La componente ambiental en la PAC

In this chapter is described the evolution of the agri-environmental policy in the European Union. In particular the main measures applied in each member state are presented as well as a reflection of the future of the agri-environmental policy with an special focus on the CAP Post 2013 proposal.JRC.J.4-Agriculture and Life Sciences in the Econom

Assessing the socio-economic impacts of drought in the Ebro river basin

La sequía es un fenómeno caracterizado por una disminución coyuntural significativa de los recursos hídricos durante un período prolongado, en un territorio extenso y con consecuencias adversas. Tradicionalmente ha sido considerada como un problema fundamentalmente agrario, de manera que sus implicaciones se han buscado en el ámbito rural, pero la amplitud e importancia del uso de los recursos hídricos en la sociedad actual conlleva situaciones de déficit y crea un abanico de problemas muy graves. Los objetivos específicos del estudio son, a partir de la información estadística secundaria disponible, estimar el impacto económico directo de la sequía en el año 2005 sobre la producción agraria y energética en la cuenca del Ebro y, en segundo lugar, y mediante la utilización del Marco Input-Ouput (MIO), estimar los efectos indirectos de la sequía sobre la producción y el empleo en el conjunto de la economía de la cuenca. Los resultados muestran como este episodio ha supuesto un impacto directo de más de 482 millones � de valor añadido bruto en el sistema económico, al que se ha podido asociar una pérdida de producción de 377 millones �. Esta disminución lleva asociada también la destrucción de más de 11.000 empleosDroughts can be defined as a significant reduction in water resources during a long period of time in a large spatial area which leads to negative consequences. These episodes have traditionally been regarded as an agricultural problem and thus their economic impacts have been considered limited to the rural environments. However, current water uses cover a broader scope of economic activity and water deficits generate impacts in a greater number of sectors. The specific objective of this paper is to estimate the direct and indirect economic impacts of a drought episode in the Ebro River Basin, using available statistical information within an Input-Output framework. Direct impacts are assessed for the two main sectors affected by this drought, agriculture and energy production, and with these effects, the indirect impacts on the wider economic activity are derived for the whole river basin. Results show that this climatic episode resulted in a direct gross added value loss of over �482 million in the two sectors considered with an additional induced production loss of �377 million. This reduction in activity resulted also in a reduction of over 11.000 job

Economic valuation of sustainable soil management practices in Andalusian olive groves

Este trabajo presenta la aplicación de una metodología de valoración multicriterio para estimar la demanda social e individual por la implementación de técnicas sostenibles de manejo del suelo en el olivar andaluz. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que la función de utilidad social para este bien ambiental complejo es lineal, aunque las funciones individuales no lo sean. La sociedad andaluza estaría dispuesta a pagar 27 Euros por hectárea por la implantación de sistemas de manejo más compatibles con el medio ambiente, que generasen menos erosión, más biodiversidad y mayor ijación de CO2 en los suelos agrarios. Asimismo, los resultados muestran que la sociedad andaluz está dispuesta a pagar 10 Euros por hectárea por la provisión de otros bienes públicos generados por el olivar regionalIn this paper we present An application of a multicriteria evaluation technique is presented for estimating the social and individual demand functions for the implementation of sustainable soil management techniques in Andalusian olive groves. Our results show that the social demand function is linear even when individual ones are not. The Andalusian society would be willing to pay 27 Euros per hectare for the implementation of soil management protechniques, which are more compatible with the environment, by generating less erosion, more biodiversity and more CO2 ixationin soils. Moreover, the Andalusian society is willing to pay n additional 10 Euros per hectare for the provision of other public goods supplied by regional olive ecosystemsEsta investigación ha sido financiada por el Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, la Consejería de Economía, Innovación y Ciencia de la Junta de Andalucía y el FEDER a través de los proyectos de investigación AGL2010-17560-C02-01 y P11-SEJ-703

Market implications of new regulations: impact of health and nutrition information on consumer choice

