1,721,627 research outputs found
SPECIAL SECTION: EXPLORING THE CONTRIBUTION OF LANDSCAPE MANAGEMENT TO THE RURAL ECONOMY. Editorial
No full textn.a
A Spatial Econometric Approach to Assess the Impact of RDPs Agri-Environmental Measures on the Gross Nitrogen Balance: The Case Study of Emilia-Romagna
No full textNutrient pollution is one of the main causes of impairment of water quality.
Recent studies estimated that nitrogen pollution-related damage in EU27
ranges between 70 and 320 billion Euro each year, equivalent to 150–750
euro/capita (Brink et al. 2011).Agriculture is the main source of nitrogen loading (EEA 2012) and is the
sector with the largest remaining emission reduction potential (Sutton et
al. 2011). A nutrient defi ciency can reduce soil fertility and crop yields, but
a nutrient surplus, in excess of crop and forage needs can lead to nutrient
release in the environment and, potentially, to water contamination.
Surpluses of nitrogen and phosphate are forecast to grow in the next
decade, while those of potash are likely to remain more or less stable (FAO
2008). This trend is expected in spite of the fact that the price of nitrogenbased
fertilizers has almost doubled from year 2000 to 2010, when the
yearly increase was on average equal to 10% in the US (USDA 2012). The
value of main agricultural inputs, such as fertilizers and fuel, represent
more than one third of the value of agricultural income in Italy (Fanfani
and Gutierrez 2011).
The European Union efforts to reduce nutrient over enrichment of
waters were put into action since the early ’90s with the enactment of the
Nitrates Directive (1991), which aims to protect water quality across Europe
by preventing nitrates from agricultural sources polluting ground and
surface waters and by promoting the use of good farming practices.
The Common Agricultural Policy also contributes to the mitigation
of pollution of waters by nitrates, mainly through Rural Development
measures. The intervention strategy is based on direct support to farmers
who will voluntary apply agri-environmental measures in order to reduce
nitrates pollution, such as organic farming, low input farming, cover crops,
effi cient management of livestock waste and extensive farming.
The EU demands an evaluation of Rural Development Plans (RDPs)
from the national authorities of the European member states.
The EU Commission has provided a set of indicators and evaluation
criteria to be adopted for the RDPs assessment (CMEF 2006). Within the
designed monitoring framework, the gross nutrient balance (baseline
indicator 20), provides an estimate of the potential surplus of nitrogen and
phosphorous on agricultural land (kg/ha). Nutrient balance indicators,
as an environmental driving force, link to the state (or concentration) of
nutrients in water bodies.
This study aims to evaluate the role of RDPs implementation in
preventing water quality deterioration due to nutrient runoff and infi ltration.
The analysis focuses on the impact of Agri-Environmental Schemes on the
reduction of nitrogen surplus through the implementation of specifi c submeasures
such as organic farming, set aside, etc.
In order to provide a quantitative evaluation, we applied a spatial
regression model. The model aims to explain the variation of nitrogen
surplus between two monitoring years: 2000 and 2010. In order to build
a suitable dependent variable, we carried out a calculation of the GrossNitrogen Balance (a proxy for nitrogen surplus) at the municipality scale
in Emilia-Romagna region, for both monitoring years.
The study area is characterized by the presence of an intensive
agricultural and livestock farming system. Gross Nitrogen Balance was
calculated following the OECD and EUROSTAT method.
The chapter is structured as follows: the next section describes
background and study area, then methodology, results and discussion are
presented
Economics of the bioeconomy: reflections on conceptual challenges and pathways
No full textThe main objective of this chapter is to discuss the future of economic research applied to the bioeconomy in order to identify challenges and potential pathways for conceptual, theoretical, and operational innovation. The paper integrates an original literature review with a collection of insights from discussions and conclusions of the chapters included in this handbook. The starting point is the persistence of the drivers that have pushed the development of the bioeconomy, accompanied by the exponential increase in technology opportunities. A growing role for economic research is justified by the evidence of trade-offs among different sustainable development objectives attached to the bioeconomy and by the need to expand the understanding of social, economic, and management aspects of this meta-sector, even more so when it is interpreted as a major wave of change in human history. Given the comprehensive nature of the bioeconomy, research is needed in a number of diversified directions and adopting a “biodiverse” set of approaches with a strong tendency towards combinations of methods and theories. The interplay between the economic representation of biological and technological features of innovative processes, the better understanding of individual and collective behaviour, and the system vision in a transformation framework are at the core of future research
Towards an economics of the bioeconomy: four years later
Full text linkThis 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
Quantifying the Impact of Scientific Research on Agriculture
No full textWith the growing importance of science and innovation for farming, the scope for summary monetary estimates of the impact of agricultural research on productivity suggests internal rates of return of between 7 and 15 per cent, and time lags in maximum impact of around nine years. However, the extent to which the transmission process can be regarded as a ‘black box’ for econometric purposes is considered increasingly inappropriate, since the intermediate steps between research and the impacts of resulting technology adoption are increasingly complex and involve growing numbers of actors, actions and a wider set of policy objectives. Significant difficulties are encountered in quantifying research impacts, including gaps in data for dependent and explanatory variables. New features of the agricultural sector also need to be accounted for, which relate to the role of knowledge engineering, globalisation and the establishment of new impact pathways which are affecting the speed of transmission of innovations. Public support for agricultural research funding is generally justified but returns are not sufficiently high, thus requiring careful reflection on priorities for research investment. Combined use of qualitative and quantitative evaluation approaches can be complementary and more effective than relying on either alone
