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While we can rely on markets to match producer supply with consumer demand for most goods and services, markets fail to yield the socially optimal outcome in the case of pollution so that government interventions are desirable. However, determining the "right" level of environmental protection is a question that holds both a social and a political component. Policy makers are not only concerned with the net social benefit of environmental measures, but also with the consequences for those who have to bear the costs. We describe a normative approach to integrate affordability criteria in the implementation of environmental policies. We focus on the affordability of abatement measures for the industrial sector. Subsequently, we illustrate our approach and suggested cut-off points by means of some case studies. The cases show that affordability criteria can support policy makers in their assessment of candidate "Best Available Techniques" under the European Directive on Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control as well as in the assessment of alternative programmes of measures to achieve good water status under the European Water Framework Directive. The criteria presented are a tool for objectifying the discussion between industry and policymakers about the affordability of environmental measures. xpert judgement and negotiation remain essential in defining and implementing environmental policy.

ispartof: The Shifting Patterns of Agricultural Production and Productivity Worldwide pages:279-313 ispartof: pages:279-313 status: published

ispartof: Report to the EC DG Internal Market pages:1-85 status: published

status: published

The distribution of land rights is a very important economic and political issue, and it played a central role in the transition processes in Europe and Asia. This paper analyzes the impact of the distribution of land on household welfare by using subjective well-being (SWB) data from a rural household survey in Moldova, the poorest country in Europe. The recent land reform in Moldova provides a natural experiment on the impact of land ownership distribution on SWB. We find that household land holdings have a positive effect on SWB but neighbours’ average land holdings have a negative effect on SWB. People, regardless of the land distribution and even given the relatively low living standards of these households, rate their welfare by looking at how much other people possess. The findings of the paper have more general implications as it is one of the first attempts to measure the impact of wealth, rather than income, on SWB.

The Deliverable 2.1 (D2.1) of the SCARLED project provides the conceptual framework for analysing structural change in agriculture and rural livelihoods in the NMS and established Member States of the EU. It concisely summarizes the underlying theories and concepts of the pertinent research issues in SCARLED. SCARLED addresses a topic of wide interest with regard to the identification of past and future key social and agricultural restructuring processes for a living countryside in the NMS. Methodologically, the topic is approached by comparative, structured multi-country farm surveys complemented by an analysis of structural changes in the farm sectors of two selected regions with the agent-based simulation model AgriPoliS, taking special account of demographic changes. In addition, SCARLED studies success stories of rural development in selected regions of five established Member States For all topics covered by the SCARLED workpackages, the most relevant literature has been reviewed. The driving forces of structural change and rural livelihoods are identified and discussed in detail. All subsequent SCARLED analyses and methodological approaches will refer to this document. On the basis of this conceptual framework paper, the framework for the survey tool is established and will be further developed to serve the needs of the empirically based workpackages. The analysis of rural development success stories in established Member States will use the common methodological framework outlined in D2.1. The literature used in D2.1 is customized in Endnotes, a software system for managing bibliographies. Furthermore, it is noted that outputs and new developments in SCARLED will be documented on the project’s homepage - www.scarled.eu.

This paper analyzes how imperfections of property rights affect allocation of assets and welfare, using micro-survey data from Bulgaria. Co-ownership of assets is widespread in many countries due to inheritance. Central and Eastern Europe offers an interesting natural experiment to assess the effects of such rights imperfections because of the asset restitution process in the 1990s. Bulgaria is particularly interesting because of the prominence of the co-ownership problem (about half of all land plots are co-owned), because of the strong fragmentation of land, and because of legislation providing an instrument to separate out chosen (endogenous) versus forced (exogenous) firms of co-ownership. We find that land in co-ownership is much more likely to be used by less efficient firm organizations or to be left abandoned, and that it leads to significant welfare losses.