Consumer concern for health impacts of diet has increased the use of nutritional information and claims by agro-food industry. Under the current European legislation on nutrition and health claims and on nutritional labelling, three type of nutritional information can be provided on food products: nutritional facts panel, nutritional claims and health claims. In this context, the aim of the paper is to assess how much consumers� value the provision of three types of nutritional information in a meat product not precisely perceived as healthy, �pork Frankfurt sausages�, using a choice experiment. The data comes from a survey conducted in two Spanish medium size towns (Zaragoza and Córdoba) during 2007. A mixed logit model is used to estimate the effect of the nutrition information attributes on consumers� utility and derive their willingness to pay. Results show that all three nutritional and health information items are valued by consumers, although preferences are heterogeneous. Health claims are significantly higher valued than nutritional attributes (facts panel or claim). Estimated market shares show that the use of any of the available labelling options will obtain significant market success even at prices including premiums above current price levelsLa preocupación de los consumidores por los impactos de la salud de la dieta ha supuesto que la industria agroalimentaria haya incrementado la presencia de información nutricional y de salud en sus productos. La legislación comunitaria relativa a las alegaciones nutricionales y de salud, así como de etiquetado nutricional, permite la inclusión en los alimentos de tres tipos de información nutricional: composición nutricional, alegaciones nutricionales y alegaciones de salud. En este contexto, el objetivo del presente artículo es evaluar en qué medida los consumidores valoran la presencia de estos tres tipos de información nutricional en un producto cárnico utilizando la metodología de los experimentos de elección. La aplicación empírica se centra en un producto que no es percibido como saludable por los consumidores: las salchichas de cerdo cocidas tipo Frankfurt. Para ello se ha llevado a cabo una encuesta a consumidores en dos ciudades medianas españolas (Zaragoza y Córdoba) en el año 2007. Se han estimado los efectos de los distintos tipos de información sobre la utilidad de los consumidores a partir de un modelo de parámetros aleatorios, así como la disponibilidad a pagar por ellos. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que los tres tipos de información son valorados por los consumidores, aunque las preferencias son heterogéneas. Las alegaciones de salud son significativamente más valoradas que las fuentes de información relacionadas con nutrientes, ya sean como composición nutricional o como alegación. También se han estimado cuotas de mercado para evaluar el éxito potencial de la introducción de nuevas estrategias de etiquetado en este mercado, detectando que cualquiera de las opciones de etiquetado obtendría cuotas de mercado significativas, incluso si éstas llevaran asociados incrementos de precio

Význam používání údajů o nutriční hodnotě na obalu výrobků k dosažení zdravějších stravovacích návyků ve Španělsku

This study aims at testing a theoretical model explaining why people follow healthy eating habits and in particular to identify how the nutritional labels use influences this behavioural pattern. The results indicate that the individuals who utilise more often the nutritional labels follow healthier eating habits, such as avoiding snacking between meals, a lower intake of salt and avoiding the fat intake. According the factors explaining the label use, the health knowledge, the bad health status and being aware of the diet-health relation are found significant. Age and household size are the sociodemographic variables which also affect the nutritional label use and eating habits. Findings provide more evidence on the consumers’ underlying motivations to pay attention to nutritional labelling, which allows evaluating the impact of the implementation of the regulation Ec 1924/2006 of the European Parliament and the council of 20 December 2006 on nutritional and health claims made on foods (regulation Ec 1924/2006). in addition, empirical results could help the local policy makers to establish appropriate market strategies to increase healthy eating habits by promoting the nutritional label use by consumers

How can we untap the energy saving potential of households? Insights from household preferences for alternative measures