Bioeconomy and Circular Economy: Implications for Economic Evaluation in the Post-COVID Era
Full text linkThe objective of this paper is to review selected insights about the current economic research on the Bioeconomy and circular economy, with a particular focus for the role of primary sector, and to derive implications for organisation, evaluation and valuation practice in the context of the post-COVID era. A framework for the analysis of optimal level of circularity and related economic and evaluation concepts is developed for this purpose. We highlight how higher focus on circularity will increase the complexity of market relationships, contributing to flexibility, but also to uncertainty. The paper argues that these issues will become more important in the post-COVID era, due to the plea for increasing Bioeconomy resilience. New organisational concepts and models are hence needed. Evaluation, on the other hand, will need to be embedded even more in the decision-making processes, in spite of the increasing uncertainty and difficulties in evaluation
BIOBEC. WP2. Framework Validation. T2.2
Full text linkThis dataset contains best practice examples and survey data produced within the Horizon 2020 project BIObec. The Centre Readiness Level Framework Survey design was informed by the compilation of the 29 best practice examples collected and further collated in conjunction with inputs from project activities. All 19 BIObec partners completed a comprehensive report in response to 23 survey questions generating a detailed profile of each BBEC location about their thematic expertise, learner profiles, knowledge & network capabilities, business model, roles & functions and innovation supports as well as their commitment to the project. Furthermore, other valuable stakeholders have been involved in the fulfilment of the survey, to begin the cooperation with a network of actors both internal and external to the project. The analysis of the surveys contributed to setting the profile of each regional Bio-Based Education Centre. The template of the survey is also provided
The spatial dimension of Public Payments for Rural Development: Evidence on allocation practices, impact mechanisms, CMEF indicators, and scope for improvement
No full textEU expenditures for Rural Development, having increased from 2.9% of the total Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) budget in the 1990s to 12.3% in the beginning of the 2010s, reflect the growing strategic and societal values attached to this policy in addressing the new global challenges for rural areas in the enlarged EU. The analysis of the recent and ongoing reforms shows that Rural Development Programmes (RDP) made substantial progress towards sectoral integration and thematic broadening, and, at the same time, provided continuity of well-established and important measures. Yet, under growing budget constraints, better targeting of funds becomes even more crucial (European Court of Auditors, 2011). Comparing the design and allocation practices of Regional RDPs, however, reveals significant differences in targeting strategies, all too often based on the implementation history and experience of previous periods. Better availability, coordination and digital connectivity of expenditure data and other data sources across the EU encouraged the adoption of the Common Monitoring and Evaluation Framework (CMEF), aimed at more clearly depicting intervention needs and effects at the regional scale (NUTS2-NUTS3) (NUTS (Nomenclature des unités territoriales statistiques) is a EU geocode standard for referencing spatial subunits for statistical purposes). The EU project SPARD (Spatial Analysis of Rural Development Measures) took those data as a starting point to find out more about the causal relationships between RD measure implementation, and their determining factors and impacts with a specific look at their spatial dimension: in which rural development measures is success determined by neighbourhood conditions, and at what scale? SPARD developed and applied new methodological approaches, particularly spatial econometrics, to evaluate selected measures that contribute to improved competitiveness, environmental performance and rural viability. The results are presented in this special issue in four thematic foci:Analysing RDP performance by applying spatial econometric modelling (theory, procedures, key results) on RDP payments at the national and European scale.Effectiveness and efficiency of RDP participation towards impacts at the regional scale: an in-depth view of European case studies, specific measures, indicators and shortcomings of the CMEF.Learning about spatial and non-spatial determinants of participation in RDP.Experiences and requirements related to the CAP 2020 and the improvement of the CMEF. Overall, the results emphasise the difficulty of evaluating of RDPs, even when using much more sophisticated instruments than those used in the current evaluation practices. While a lack of appropriate information remains an issue, the experience of SPARD also underscores the challenge of matching the quest for generalised approaches and the need to consider ad hoc local determinants, as well as the trade-off between the benefits of higher precision and the costs of implied information burden
Bioeconomy and ecosystem services
No full textThe increasing demand for food, energy, and biodiversity, as well as the need for natural capital conservation and resilience to climate change, are major challenges worldwide. The transition towards the bioeconomy can concretely improve the provision of private and public goods that enhance human well-being. Despite the growing literature, contributions, trade-offs, and conflicts of bioeconomy development within ecosystem services provision still need to be addressed satisfactorily. This paper aims to investigate the possible pathways for building a sustainable and resilient transition towards the bioeconomy, with a focus on ecosystem services, based on a literature review and content analysis. The sustainability of the transition towards the bioeconomy is grounded in replacing carbon-based production and processes, but the bioeconomy involves much more. In particular, the focus on the provision of ecosystem services broadens the scope of investigation and highlights the need to address a wide variety of inputs while connecting this with perceptions, decision-making, and governance systems. New conceptual and empirical approaches to research and decision-making are needed for a transformative approach to these challenges
- …
