1,721,095 research outputs found
The Bioeconomy. Delivering Sustainable Green Growth
No full textMain Description
The 'bioeconomy' is the idea of an economy based on the sustainable exploitation of biological resources. Within this concept, there is increasing emphasis on issues such as climate change, depletion of natural resources and growing world food needs. The bioeconomy builds on the recognition of advances in technology, particularly in the life sciences, but at the same time covers issues such as innovation management, ecosystem services, development and governance.
This book explores the development of the bioeconomy across the world from an economic and policy perspective, as well as identifying potential future pathways and issues. It uses a broad definition, covering all sectors using biological resources except health, and rather than focusing on individual sectors, it explores the breadth of interconnections that make the bioeconomy a new and challenging subject.
Divided into two parts, the book initially outlines the current definitions, strategies, policy and economic information related to the world's bioeconomy. The second part describes current economic analysis and research efforts in qualifying and understanding the economics of the bioeconomy. This includes the contributions of technology, research and innovation; driving forces and demand-side economics; supply-side economics, and the role of markets and public policy in matching demand and supply. The political economy, regulation and transitions are considered, as well as the contribution of the bioeconomy to society, including growth, development and sustainability.
Key features include:
- An analysis of varied international approaches to the bioeconomy.
- A joint consideration of biotechnology, agriculture, food energy and bio-materials.
- An assessment of sustainability in the bioeconomy.
- A comprehensive view of the issues from an economic and policy perspective.
This book will be of interest to students and researchers in agricultural and natural resource economics, agricultural and environmental policy, as well as policy-makers, practitioners and economists
The Use of the Analytic Network Process for the Analysis of Public Goods Supply from Agricultural Systems: Advances and Challenges Ahead
No full textThis chapter aims to review and summarize potentials and limitations of
the use of the Analytic Network Process in the context of the evaluation of public
goods provision from agricultural systems. The chapter provides a description and a
step-by-step explanation of the method, and presents insights from three recent
papers using the Analytic Network Process to analyze public goods supply from
agricultural systems. The papers were selected to show a range of diversified and
complementary approaches to the problem and the possibility to integrate stakeholders
in the different phases of the evaluation process. The first paper presents a
comparison between three rural landscapes and provides a discussion of the role of
different economic actors in supplying private- and public-type services. The second
paper presents an integrated approach to support the policy-making aimed at a more
efficient provision of public goods from a specific farming system. The third paper
presents a farm level assessment of multifunctional performance considering a range
of different farming practices and techniques. These studies provide evidence of the
usefulness of the method to support policy-making and understand the relation
between farmers’ decision-making and the provision of public goods. The results
are also discussed, pointing out the strengths and weaknesses of the method in this
type of analysis as well as pathways for methodological refinements and integration possibilities with other techniques with a particular attention toward the ex-ante and
ex-post participation of stakeholders
The effects of the new CAP reform on the land market: an analysis in Emilia Romagna
No full textFactor markets are a central issue in the analyses of the farm development and of the agricultural sector vitality. Among the different production factors, land is one of the most studied. Several works aim to estimate the effect of policy payments on the capitalization into land value or land rental prices. Others (often ex-post analyses) address the effects of changes in policy mechanisms or property rights system on the amount of land markets transactions. Other studies, mainly ex-ante analyses, focus on the effect of different policy scenario on the changes of the land demand or land rented/sold often derived or expressed by changes in marginal value of the lands. The studies mostly agree that government payments and other types of policy support are significant in explaining land prices and account for a large share of it. Recently, the EU Commission has published the new policy proposal for the CAP towards 2020. The mechanism of payment will be based on a disentangling of the single farm payment (SFP) into four different payments: basic payments; greening component; payments to the less favored area and payments to young and small farms. The same regulation proposals include the proposal to switch the payment regime from historical to regional bases. The objective of this contribution is to provide an ex-ante analysis of the impact of the new CAP policy instruments on the land market. In particular the effect of the new regionalization of payments will be analyzed. The analysis is based on an application of mathematical programming model in a representative farm in Emilia Romagna (Italy). Results highlight the relevance of the new policy mechanism in determining a change in land demand. In particular, the introduction of the regionalized payments and the new rules concerning the loss of connection with the reference three-year period (2000-2002) and the titles owns, will affect directly and more than other policy components the marginal value of land and hence land demand
Simulation of Land Use and Investment Behaviour under Different Policy Scenarios Results of the extended farm/household model
Full text linkFactor markets are a central issue in analyses of farm development and of agricultural sector
vitality. Among the different production factors, land is one of the most studied. Several studies
seek to estimate the effect of government policy payments on land value or land rental prices. The
studies mostly agree that government payments and other types of policy support are significant
in explaining land prices and account for a large share of them. In October 2011, the European
Commission published a new policy proposal for the common agricultural policy (CAP) up to
2020. The proposed regulation includes a shift from historical to regional payments. The
objective of this paper is to provide an ex ante analysis of the impact of the new CAP policy
instruments on the land market. In particular, the effect of the regionalisation of payments in
Italy is examined. The analysis is based on the use of a mathematical programming model to
simulate the changes in land demand for a farm in Emilia Romagna. The results highlight the
relevance of the new policy mechanism in determining a change in land demand. Yet the effect is
highly dependent on initial ownership of entitlements under the historical payment scheme
A spatial analysis of participation in RDP measures: a case study in Emilia Romagna Region
Full text linkA large body of literature has highlighted and analysed the issues which affect the quality and the reliability of evaluation results of the RDPs measure. In addition to weaknesses in the specification of objectives, measurement of the additionality, several authors have pointed-out a lack in evaluation of the cross-effects across space of the measure.