Abstract Reducing energy consumption is one of the steps needed to achieve a climate neutral energy system by 2050. Households account for 17.1% of final energy consumption in Spain and have a high reduction potential. However, this is difficult to achieve as it relies on the individual behaviour of millions of households. This paper tries to investigate how this behaviour could be triggered by analysing individuals’ preferences for households’ energy saving measures. We surveyed 401 individuals in Aragón in 2020 using an on line platform evaluating different energy saving measures applying the Best Worst Method and estimating a Latent Class Model. The results show that individuals value investments in energy saving measures, such as insulation of their home or using energy efficient appliances as the most important measures. On the contrary, daily behaviours as setting thermostats to recommended levels, turning lights and devices off, replacing traditional light bulbs with LED, using fully loaded washing appliances and setting temperature of refrigerators and freezers at ECO levels were less valued. We identified three different classes of energy saving behaviour patterns: "high potential energy savers", "convenience seekers" and "financially constrained". Our results can help policy makers when designing energy saving policies

Barriers to increase renewable share in domestic electrity: the role of switching provider

In 2018, electricity represented 23.6% of final energy use in Spain with a renewable share of 7.2%. With residential electricity consumption representing 30.6% of electricity use, understanding how households react to increased renewable shares becomes key to reach its objective of 42% share of renewable in final energy use by 2030. This paper tries to understand household behaviour with regards to increased renewable share provided by electricity suppliers focusing on whether the increase involves or not changing the utility contract. Thus, we apply a discrete choice experiment delivered to 401 individuals in Aragon in 2020. We estimate an Error Component Random Parameter Logit model with correlated errors to incorporate preference heterogeneity. Our results confirm that households are willing to pay a premium for renewable electricity, however if this implies a change in electricity supplier it does not compensate for the negative WTP associated with that change. Services associated to utility contracts that providers can offer to make the change more attractive do not seem to help overcoming this reluctance to change. Thus, if an increase in renewable electricity for domestic consumption is to be achieved, incumbents should provide it or ease of change to new entrants should be enhanced

Can renewable energy be financed with higher electricity prices? Evidence from a Spanish region

In this paper we estimate the willingness to pay for mix of renewable sources of electric power by means of a discrete choice experiment survey conducted in Spain in 2010. Two main categories of power supply attributes are explored: source of renewable power (wind, solar and biomass) and the origin of such power. The findings suggest that most consumers are not willing to pay a premium for increases in the shares of renewable in their electricity mix. For two of the three renewable sources considered (wind and biomass) an increase of the renewable mix would require a discount. Instead, we record positive willing to pay for increases in the share of both solar power and locally generated power. However, preferences for types of renewable (solar and wind) are found to be heterogeneous. By classifying respondents in two groups according to the implied importance of the share of renewable sources in their power mix we identify a market segment consisting of 20% of respondents that could promote renewable energy in the absence of subsidies. This is because such a segment shows willingness to pay higher than the current feed-in tariffs.Peer Revieweddiscrete choice experimentconsumer preferencesheterogeneitywillingness to payPublishe

Why do we buy organic? Integrating knowledge, attitudes and concerns in a simultaneous equation model for Spanish consumers

The behavior of the consumer for organic products has been largely explored in the academic literature, based both on actual and intended purchases. In Mediterranean Europe (mainly Italy, Spain and Greece) studies have shown that attitudes towards organic food, importance attached to different organic food attributes (human health, safety, etc.) and consumers’ concerns towards the environment are the most important factors that explain consumers’ organic food purchase decisions At the same time other studies emphasize the importance of knowledge of organic production in consumer organic behavior. It is assumed that information about organic food helps consumers to transform the credence characteristic of such products into search attributes, thereby allowing the consumer to better evaluate the quality before deciding to buy the product. Integrating both approaches, this paper try to explain purchase organic food products in Spain taking into account the role played by not only attitudes and concerns, but also whether organic knowledge is affecting this decision. To achieve this goal a three-equation multivariate probit models is fitted where organic knowledge, the intention to purchase organic foods and, the final decision to purchase are the dependent variables. Data has been obtained from an ad-hoc survey conducted in two medium-sized Spanish cities