What really matters? A qualitative analysis on the adoption of innovations in agriculture

The agricultural industry is confronted with the need of increasing the production to feed a growing population, and contemporarily to manage the decreased availability of natural resources. This major challenge boosts agriculture sector to adopt new approaches and technical innovations; anyway, the adoption of innovations in agriculture is not immediate, due to the interaction of many drivers that impact on individuals and enterprises’ decisions. This paper aims at providing a list of drivers for the adoption of technological innovations in agriculture, on the basis of the outcomes of in-depth interviews and focus groups performed in three European countries (Italy, Greece, Turkey). With specific reference to innovations, ease of use, effectiveness, usefulness, resource savings, and compatibility were mentioned as relevant features for an innovation to be adopted. Trials, demonstrations, experience and knowledge sharing, and support from qualified third parties were included among the facilitating factors for conveying and promoting innovations. Finally, public funding, agricultural policies and market conditions were identified as factors that may tip the balance in the process of innovations’ adoption

Organic certification systems and international trading of agricultural products in gravity models

Recent literature about gravity models points out the importance of institutional frictions in the international market of agricultural products beyond the traditional economics variables as transport costs reducing the mass of trade in bilateral relationships. In particular, previous contributions stress that harmonization of food standards could decrease transaction costs in trading relationships by stimulating international market. In a previous work we hypothesized that the acknowledgment of equivalence in organic standards may represent a reliable signal of affinity in bilateral relationships which may be useful to identify areas in which transaction costs for both conventional and organic standards are lower. This article represents a step forward, since it assumes that the acknowledgment of equivalence in identifying areas with lower transaction costs in trading relationships for the whole produce could be a strong assumption that may be relaxed through the hypothesis that affinity in market exchange could be simply signaled by the presence of organic standards for the involved countries. Therefore, in our analysis we test if countries setting specific rules for organic standards are more “affine” in trading relationships because of a low common cultural, law and political distance but also if differences in organic standards themselves can be useful to differentiate the level of affinity among regions. Interesting insights for policy makers about the identification of relevant variables for international business arise from an econometric analysis.Gravity models, organic standards, transaction costs, international market, agricultural trade, food products, Agricultural and Food Policy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Q11, Q13,

La Vegetazione dell'area Pantaleo-Gutturu Mannu-Punta Maxia-Monte Arcosu nel Sulcis-Iglesiente (Sardegna sud-occidentale)

From the Pantaleo-M. Arcosu district (SW Sardinia) 14 associations are described, 4 of them (Phagnalo-Psoraleetum morisianae, Helichryso-Teucrietum mari, Pistacio-Juniperetum oxycedri and OsmundoAlnetum Glutinosae) for the first time. Prevailing vegetation types in this area are macchia-associations: in lower parts the Pistacio-Juniperetum oxycedri belonging to the Oleo-Ceratonion, in the higher ones the Asplenio-Quercetum ilicis (Quercion ilicis) a transiction belt, between about 400-700 m asI shows the Vibumo-Quercetum ilicis. Up to the last century, the whole study-area was covered by a dense evergreen mediterranean forest which has been modified and partially destroyed by cutting, fire and intense pasture. Nowadays, due also to the protection actions by regional forest authorithies, the woody species show an increasing vigour and are prevailing again. These associations at present can be interpreted as climaxnear vegetation types

La Flora di Pantaleo-Gutturu Mannu-Punta Maxia nel Sulcis (Sardegna sud-occidentale)

This study takes into consideration the floristic eomponent of the area Pantaleo- Gutturu Mannu-Punta Maxia, whieh extends over about 12.000 ha and is situated in the southwestern part of Sardinia. The flora eonsists of 594 taxa belonging to 338 genera and 90 families. The native eomponent is emphatised, particularly the endemie one whieh is 6,2% of the totaI. The analysis of the life forms spectrum reveals the dear dominance of therophytes which points out that the area is a typical plein mediterranean environment; also the ehorological speetrum shows 57% of mediterranean elements. FIoristic correlations with other areas of Sardinia are given

Memories of a botanical trip to Mallorca in 1952

Abstract not availabl

Supposed trans-Atlantic migration of Heterostegina around the Eocene/Oligocene boundary

According to our hypothesis, Heterostegina ocalana migrated eastward through the previously much narrower Atlantic Ocean around the Eocene/Oligocene boundary. Sporadic populations of H. n. sp., its phylogenetic successor, survived in the western part of the Neotethys until the end of the Rupelian, when they became extinct

Commercio elettronico per la dinamica delle catene agro-alimentari internazionali: un’analisi del potenziale [E-commerce for the dynamics of international agri-food chains: an adoption potential analysis]