The objective of this contribution is to develop a spatial analysis of the participation rate in the measure 121, highlighting, as a determinant, the effect of the set of priorities established by the local administration. The analysis is realised by two steps: the first is the realisation of an Exploratory Spatial Description Analysis (ESDA) of the participation rate in the Emilia Romagna Municipalities and the second is the development of a spatial econometric model of the participation rate in measure 121.
Results highlight the relevance of the spatial analysis in improving the predictability of the participation to rural development measures. In particular they show a positive effect of the neighbouring and of the spatial location in the explanation of the participation rate; the results also show the effect of the priority mechanism implemented by each
province in determining participation
The role of public policies on sustainable innovation in agri-food value chains
No full textIntroduction
Sustainability in the agri-food sector is essential to ensure reduced pressure on natural resources and good living conditions in rural areas (FAO, 2011). Achieving this objective largely depends on the constant introduction of innovation along the whole agri-food chain (OECD, 2019). Public policies can play a forefront role in this regard (OECD, 2021). However, although many studies and reviews focused on the issues at farm level (especially in relation to agri-environmental measures), little is still explored regarding the impact on the agri-food chain as a whole (Uthes & Matzdorf, 2013). Within such a framework, the aim of this research is thus to investigate the role of public policies in affecting the adoption of sustainable innovation in the agri-food value chains. To this end, a systematic literature review was developed for exploring four key aspects at the basis of the comprehension of such an important theme: i) nature of the policies in place, ii) policy instruments employed, iii) sustainability dimension target of the policy, iv) stages of the chain addressed by the policy.
Data and research methodology
The research was run on Scopus on peer-reviewed articles and reviews, based on title, abstract and keywords. The textual content of the query was: sustainab* AND innovat* AND (agri* OR food*) AND chain AND polic* AND public. Finally, we also restricted the research to specific subject areas.
Discussion of results
The research query led to a selection of 24 articles. However, 7 of them were excluded after a first screening of the abstract. A sample of 17 works was finally analysed for the purposes of the review. The first outcome of the research was that very few authors thoroughly addressed the role played by public policies in orienting agri-food value chains towards sustainability. The present work highlighted also that a large part of the reviewed literature is mostly case study-oriented. However, some authors
approached the research with an even narrower focus, i.e. observing only specific stages of the agri- food chain. Furthermore, many manuscripts only mentioned the existence of specific policy frameworks without providing a comprehensive analysis of the related functioning, objectives and instruments. Although no geographical restriction was set in the research criteria, the main public policy debated in the reviewed works was the EU Common Agricultural Policy. However, at the local level, other policies were also discussed within the reviewed literature. In addition, the main policy instruments debated across the reviewed manuscripts were mostly monetary in nature, but normative and informative instruments resulted largely explored as well. In conclusion, the majority of the reviewed papers investigated the role of public policies in relation to the environmental dimension of sustainability. However, also the economic and social domains resulted largely debated by many authors.
Main conclusions
The outcomes of the present study suggest the possible lack in the literature of a research work thoroughly exploring the role of public policies from a theoretical perspective with a comprehensive view of the agri-food chain. With this regard, the current research represents in fact the state-of-the-art of a more articulated work studying the role of public policies to support sustainability-oriented innovation along agri-food value chains
Stakeholders perception of the impact of public policies on the introduction of sustainable innovation in agri-food value chains
No full textI benefici ambientali dell’attività irrigua: una valutazione combinata all’interno del Consorzio della Bonifica Renana
Full text linkIn Italia, i Consorzi di Bonifica sono incaricati della gestione dell’acqua irrigua. Il costo di tale servizio è recuperato attraverso le tariffe
dirette agli agricoltori. Anche i residenti beneficiano del servizio per la presenza di acqua nei canali durante il periodo estivo. L’obiettivo
della presente ricerca è quello di stimare la percezione di tali benefici e valutarne economicamente l’entità
Multi Actor Platforms to support the development of future rural policies: A pilot application in the Emilia-Romagna region
No full textImpact of post-2013 CAP reform on land markets: evidence from farm surveys and farm-level modelling
Full text linkThe connection between policy and other context variables and land markets is at the core of the policy
debate, including the present reform of the Common Agricultural Policy. The objective if this paper is to
evaluate the impact of the post 2013 CAP policy instruments on the land market in the Province of Bologna
(Italy), based on a combination of survey and modelling information. Attention is particularly focused on the
regionalization of payments and considers both potential reactions by individual farms and their interaction
on the market. Modelling and survey information show a reaction of the land demand to the shift from the
historical to the regionalised payments, with opposite reactions by different farms, hence incentives to
adaptation through land markets exchange (rent). The regionalized payment seems to be more capitalized
into the land value, at the margin, as long as it is less connected to entitlement. As a result, the
regionalisation would cause increased rental prices. Survey information, however also reveals a major
uncertainty by farmers in interpreting and devising an appropriate reaction to the expected reform
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