This paper analyzes how imperfections of property rights affect allocation of assets and welfare, using micro-survey data from Bulgaria. Co-ownership of assets is widespread in many countries due to inheritance. Central and Eastern Europe offers an interesting natural experiment to assess the effects of such rights imperfections because of the asset restitution process in the 1990s. Bulgaria is particularly interesting because of the prominence of the co-ownership problem (about half of all land plots are co-owned), because of the strong fragmentation of land, and because of legislation providing an instrument to separate out chosen (endogenous) versus forced (exogenous) forms of co-ownership. We find that land in co-ownership is much more likely to be used by less efficient farm organizations or to be left abandoned, and that it leads to significant welfare losses.

Transition countries provide a natural experiment to study the development of land markets. This paper provides survey-evidence of the variation in the development of land markets, identifies a series of patterns, and provides a set of hypotheses to explain these variations in land market development.

Studies on efficiency changes in transition agriculture yield mixed results. This paper develops both a theoretical model and an empirical analysis of how distribution of efficiency scores changes with the various stages of transition. We use a unique set of representative farm survey data to calculate farm level efficiency scores, compare the efficiency distributions of different transition countries and correlate these with various indicators of particular reforms. Our study indicates that, in particular, general institutional reforms and reforms focused on market institutions and on reducing market imperfections in input and output markets have an important positive impact on farm efficiency.

Since the late 1980s, agriculture in Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs) has been under considerable adjustment pressure due to changing political, economic and institutional environments. These changes have been linked to the transition process, as well as the ongoing integration into the European Union and the world market. Reduced subsidies, increased environmental and food quality demands, as well as structural changes in the supply, processing and food retailing sector call for major structural adjustments and the improvement of farmers’ managerial abilities. Though such changes always carry significant threats to farms, they also offer new opportunities for the farms' entrepreneurial engagement. Upcoming changes in the agricultural environment and their possible consequences for farm structures across Europe are thus still timely subjects. The objective of the IAMO Forum 2006 is to contribute to the success of agriculture in the CEECs, as well as their neighboring countries, in today’s increasingly competitive environment. Concrete questions the conference focuses on are: What are the most suitable farm organizations, cooperative arrangements and contractual forms? How to improve efficiency and productivity? Where do market niches lie and what are the new product demands? This book contains 33 invited and selected contributions. These papers will be presented at the IAMO Forum 2006 in order to offer a platform for scientists, practitioners and policy-makers to discuss challenges and potential strategies at the farm, value chain, rural society and policy levels in order to cope with the upcoming challenges. IAMO Forum 2006, as well as this book, would not have been possible without the engagement of many people and institutions. We thank the authors of the submitted abstracts and papers, as well as the referees, for their evaluation of the abstracts from which the papers were selected. In particular, we would like to express our thanks to OLIVER JUNGKLAUS, GABRIELE MEWES, KLAUS REINSBERG and ANGELA SCHOLZ, who significantly contributed to the organization of the Forum. Furthermore, our thanks goes to SILKE SCHARF for her work on the layout and editing support of this book, and to JIM CURTISS, JAMIE BULLOCH, and DÓNALL Ó MEARÁIN for their English proof-reading. As experience from previous years documents, the course of the IAMO Forum continues to profit from the support and engagement of the IAMO administration, which we gratefully acknowledge. Last but not least, we are very grateful to the Robert Bosch Foundation, the Federal Ministry of Nutrition, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (BMELV), the German Research Foundation (DFG), the Haniel Foundation and the Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Central and Eastern Europe (IAMO) for their respective financial support.

This study used a unique 2003 survey dataset to analyse the developments in land use and exchange in Bulgaria. The survey analysis yields several results. Land is highly fragmented in Bulgaria which increases the need for an efficient exchange of land between owners and users of land. However, the land sales market is not well developed. In contrast, land rental agreements are very widespread. Land rental is widely used to exchange land between owners and users of the land. The users include a variety of farm types, including cooperatives, farming companies, and individual farms. While land titles are distributed and land plots clearly defined and delineated, an important property rights problem exists under the form of so-called "co-ownership". By law, certain plots are undividable among heirs because the plot size after division would fall under the imposed minimum plot size. Our estimation results show that co-ownership has a major impact on land use and allocation. Land under co-ownership and which is undividable by law, is more likely to be left abandoned or used by large enterprises - the default users of land given the history of land use in Bulgaria - compared to owner-cultivation or renting out to another household. Our analysis shows that solving co-ownership problems would not only stimulate efficient land allocation which in turn affects the household's welfare level. Land that is cultivated by the household or rented to an other household contributes more to its welfare than land that is rented to a cooperative or left abandoned.

