Centralized versus individual: Governance of farmer professional cooperatives in China

Based on a national representative survey conducted in 2009, this study shows that the decision-making within Farmer Professional Cooperatives (FPCs) in China is decentralized to individual farmers. However, there is a trend that the decision rights of farming are decomposed to marketing, production and input procuring. While the rights for production and input procuring stay with family farmers, marketing rights tend to be collectivized. Compared to FPCs having external initiating sources, FPCs initiated by farmers are more inclined to introduce centralized decision-making. The governance structure of FPCs in transition China presents hybrid forms of both hierarchy and family farming. --Farmer,Cooperatives,Governance,China

R&I smart specialisation strategies: classification of EU regions’ priorities. Results from automatic text analysis

Building on automatic text analysis, this paper proposes an original categorization of Research and Innovation Smart Specialisation Strategy (RIS3) priorities and provides a common language (with detailed dictionaries) to classify priorities and then to associate EU regions to multiclass categories of priorities. This result is a powerful tool to interpret the current state of diversification across regions, with its potential of complementarities and synergies that might support territorial integrated development paths. It would also support regions in their future strategic programmes on RIS3. A case study on the Alpine macro-region shows innovation development paths to outline macroregion strategic planning

Systemic Design goes between disciplines for the sustainability in food processes and cultures

An healthy and safe feeding is the key element to ensure a sustainable development for the entire planet. The theme of food is one of the major challenges for the near future, indeed it involves every aspect of our lives. The paper investigates how the Systemic Design approach applied to the food sectors can contribute to decent life and, better, well-being for all, maintaining the planets ecological capacity for future generations. This research shows the social, economical and environmental benefits generated to real cases that apply the Systemic Design methodology in different food sectors and in different local context. One case is “EN.FA.SI.”, in which the value chain related to one PGI bean endorses the entire area involving the small family producers and the local SMEs. The other one is “Fondo Noir”, in which the spent coffee ground from the coffee bars in the metropolitan city centre are collected in order to generate many new businesses. The purpose is to give empirical and theoretical contributions, arising how the complexity of food systems impacts the simplicity of the everyday life solutions. The complexity involved in that kind of design processes interested a wide range of players and it aims to contribute the scientific debate on the role of design as mediator and facilitator among different specific disciplines. The polytechnic culture, at the base of design disciplines, guarantees a model for the eco-innovation also in food sector, with strong and solid approach

Toward an Agricultural Policy Monitoring System (APMS)

This working paper focuses on a subject of special relevance for agricultural policy reforms: the establishment of an Agricultural Policy Monitoring System.Agricultural and Food Policy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,

Innovation in Agri-food Systems – A Systematic Mapping of the Literature

This study systematically explores, analyses, reports on and synthesises research on the topic of sectoral innovation systems related to agriculture and agri-food in OECD countries. It is based on systematic mapping of the literature (academic papers published in scientific journals) in the period 1997-2017. The aim is to show the state of current knowledge on sectoral innovation systems in agri-food, in order to identify knowledge gaps and future areas for research and provide methodological and theoretical perspectives. Abstracts for a total of 320 papers were analysed, using a qualitative approach. Key elements of agricultural innovation systems identified were organised into 8 main themes/topics: agents, basic technologies, knowledge and learning processes, mechanisms of interaction, institutions, end-users, system transition and contextual variables. Areas identified as requiring research included making the sector more consumer- and market-oriented, increasing interactions outside conventional system boundaries, including the consumer perspective and societal changes, and determining the role of gender in innovation in agri-food systems

The ecology of organizational forms in local and regional food systems: exploring the scaling-up challenge via a species concept

Includes vita.Over the past 30 years, Western nations have developed alternative systems for exchanging agrofood products which incorporate social values into the transactional environment. These systems are comprised of many different exchange relationships, structured to transmit information about social values and attach credence attributes to the products. New organizational forms, institutions, and networks arise to achieve the values demanded by the underlying social movement. One movement centers on the social value of a commitment to place. It seeks to create relocalized and socially embedded means of exchange. Policy initiatives have responded, making investments in local and regional food systems. The primary challenge faced by these initiatives: how to increase the of scale while maintaining the value premiums associated with the movement's objectives. I view these complex networks as ecologies and seek to understand how different organizational forms interact to scale-up LRFSs. I make three crucial developments: (1) a framework to define LRFSs; (2) a model on the metaphysics of social objects and their kinds; and (3) an Organizational Species Concept to consistently identify organizational forms. Together these developments enable an ecological approach by providing a means of identifying distinct organizational populations. I apply my OSC to the case of food hubs – coordinating intermediaries identified as a key for increased scale. This yields six "species". I find that each fills a different functional role and contributes differently to scaling-up LRFSs. I highlight how this is helpful for targeted policymaking.Includes bibliographical references (pages 286-301

LPIS Workshop: 'LPIS applications and quality', Sofia (Bulgaria), 17-18 September, 2008

This report contains overview of annual workshop on Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS) which took place in Sofia (Bulgaria), 17-18th of September, 2008. The workshop is targeted the technological responsible persons from the member state administrations. This year workshop ¿LPIS applications and quality¿ aimed to identify and discuss the key technological issues and examples of solutions that are relevant for operating a LPIS in the environment of administration and control system for direct payments to the European farmers in the framework of the CAP. The topics covered during the workshop included: geomatics aspects of the LPIS; data quality issues with a focus on quality management and quality policy; interaction of LPIS applications with control process and monitoring of the rural development measures; country status reports, in particular focusing on ¿lessons learnt¿ during completion of LPIS in Bulgaria and Romania as well as pilot project of LPIS creation in Croatia.JRC.G.3-Agricultur

Cluster requiem and the rise of cumulative growth theory

Industry cluster theory has been the predominant model guiding economic development policy throughout the world for nearly two decades. As appealing as the cluster approach has been to regional scientists and policy makers it suffers from a number of theoretical and empirical shortcomings, including an inability to explain economic dispersion and the presence of high-growing firms that thrive in non-clustered industries and locations. This dissertation tracks the growth and survival of a cohort of more than 300,000 establishments operating in Pennsylvania during the 1997-2007 period. It reveals that firm characteristics are 10-times more powerful than industry and cluster characteristics, and 50-times more powerful than location characteristics, in explaining and predicting establishment-level growth and survival. It also finds a Power Law is present in the distribution of establishment growth, indicating that a sub- set of businesses systematically accumulate a disproportionate share of employment growth. Roughly 1% of establishments created 169% of all net new jobs added in the state over a ten- year period. Growth is further concentrated among businesses that are able to sustain growth over multiple years. This suggests that the principal driver of regional growth is cumulative firm growth – the accumulation of a disproportionate amount of growth among a small number of firms through sustained expansion over multiple years. I conclude that the path to building better theory and more effective development policies is one that explicitly links regional growth to the growth of firms. Such an approach should focus on endogenous firm dynamics rather than exogenous heuristics such as industry and location