Employing Real Options Methodology for Decision Making in Greenhouse Technology

Latest developments in investment analysis offer a number of valuable insights into how to evaluate investment opportunities encountering the weaknesses of net present value criterion. More specific, irreversibility, uncertainty and the choice of timing are conditions that net present value does not include but they alter the investment decision in critical way. Employing contingent claims analysis in tangible investments several assumptions made by discount cash flow method are concerned and better assessment results can be derived. In this work, an attempt is made to apply real options methodology in agricultural investments. Many agricultural investors face a growing uncertainty environment with high sunk investments and net present value criterion has been extensively used that may be lead to incorrect decisions. Both discount cash flow method and real options approach are employed to evaluate the effectiveness of a new technology project under uncertainty returns in agriculture. Discount cash flow approach indicates that the adoption of a new technology project under uncertainty is feasible while real options approach differentiates the results. The corollary is that real options approach can be proved conducive in assessing projects with uncertainty and irreversibility and it can furnish a new way of examining agricultural investment decisions.real options, irreversibility, option value, agriculture, investment, policy, Crop Production/Industries,

The “not-so-modern” consumer – considerations on food prices, food security, new technologies and market distortions

Although food quality and food safety issues seem to dominate discussion and research in Europe, price inflation and economic recession may pose questions over food abundance over the coming years. For the first time since the early seventies, market stability for a number of commodities is seriously questioned. The paper tackles the fluctuation of food prices in the last decade and the reasons behind recent record prices in a series of commodities, trying to investigate whether food shortages may create new problems, even for relatively economically stable nations. Lowering stock levels that induce price volatility, production shortfalls due to adverse conditions that are often correlated to climate change, oil prices, changing diet patterns in regions that have become more affluent in recent decades, trade policies that often contradict one another, financial speculation in food markets all play a distinct role forming today’s reality. The effect of rising food prices is crucially important, at the microeconomic level, for poorer households. The paper tries to investigate whether food security problems -in the sense that all people, at all times, have economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life- may become increasingly important in Europe in the future, as well as the necessary policies to protect those most vulnerable.food insecurity, biofuels, food prices, market distortion, financial speculation, Agricultural and Food Policy,

Multilateral or Regional Agreement: The Case of Mediterranean Non-EU Countries

Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries are at a crossroad regarding potential trade reforms. The EU is not only the world's largest market for the region's agricultural products, but also remains the prime outlet for these Mediterranean countries' exports. An applied general equilibrium model is used to assess the impact of various trade reform options in the region. Results suggest that the region might benefit most under special provisions for developing countries. Under global trade reform, MENA preferences with EU might be eroded, with EU Mediterranean countries like Greece benefit the most with global trade reform.International Relations/Trade,

Interglacial Expansion of Alpine Glaciers in Garwood Valley, Antarctica

It is important to understand the response of the Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS) to ongoing global atmospheric and oceanic warming to anticipate future sea-level change. There are several contrasting views in this regard. Harig and Simons (2015) concur with the IPCC (2013) conclusion that, in recent decades, outflow across the peripheral grounding lines of the ice sheet has exceeded increased accumulation on the interior surface of the ice sheet. In contrast, Zwally et al. (2015) suggest that recent surface accumulation in the interior East and West Antarctica has outpaced peripheral losses. They further suggest that this recent positive imbalance adds to a long-term ice-sheet thickening in interior Antarctica that began at the end of the last ice age when the increase of atmospheric temperature caused a doubling of surface accumulation that has persisted through the Holocene. An independent glacial geologic history can provide a long-term perspective on the issue of Antarctic ice response to Holocene interglacial warming. As a contribution to this history, my study aims to develop a robust chronology of the Joyce and Garwood land-terminating alpine glaciers in Garwood Valley in the McMurdo sector of the Transantarctic Mountains. The goal is to determine whether these glaciers have expanded during the Holocene and, if so, when and why. Existing data suggest that alpine glaciers in southern Victoria Land fluctuate in concert with nearby land-terminating East Antarctic outlet glaciers, making them a useful proxy for ice-sheet behavior. Such alpine glaciers are isolated from direct marine forcing and therefore are ideal to observe Holocene behavior that may result from changes in accumulation. Here, I present a chronology of the Joyce and Garwood glacial systems from 14C dates of lacustrine algae samples within moraines and 10Be surface-exposure ages of boulder erratics on moraines. The results indicate glacier expansion since 2820 years BP and do not exclude the possibility that this expansion is ongoing

10Be Chronology of Moraines Deposited During the Last Glaciation by the Khumbu Glacier, Nepalese Himalaya

