Price transmission dynamics for quality‐certified food products: A comparison between conventional and organic fluid milk in Italy

Despite the vast number of works investigating price transmission (PT) processes in diverse agrifood markets, very little has been said about quality‐differentiated products. In this paper, we compare the conventional and organic fluid milk sectors in Italy to better understand the economic organization and functioning of one of the most important agrifoods in Italy. Using a unique dataset featuring processor and retail (scanner) prices for the two types of milk, we estimate Momentum‐Threshold Autoregressive models to account for asymmetric price movements in both sectors, but the PT results are eventually symmetric. The Vector Error Correction Model estimations and Impulse Response Functions analysis provide significant insights into the differences between the two markets. [EconLit citations: Q130, Q110, C590]info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

On Policy Interventions and Vertical Price Transmission: the Italian Milk Supply Chain Case

During the last two decades, the EU dairy sector has been interested by considerable changes and two policy reforms, the Fischler Reform and the Common Market Organization Reform, pushing toward economic liberalization. These changes affected the EU supply chains at different levels, altering the mechanisms of vertical price transmission. Against this background, we apply error correction models to assess how price signals are passed through, before and after the Italian milk supply chain reforms. In particular, we study the degree of price transmission asymmetries and conclude that market sluggishness has increased in the post-reform period, but the asymmetric dynamics are less evident. Reflections on future research needs are discussed

Price transmission dynamics for quality-certified food products: A comparison between conventional and organic fluid milk in Italy

Despite the vast number of works investigating price transmission processes in diverse agri-food markets, very little has been said about quality-differentiated products. In this paper, we compare the conventional and organic fluid milk sectors in Italy to better understand the economic organization and functioning of one of the most important agri-foods in Italy. Using a unique dataset featuring processor and retail (scanner) prices for the two types of milk, we estimate (M)TAR models to account for asymmetric price movements in both sectors, but the price transmission results are eventually symmetric.Postprint (updated version

Assessing the resilience and sustainability of a hazelnut farming system in central Italy with a participatory approach

European agriculture is facing increasing economic, environmental, institutional, and social challenges, from changes in demographic trends to the effects of climate change. In this context of high instability, the agricultural sector in Europe needs to improve its resilience and sustainability. Local assessments and strategies at the farming system level are needed, and this paper focuses on a hazelnut farming system in central Italy. For the assessment, a participatory approach was used, based on a stakeholder workshop. The results depicted a system with a strong economic and productive role, but which seems to overlook natural resources. This would suggest a relatively low environmental sustainability of the system, although the actual environmental impact of hazelnut farming is controversial. In terms of resilience, we assessed it by looking at the perceived level of three capacities: robustness, adaptability, and transformability. The results portrayed a highly robust system, but with relatively lower adaptability and transformability. Taking the farming system as the focal level was important to consider the role of different actors. While mechanisation has played a central role in enhancing past and present system resilience, future improvements can be achieved through collective strategies and system diversi?cation, and by strengthening the local hazelnut value chain.</p

Visa for competitiveness: foreign workforce and Italian dairy farms’ performance

This paper studies the impact of foreign labour on the competitiveness of Italian dairy farms relying on the theory of foreign labour in profit functions. Application of an endogenous switching regression model identifies the drivers of adoption of the immigrant workforce. A counterfactual analysis performed on unit labour costs between farms employing and non-employing immigrants suggests the essential role of foreign farmworkers on dairy farms’ competitiveness, which provide a cheaper source of labour. The lower unit labour cost for immigrant workers resembles staunch support to the newly introduced ‘social conditionality’, for a CAP delivering also for farmworkers

Foreign labor, peer‐networking and agricultural efficiency in the Italian dairy sector

While the presence of immigrants in the agricultural sector is widely acknowledged, the empirical evidence on its economic consequences is lacking, especially from a microeconomic perspective. Using the Farm Accountancy Data Network panel data for Italian dairy farms in the period 2008–2018, the present study investigates the relationship between foreign workforce and farm– technical efficiency, considering the workers' country of origin. We rely on different peer-network theories, and using a stochastic frontier analysis accounting for the endogeneity of immigrant labor force. Results point to the general positive contribution of immigrants on Italian farms' efficiency, while unpaid family labor exerts a null-to-negative influence. We detected an important effect of peer-working, namely complementary task specialization and conformity behavior, with diverse groups of workers associated to different efficiency levels. The evidence of the positive correlation between immigrants and the efficiency of the agricultural sector has significant implications for the design of immigration policies and the access to domestic agri-food markets, especially for those sectors in higher labor demand, as well as speeding up the process of economic and social integration of the labor force. [EconLit citations: Q12, Q18, J61, C23, C26]

Collagenase isoforms for pancreas digestion.

