Russia’s agro industrial complex: economic and political influence factors and state support

Authors consider changes in Russian agro-industrial complex un regard to international marketing, management and business strategies. The aim of the study is to identify the specifics of the differentiation trends in the socioeconomic space of the Russia. Basing on the Russia’s Federal Agency of State Statistics official materials (from 1991 to 2016), authors of the proposed research have estimated Russia’s agricultural ability to react to external changes. They reveal natural and climatic factors which have direct and essential influence on agricultural development. Authors give practical recommendations for the formation of an agriculture state domestic support mechanis

Disruption and Continuity in Bulgaria’s Agrarian Reform

The Bulgarian land reform process is burdened by a fundamental tension between disruption and continuity. This tension arises from the dual roles played by the nomenklatura in the transition to a market economy. Both roles stem from their privileged status in the old order. While the nomenklatura have the potential to provide the agricultural sector with indispensable human capital, they also have the' potential to extract rents from the sector, thus undermining its competitiveness. Both the productivity of nomenklatura capital and their capacity to extract rents are diminished to the extent that the reform disrupts the established agrarian order. Thus in order to succeed, the agrarian reform process must sail between Scylla and Charybdis. Too much disruption degrades economic productivity, possibly to the extent of threatening the viability of the reform movement itself. Too much continuity skews the distribution of political power in favor of the nomenklatura, which may undermine the competitiveness of the nascent free market institutions. This chapter develops a formal political-economic model of this trade-off. The model challenges the conventional political economic wisdom that decoupling politics from economics will improve economic performance. In particular, we identify conditions under which the quality of the transition is enhanced by coupling the nomenklatura's acquisition of political power to the magnitude of the rents that they extract

The media and food-risk perceptions

Food scares are prime examples of how the media can sway public perceptions of risk. Scientists and regulators need to understand the complex relationship between the media and their audience if they seek to counter scare stories and put risks and benefits into context

The Occcurrence of Acid Rain in Hong Kong

We assess the literature on public and private quality standards and their impact in food markets, international trade, and global supply chains. We focus on their effects on welfare, trade, industrial organization, and labor markets and with special attention to the North-South context. We also attempt to better characterize when these measures constitute protectionism, a complicate task. We look at studies investigating public and private standards and across various quantitative approaches and countries. These standards have complex effects. The evidence is mixed regarding standards as catalyst for or impediment against trade and development, reflecting the complexity of these effects and their specificity to industries and countries. The analysis of standard-like nontariff measures and their impacts does not lead to sweeping prescriptions for policy reforms. We identify more modest prescriptions and make some recommendations for fruitful research directions

Present and Future EU GMO Policy

Regulatory approvals for genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the EU differentiate between alternative uses and remain particularly controversial in the case of cultivation. One of the solutions includes nationalizing the approval process, which—depending on its implementation—might offer a solution over the current deadlock situation. Irrespectively, the increased use of new GMOs in many parts of the world, along with a mired regulatory approval process for import of GMOs in the EU, promise increasing incidence of regulatory asynchronicity and structural trade disruptions. Reforms are needed that go beyond the current debate of nationalizing the approval process. The implications of asynchronous approval processes on international trade may also affect other countries and could require a solution at an international level