Understanding the global pattern of glaciation can aid interpretation of what caused late-Pleistocene glacial cycles. Here I investigate the glacial history of the Khumbu Glacier of the Mount Everest region of Nepal. Prominent hypotheses for Himalayan glaciation suggest important roles for orbitally modulated insolation change and the Asian summer monsoon. Here I test these hypotheses by developing a 10Be surface-exposure chronology of moraines constructed by the Khumbu Glacier during the last glacial period. My chronology is underpinned by detailed glacial-geomorphic mapping constructed by use of drone and satellite imagery. The ages presented in this study indicate that the Khumbu glacier stood at maximum positions within the Dingboche moraine complex at ~67.1 ka, 38.1 ka, 36.7 ka, 29.7 ka, ~22.6 ka, 17.8 ka. The data indicate ice-surface lowering of ~100 m from the top of the Pheriche moraine to the Pheriche recessional landforms between 17.8 ka and 15.8 ka. These data suggest that moraine construction occurred throughout an entire orbital insolation cycle. Therefore, insolation intensity cannot explain the signature of Khumbu glacier fluctuations during the last glaciation. Likewise, peak glaciation occurred during a period of relatively weak monsoon intensity, suggesting that monsoonal forcing mechanisms (i.e., precipitation and/or cloudiness) are insufficient for explaining the pattern of glaciation indicated by the chronology presented here. The Khumbu Glacier chronology therefore raises a key question: If insolation and local monsoonal forcing did not drive the last glacial cycle in the high Himalaya, then what climatic factor(s) did? In this regard, I pose a preliminary suggestion that tropical heat fluxes inferred from Indian Ocean sea-surface temperatures, perhaps coupled with relatively low atmospheric CO2 concentrations, may have played an important role in driving Himalayan glaciation. Further evaluation of Himalayan glacier chronology could yield greater insights into the dominant drivers of Earth’s ice-age climate cycles

Factors Affecting the Competitiveness of the Greek Wine Enterprises and Cooperatives

The present paper investigates the effect of certain economic factors on the competitiveness of Greek Wine Enterprises and Unions of Agricultural Cooperatives (UACs). Data on 41 wineries and 10 UACs of Greece was collected for a period of three years (2004-2006). Financial analysis results were used with the help of a fixed effect model-panel data technique- using profitability as dependent variable in order to measure the competitiveness of wineries. The results indicated that the size of the enterprise as well as the square of the capital intensity have a positive influence on the winery’s profit.competitiveness, profitability, wineries, agricultural cooperatives, Agribusiness,

Fisheries policies impacts consideration towards the development of rural coastal areas

The current study aims to examine the effectiveness of fisheries policies and specifically of the Greek Operational Programme for Fisheries, 2007-13. In specific, aims to examine and assess possible impacts generated, in the regional economy of Voreio and Notio Aigaio from its four axis, with particularity to the forth one. For this a regional Input-Output model was built in order to capture direct and indirect impacts in terms of output, employment and income. Results indicate that the dynamics of the fisheries sector in the regional economy are very weak and along with the continuous shrinking of the sector, leads to the necessity of supporting alternative vocational activities for the development of coastal rural areas. Though, results indicate that the funds attributed to such policies are very small, resulting in very weak generated impacts in the regional economy. And thus it is not expected current policies to seriously affect the development of such regions through the promotion of alternative to fishing activities.rural coastal areas, operational fisheries programme, impact analysis, regional analysis, Community/Rural/Urban Development, R11, R15, R58, Q22,

Potential on Using Cultural Syndromes for Explaining Differences in Attitudes in Northern and Southern EU Countries

Nowadays, it is more realistic to view the development of a new technology as a result of a complex social system of interactions and decisions. Understanding the public's range of views on biotechnology is important for decision makers, in order to be able to anticipate potential acceptance problems or, one step further, to take consumer or public desires and concerns into account so that desirable applications can be developed. Previous work from the same research group, using data from Eurobarometer surveys, was trying to explore the attitudes of the European consumers towards genetic modification of food. Emerging differences in attitudes towards genetically modified food have not been explained adequately in most cases using only sociodemographic variables. In addition strong national differences lead to the idea that cultural differences should also be taken into account, despite the difficulties in formulating specific hypotheses that can be tested empirically. In this paper, in an effort to approach culture in a more clear way, we try to track down and analyse the specific units (customs, traditions, beliefs, and other social norms) that comprise cultures. The notion of cultural syndromes as approached by Triandis is tackled. Furthermore applying data from the European Social Survey (ESS) to Schwartz's value system, our objective is to validate empirically the potential utilisation of Schwartz values to further explain existing differences in attitudes towards GM food among European countries. Further research can lead to a deeper and more precise understanding of cultural differentiation as well as to a more valid cross-cultural theory of attitude formation.attitudes towards genetically modified food, attitude formation, cultural differentiation, cultural syndromes, Consumer/Household Economics,