The available information concerning the characteristics and composition of collagenase batches, which are effective in the digestion of human pancreas for islet transplants, is scarce and incomplete. A large inter-and intrabatched variability in activity and efficiency of blend enzymes available for isolation has been observed. The aim of this study was to characterize enzyme blend components. Liberase batches were characterized by SDS-PAGE analyses, microelectrophoresis, and then by MALDI-TOF MS analysis. Three main bands were detected by SDS-PAGE analysis and submitted to MALDI-TOF MS analysis. Two bands were found to correspond to class I (isoform β and another of 106 kDa) and one to class II (isoform δ) collagenase. These results represent an important step towards a complete characterization of enzymes, with the final aim of identifying key components for a standardized product

Ultrathin random copolymer-grafted layers for block copolymer self-assembly

Hydroxyl-terminated P(S-r-MMA) random copolymers (RCPs) with molecular weights (Mn) from 1700 to 69000 and a styrene unit fraction of approximately 61% were grafted onto a silicon oxide surface and subsequently used to study the orientation of nanodomains with respect to the substrate, in cylinder-forming PS-b-PMMA block copolymer (BCP) thin films. When the thickness (H) of the grafted layer is greater than 5-6 nm, a perpendicular orientation is always observed because of the efficient decoupling of the BCP film from the polar SiO2 surface. Conversely, if H is less than 5 nm, the critical thickness of the grafted layer, which allows the neutralization of the substrate and promotion of the perpendicular orientation of the nanodomains in the BCP film, is found to depend on the Mn of the RCP. In particular, when Mn = 1700, a 2.0 nm thick grafted layer is sufficient to promote the perpendicular orientation of the PMMA cylinders in the PS-b-PMMA BCP film. A proximity shielding mechanism of the BCP molecules from the polar substrate surface, driven by chain stretching of the grafted RCP molecules, is proposed

Economic spill-over of food quality schemes on their territory

We study the effect of a set of food quality scheme (FQS) products within the local economy using a local multiplier approach based on LM3 methodology. To evaluate the effective contribution within the local area, we compare each FQS product with its equivalent standard/conventional counterpart. Local multiplier allows us to track the financial flows converging within the local area at the different levels of the supply chain so that we can measure the FQS product role in local economic activation. Overall, the FQS products exhibit a higher positive contribution to the local economy than the standard references. However, there is significant heterogeneity in the impact according to the product categories. In the case of vegetal products, the local economic advantage due to FQS is 7% higher than the reference products, but the statistical tests reject the null hypothesis that the medians are significantly different from zero. On the contrary, animal products exhibit a larger contribution of FQS than the standard counterparts (+24%). The PGI products (+25%) produce the major effect, while PDO products show a median difference lower (+6%). The organic and non-organic products seem to be substantially equivalent in terms of contribution to the local economy, due to the similarity in the downstream processing phase.Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::12 - Producció i Consum ResponsablesPostprint (updated version

Sustainability Performance of Certified and Non-certified Food: Social and Economic History

Abstract The dataset Sustainability performance of certified and non-certified food (https://www.doi.org/10.15454/OP51SJ) contains 25 indicators of economic, environmental, and social performance, estimated for 27 certified food value chains and their 27 conventional reference products. The indicators are estimated at different levels of the value chain: farm level, processing level, and retail level. It also contains the raw data based on which the indicators are estimated, its source, and the completed spreadsheet calculators for the following indicators: carbon footprint and food miles. This article describes the common method and indicators used to collect data for the twenty-seven certified products and their conventional counterparts. It presents the assumptions and choices, the process of data collection, and the indicator estimation methods designed to assess the three sustainability dimensions within a reasonable time constraint. That is: three person-months for each food quality scheme and its non-certified reference product. Several prioritisations were set regarding data collection (indicator, variable, value chain level) together with a level of representativeness specific to each variable and product type (country and sector). Technical details on how relatively common variables (e.g., number of animals per hectare) are combined into indicators (e.g., carbon footprint) are provided in the full documentation of the dataset.Publishe