Pathways to urban sustainability

The concept of sustainable development has become very much "en vogue" in the past decade.We have also observed a shift in the interpretation of this concept from a global perspectiveto a meso perspective, i.e. a local, regional or sectoral level.This paper aims to highlight the urban dimension of environmental issues. After a sketch ofurban pollution problems and of economie analysis tools, the notion of urban sustainabilitywill be advocated as a meaningful analytical and policy concept. Next, the main focus ofthis paper will be on a typological approach to urban sustainability issues on the basis ofthree characteristic angles, viz strong and weak sustainability, absolute and relativedecoupling and the spatial ecological footprint. Various methodological issues will also bediscussed, while the paper will be concluded with some policy perspectives

Dinamiche del commercio internazionale dell'olio di oliva italiano: un'analisi prospettica

The paper analyses the dynamics of the Italian olive oil trade and gives a preliminary explanation of the opportunity in the international market. The paper starts showing the description of olive oil chain and production and underlining the main factors affecting the import export system. The aim of this work is to explain the magnitude of the trade flows for olive oil from Italy to its main importing countries. This objective has been reached by establishing an appropriate econometric model derived from an extended form of the “Gravity Model”. This model has been broadly applied to the analysis of international trade because it provides robust estimates. The results obtained and the model itself are useful in forecasting potential trends in the exportation of high quality Italian olive oil.Italian Olive Oil, Food-Trade, Gravity Models, Export Analysis, Q13, Q17, C20,

PAC II pilastro: prime valutazioni nella programmazione 2007-2013

Nowadays, there is no doubt that Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) represents the main support to rural development across the whole Italian territory. Offering the potential to learn from experience, the paper is here concerned with the quantitative evaluation of Italian regional programs under the 2007-2013 CAP’s Pillar II, considering both national and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development’s funding to Pillar II at the end of December 2013. The empirical analysis shows some relevant discrepancies in funding allocation among both rural development’s axis and measures and different regions in Italy, and also between planned and declared expenditure. This reflects a scarce efficiency of public spending and some unsatisfactory rural development’s performance

Factors Affecting the Indonesian Palm Oil Market in Food and Fuel Industry: Evidence from a Time Series Analysis

Nowadays, the demand for palm oil has been increasing worldwide. The multipurpose use combined with a market price below makes palm oil an attractive product. Since 2006, Indonesia has been the biggest producer of palm oil in the world, replacing Malaysia as a chief producer. This study develops a simple theoretical model that integrates some of the factor that could influence the production of palm oil in Indonesia in order to establish the issue of cointegration and causality patterns. This analysis examined the relationships among Indonesian palm oil production, soybean oil price, area harvested for palm oil production in Malaysia and palm oil consumption. The finding shows that all variables positively and significantly affect Indonesian palm oil production. However, the ascent of the Indonesian palm oil industry is the result of a combination of several factors, some of which are relating to the palm oil plant itself, others to policy. Keywords: Palm oil, Time series analysis, Indonesia JEL Classifications: C01, C22, Q17, Q18, Q4

Old and new style of greening payments: economic and environmental implications for italian agriculture

The recent CAP reform proposed a green component of the first pillar that remunerates farmers for the prevision of environmental public goods by allocating the 30% of the direct payment to the greening payment. In order to obtain this payment, the farmers shall ensure a specified set of mandatory farm practices. The purpose of this paper is to provide a first assessment of the greening measures on different farms types. The study, through FADN data (2009-2010), aims at quantifying the impact of these measures of three sample companies of the Marche region according to the original proposal (2011) and the current proposal CAP approved in June 2013. The results shows different impact of the green payment according to the characteristic, the location and the economical state of the farms.The recent CAP reform proposed a green component of the first pillar that remunerates farmers for the prevision of environmental public goods by allocating the 30% of the direct payment to the greening payment. In order to obtain this payment, the farmers shall ensure a specified set of mandatory farm practices. The purpose of this paper is to provide a first assessment of the greening measures on different farms types. The study, through FADN data (2009-2010), aims at quantifying the impact of these measures of three sample companies of the Marche region according to the original proposal (2011) and the current proposal CAP approved in June 2013. The results shows different impact of the green payment according to the characteristic, the location and the economical state of the farms

La Rivista di Economia Agraria: un percorso scientifico in continua evoluzione

The 70th REA celebratory meeting “Results of Agricultural Economics research in Italy between publications and evaluations” was held in Rome, on 27th January 2016, at CREA-PAV Institute. In 1945, REA was founded by the National Institute of Agricultural Economics (INEA) through the work of the great masters of the Italian Agricultural Economics. The first issue came out in January 1946. Since 2015, REA belongs to CREA (Council for Agricultural Research and Economics) and through the synergic collaboration of SIDEA (Italian Society of Agricultural Economics), it boasts a second season through an open access web platform. With this speech, the REA Editorial Board wants to give a tribute to the great cultural and historical heritage that the REA represents, hoping that this pathway will go on in the future decades

A theoretical framework on network's dynamics for precision agriculture technologies adoption

Abstract: Recently, the agricultural sector has had to face several challenges related to the innovation process, the most significant of which seems to be that of its digital transformation. As a consequence, the issue of digital technology adoption is becoming of important scientific interest due to its potential impact on products, services, processes, and new business models. In general, the adoption behavior can be indirectly explained by studying factors that lead a firm to innovate; among these factors, the literature emphasizes the function of networks. The objective of the paper is to investigate the role of networks as key drivers of precision agriculture technologies adoption. To achieve this goal, qualitative research was developed by using 8 case studies recollected among that few Italian farms which can be defined as innovative for having already experienced precision agriculture. Results show that only a few farms can develop and manage innovations internally; success often requires cooperation between individual actors and organizations. Finally, the paper provides some practical advice and a set of propositions for those farms that are trying to achieve digital technological innovations

Comparing Italian and Brazilian consumers’ attitudes towards Short Food Supply Chains

According to the Theory of Planned Behavior, this work investigates consumers’ attitudes towards the intention to buy local food in Short Food Supply Chains (SFSCs), carrying out a survey among university students in Italy and Brazil. Results show that sustainability and food safety mostly influence consumers’ behavior in both countries. However, the main differences emerged are related to the fact that Italian consumers recognized the SFSCs as a catalyst for new employment opportunities and local development, whereas the role of short chains on life quality and wellbeing is stressed by Brazilian ones