will discuss positive innovations and main challenges of the new rural development policies with respect to what happened in the 2007-2013 period. In particular, the paper intends to focus on the following issues: 1) which relevant changes have been introduced in the rural development framework; 2) how these changes can influence the preparation of the next programming period 2014-2020, looking more in depth at three countries (Italy, Spain and France); 3) what lessons can be drawn from this reform and the initial implementation in three countries in terms of institutional changes and their likely success and failure. his analysis concludes that the success or failure of the 2014-2020 reform of rural development will significantly depend on what types of transaction costs and incentive systems will be brought about within the programming system. These two factors in turn will strongly depend on the way the different actors will perceive the different costs and incentives, their expectations on the role of rural development programmes in a context where budget for agriculture is shrinking everywhere, and finally their capability to build new strategic alliances and cooperation at every level (national, regional and local) with other economic and social actors. Future policy scenarios might bring new and heavy constraints to rural development policies and consequently might also reduce the opportunities of institutional innovations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ireland suffers from very low levels of farmland mobility by European standards. This paper examines the role of attitudes in farmers' openness toward land transactions using a nationally representative survey of Irish farmers across the major farm systems. The results show that attitudinal factors are a significant predictor of openness to land mobility, both on the supply and demand side of the market. Additionally, there appears to be a greater demand amongst farmers for temporary land transactions such as land leasing arrangements than is currently seen in at market level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discrete choice experiments can be used to inform policy makers on people's preferences for landscapes and cultural ecosystem services. Recent studies have shown that the spatial context influences preferences and related willingness to pay values. In this paper we investigate the effect of the landscape surrounding people's places of residence on their willingness to pay using data from a discrete choice experiment on local land-use changes and cultural ecosystem services throughout Germany. For analysis, we apply a latent class logit model and include landscape categories as explanatory variables for class membership. We find that the different landscapes people live in are correlated with preferences. Especially people from urban areas and farm- and grassland landscapes have larger willingness to pay values for improvements in cultural ecosystem services than people from forest landscapes and cultural landscapes. The results are important for policy makers as different willingness to pay values in different landscapes imply different welfare effects for land use changes. Taking this information into account can help in reaching more efficient resource allocations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The yield of several commodity crops is provided in large part by genetically modified crops in North and South America. However, reservations exist in Europe due to possible negative effects on human health or environment. This paper aims to analyse the current research priorities identified in EU countries and to engage European stakeholders into the formulation of future common research needs regarding the effects of the possible adoption of commercially available and forthcoming genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the areas of socio-economics, human and animal health, and environment. Additionally, it aims to identify the requirements for sharing available research capacities and existing infrastructures. First a mapping exercise of existing research activities in Europe was performed. A questionnaire was developed on a webbased platform and submitted to national focal points to collect information from EU Member States. Information was collected from 320 research projects conducted in the last 10 years in Europe. To refine results of the surveys, twenty invited experts and stakeholders from the public funding agencies of different EU Member States participated in an international workshop. This paper reports the main findings of these activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent times there has been a growing awareness of the role of agriculture in providing public goods and services, in particular in less favoured areas. However, since agriculture is an economic activity, its permanence implies that it should be able to generate a satisfactory income for farmers. Where this is not possible, due to natural constraints or adverse economic and market conditions, in order to maintain an adequate use of farmland it is necessary to provide public aid to farmers. In this framework, the design of proper interventions aimed to promote rural development in less favoured areas should be based on a deep knowledge at the farm and territorial level. As regards the territorial level, the RDP zoning [art. 11 Reg. Ce 1698/2005] developed by Member States on the base of the guidelines provided by the European Commission is very often not sufficient to adequately define the territorial characteristics of rural areas. The use of GIS techniques may help to handle this issue by providing a better and more detailed knowledge at the territorial level. Farm level is important insofar as aid effectiveness is usually strongly depending on the type of farm that is receiving it. Thus, a careful selection of beneficiaries could determine a more effective and efficient distribution of resources. This paper aims to provide a spatial analysis of natural constraints and types of farming style in Mugello area and to analyse their relations with CAP aid distribution. Both Single Payment Scheme (SPS) and Rural Development Programme (RDP) payments have been taken into account. The paper combines a GIS analysis of terrain features with the theoretical approach of farming styles. For this purpose, the study integrates several sources of data: the 2010 Italian Agriculture Census, the Tuscany Regional Agency for Payments in Agriculture (ARTEA) database, and land cover data from the database Corine Land Cover (CLC-06), as updated to 2007 by LAMMA (Laboratory for Environment Monitoring and Modelling). A geo-referenced database including socioeconomic attributes of farms, land use, and terrain characteristics has been generated in order to merge information at territorial and farm level. The results of this integrated analysis confirm that Mugello is a very heterogeneous area as regards terrain characteristics despite the fact that it is totally included in less favoured areas. On the other side, farm strategies and economic results seem to be related to entrepreneurial characteristics as much as to natu-ral constraints. The analysis of Pillar I payments and RDP payments for farms located in this mountainous area shows a very complex situation where the strategies implemented by farmers of the strongest farming styles may successfully counteract natural constraints. Besides, in the Authors' opinion, the analyses performed highlight the importance of spatial analysis as a tool for evaluating how public resources are distributed on a territory, thus providing also useful information on the way this distribution could be improved, e.g. for ensuring a higher level of environmental services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]