Studies on efficiency changes in transition agriculture yield mixed results. This paper develops both a theoretical model and an empirical analysis of how distribution of efficiency scores changes with the various stages of transition. We use a unique set of representative farm survey data to calculate farm level efficiency scores, compare the efficiency distributions of different transition countries and correlate these with various indicators of particular reforms. Our study indicates that, in particular, general institutional reforms and reforms focused on market institutions and on reducing market imperfections in input and output markets have an important positive impact on farm efficiency.

Studies on efficiency changes in transition agriculture yield mixed results. This paper develops both a theoretical model and an empirical analysis of how distribution of efficiency scores changes with the various stages of transition. We use a unique set of representative farm survey data to calculate farm level efficiency scores, compare the efficiency distributions of different transition countries and correlate these with various indicators of particular reforms. Our study indicates that, in particular, general institutional reforms and reforms focused on market institutions and on reducing market imperfections in input and output markets have an important positive impact on farm efficiency.

The paper describes completely the current status of the land rental markets in Bulgaria and Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. It presents survey evidences and analyses the problems related to the transfer of land, land registration, land ownership and co-ownership, transaction costs, land contracts, land abandonment. It also gives a detailed picture on the different groups of participants in the land rental markets in the both countries.

This paper analyses the detfirminants of household firms?participation in land rental markets in transition countries and what affects their access to land through rental markets. We derive several theoretical hypotheses on the impact of households?management ability, land endowment, land quality and prices, transaction costs in the land market, rural credit and labour market constraints. We test the hypotheses combining a representative dataset on land rental activities of more than 1,400 Hungarian household firms with data from the Hungarian Central Statistical Office. We find that land rental markets reallocate land to households with better firm management capacities and less endowed with land. Households combine buying and renting of land to extend their firms. The continued domination of large firm organizations in some regions restricts household's access to land. Rural credit and labour market imperfections have an important impact on land rental markets.

ispartof: Discussion Papers 129/2003 status: published

This paper analyses the determinants of household farms' participation in land markets in transition countries. We derive several hypotheses on the impact of households' management ability, land endowment, land quality and prices, transaction costs in the land market, rural credit and labour market constraints. We test the hypotheses combining a representative dataset on land rental activities of more than 1,400 Hungarian household farms with data from the Hungarian Central Statistical Office. We find that land rental markets reallocate land to households with better farm management capacities and less endowed with land. Households combine buying and renting of land to extend their farms. The continued domination of large farm organizations in some regions restricts household's access to land. Rural credit and labour market imperfections have an important impact on land rental markets.

This paper uses data from a survey of more than 1,400 farming households in Hungary to identify a set of profiles of farming households, which are active in the rental market and to estimate econometrically the impact of household characteristics, such as social, physical, and human capital, as well as regional and environmental characteristics on land rental activities. We show that the decision of farming households to lease in land is related to their land endowment, their access to capital assets, human capital variables such as age and education and their social capital. Environmental factors are also important.

This paper examines the functioning of the Hungarian land rental market. The allocative inefficiency of the land rental market is determined by calculating the marginal value productivity of land and using rental prices. Regional differences in allocative inefficiency are then correlated with demographic and socio-economic variables and with labor market-related factors.

Based on survey data on Bulgarian and Hungarian crop and dairy farms, a double-peaked distribution of technical efficiency is observed. Several factors explain differences in efficiency. Human capital matters not only through age and education, but also through gender as farms with a higher share of women are more efficient. Contracting with upstream processors increased efficiency through facilitating the adoption of technology and the access to credits. The superiority of family farms over corporate farms is confirmed for crops but not for dairy.