Indirect Effects of Eco-labelling of agricultural products on Natural Resources

The implementation of eco-labelling schemes for agricultural and food products may represent an opportunity to enhance production technologies compatible with the sustainable economic approach. The paper presents an attempt to design a comprehensive methodological framework in which the consumer behaviour change is the driving force for redirecting the market, the production, and the international trade. This approach focuses on the specification of the most relevant variables necessary to implement a simplified, but comprehensive analysis, from which it is possible to proceeding to a broad estimate of the changes in terms of consumption patterns, revenue distribution, import and export, and natural resources consumption. On a theoretical basis, the framework highlights that the most relevant conservation effect on natural resources, occurs when the eco-labelling schemes are enforced by two countries, under a market regime of free trade. On the contrary, if only one country adopts the schemes, then the effect is negligible.environmental labelling, natural resources conservation, international trade, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Efficiency of LEADER Programmes in the creation of tangible and intangible outputs: a Data Envelopment Analysis application to Local Action Groups performances

An emerging requirement for the evaluation of the rural development policy is the adoption of an objective method accounting for both material and immaterial achievements, and measuring the performance in order to understand the degree of accomplishment of policy objectives. In this paper we propose a Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach capable of dealing with economic and social indicators, to measure the (relative) technical efficiency of a set of Local Action Groups (LAGs) operating within the LEADER programme. An evaluation exercise referred to eight LAGs located in Italy, is provided to demonstrate the effects of the inclusion of social capital indicator in the evaluation of the LAGs’ performances. In particular, the DEA allows to measure the relative efficiency of the LAGs and to identify the causes of the inefficiency. The outcomes of the analysis may represent a valuable information support for periodical policy review and for the enhancement of best practices.Rural Development, LEADER, social capital, DEA, Agricultural and Food Policy, Q18, R58,

Economic Effects of Legislative Framework Changes in Groundwater Use Rights for Irrigation

In most countries, groundwater resource is a public good, and the entitlement of use rights by the public authority to final users differs according to a country-specific legislative framework. In Italy, groundwater extraction has been regulated through non-tradable private licenses. At present, the public authority needs to reform the current legislative framework, in order to comply with the Water Framework Directive, aimed at the enhancement of the efficiency of the resource use. This research analyzes the effects of reforming the current framework based on non-tradable use rights, by comparing two different liberalization scenarios: an intra-sector market, and a regional market. Although positive economic benefits are generally expected from the liberalization of use rights at aggregated level, we want to analyze whether effects of the legislative framework causes uneven changes on some farm groups. The empirical case study refers to the Fortore river basin (South of Italy), where groundwater covers about 50–80% of current needs, and informal (though illegal) water markets across neighbor farmers already exist. From the findings, there is no evidence that the exchange liberalization of groundwater use rights leads to gains in terms of the value added and the farmer’s revenue. In addition, in the case of an auction system regulated by the public authority, farmers whose water productivity is higher may be able to gain, while others may suffer some losses. In this case, resistances from farmers’ associations towards the legislative framework reform may aris

DEA application to evaluate the technical and ecological efficiency of water pricing policies

With the enforcement of the Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC (WFD), policy makers are required to pursue the improvement of the use efficiency of the water resources in the agricultural sector. For this purpose, we suggest a methodology to perform an ex-ante analysis of the efficiency of water pricing policies, based on a two stage DEA technique, by which it is possible to disaggregate the technical and the ecological efficiency of the policy. According to our results, we found that, coherently with the WFD principles, the direct pricing methods show the highest levels of efficiency. However, we have also found that some indirect pricing methods show relatively high levels of efficiency. Therefore, since the high cost for the management and implementation of water measurement devices required to apply the volumetric methods, indirect pricing methods might still be preferable

Economic analysis of the long-term effects of groundwater salinity: bringing the farmer's perspectives into policy

This research estimates the economic losses at the farm level caused by groundwater over-exploitation and by seawater intrusion. The problem of coastal groundwater salinity was tackled by considering its hydrological, agronomic and economic aspects. Economic analysis for competitive use vs. regulated management regimes was carried out, considering constant and adaptive watering techniques. We concentrate on the farmers' perspective of water as an input in agriculture, and assess discounted net present value over a period of 30 years. The ultimate goal of this research is to raise the awareness of farmers and policy makers by demonstrating the economic impacts (from the farmer's point of view) of over-exploitation. Our findings for Apulia Region (Southern Italy) indicate that the slowness of the long-term effect of salinity and the ability of farmers to adapt irrigation profiles suggest broadening the perspective of policy intervention. For an effective management of this common resource, policy makers should follow a more comprehensive approach based on economic analysis

WP 6: MODELLING STAKEHOLDER INTERPLAY AND POLICY SCENARIOS FOR BIOREFINERY AND BIODIESEL PRODUCTION. D 6.6: Detailed specification of the questionnaire to be delivered to various stakeholders

In this deliverable we first present a technical note on how to identify the key agro-energy stakeholders involved (or potentially involved) in the production of biodiesel in the province of Foggia (Capitanata). Subsequently, we present the questionnaire which will be distributed to these stakeholders.

Assessment of Irrigation Pricing Policies: A Data Envelopment Analysis Approach

The European Water Framework Directive encourages pricing policy reforms in order to protect the environmental quality of water and promote its efficient use. This paper deals with two aspects of efficiency, namely economic and environmental efficiency, analyzed for different pricing methods. Volumetric pricing methods are compared with other indirect schemes (‘per area’, on ‘input’, on ‘output’ and ‘quota’) under three different water saving scenarios. The Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) technique is used to assess the eco-efficiency of an eventual water pricing reform in the irrigated agricultural system of Capitanata, in Italy. Overall, findings point out that a pricing system based on ‘per area’ and ‘output’ will lead to the highest eco-efficiency, although this is not valid under any water pricing charge. The enforcement of water saving via pricing does not imply a higher eco-efficiency, mainly in the case of environmental efficiency. The use of the DEA approach appears useful in the assessment of water pricing policies where conflictive economic and environmental goals arise. It provides a methodology to support policy makers in the design of water policy pricing aimed at the enhancement of efficiency, both economic and environmenta