Business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce is an innovative use of information and communication technologies and refers to the exchange of goods and related information between companies supported by Internet-based tools such as electronic marketplaces (also called electronic trade platforms) or online shops. It provides opportunities for cost-efficiency in supply chain management processes and access to new markets. With regard to the food sector with its chain levels input – agriculture – industry – retail – consumer, B2B e-commerce would take place in the exchange of food products between all levels except retail to consumer (business-to-consumer e-commerce). It is evident and widely known that B2B e-commerce brings key advantages and potentials for European consumers and the European food sector: - The affordability of high quality, traceable food for European consumers is supported as the innovation potentials from e-commerce technologies for cost-efficient processes along the food chain. The healthy choice of quality food will become the easy and affordable choice for European consumers. - The competitiveness of the European food sector with the majority of SMEs increases as B2B e-commerce technologies support cost-efficient transaction processes in food supply chains. In recent years, the availability of sophisticated B2B e-commerce technology has improved tremendously. The “European e-Business Market Watch” initiative from the Directorate-General Enterprise and Industry from the European Commission has shown that only large multinationals exploit the potentials of B2B e-commerce in the food sector for their supply chain management with their business partners. SMEs however, which create the majority of turn over in the European food sector and therefore create jobs and welfare in Europe, are reluctant to take up existing B2B e-commerce technologies into their food supply of selling. The crucial barrier to adoption is that trust between companies is not mediated appropriately by existing e-commerce technology. Currently, the barrier for food sector SMEs towards B2B e-commerce come from - the difficulty to examine the quality and safety of food products. This refers to all kinds of transactions in the food sector, whether supported by e-commerce or not. However, when it comes to e-commerce, the difficulty of physical product examination plays a much larger role as physical product inspection is not possible; - the (perceived) risk of performing a transaction via e-commerce. This includes concerns regarding secure transfer of data, or the possibly unknown transaction partner. Elements for the generation of trust between companies in the food chain and therefore of trustworthy B2B e-commerce environments for the food sector include guaranties regarding food quality, multimedia food product presentations to signal their quality, secure e-commerce technology infrastructures, third-party quality signs to be provided. As trust is highly subjective and depends on culture, food chains in different European countries with a different cultural background require different combinations of trust generating elements regarding the quality and safety of food. Different food chain scenarios with their transaction processes and risks regarding food quality and food safety and related trust elements need to be analysed and differences in trust in different European food chains need to be considered. It is the objective of this paper to identify food chains with trans-European cross-border exchange of food and international food chains in order to analyse the transaction processes and typical risks regarding food quality and food safety. The analysis focuses on trans-European cross-border and international food chains with their chain levels (e.g. production to wholesale trade, wholesale trade to industry, or wholesale trade to retail). In particular, it regards the food categories meat, grains, fresh vegetables, and fresh fruits and the particular risks regarding food quality and safety along the chains.e-commerce, B2B transactions, agri-food trade

Labor Market Segmentation and the Gender Wage Gap in Ukraine

Ukrainian women are on average much more educated than women in developing countries and they also tend to show higher participation rates, albeit smaller than men's. They are also at least as educated as Ukrainian men. Women and men with identical characteristics might show different patterns of participation to informality. This result reflects in different probabilities of women and men to move across states between the two periods under exam. This emerges clearly from the analysis of the transition matrices. Both men and women show higher propensity to go to the formal sector from the informal one than vice versa. However, contrary to what is predicted by segmented labor market theories we find a higher concentration of women in the informal sector. On average, Ukrainian women do earn less than men and this is true both in the formal and in the informal sector. However, when we decompose the gender earnings differential we find evidence of two very different patterns between the formal and the informal sectors. In the formal sector, the earnings differential is entirely due to the unexplained component, usually indicated as an indicator of wage discrimination. In the informal sector, on the contrary, when the earnings differential is significantly different from zero, it is entirely due to differences in the explained component (personal, household and job characteristics). Overall, these results can be interpreted as the evidence that the Ukrainian labor market is indeed segmented and that women suffer some sort of discrimination. This discrimination is not taking place through the segregation of women in the informal sector but, more likely, through different remuneration of characteristics in the formals sector and different career opportunities and the exclusion of women from the better remunerated jobs at the top of the hierarchy. This might also explain why women in the upper tier of the wage distribution experience higher earnings when they are self-employed compared than when they are salaried, both in the formal and in the informal sector.

Prostorna rasprostranjenost jedinki nekih vrsta pašnjaka Sesleria albicans - Carex sempervirens

Spatial distribution of the individuals belonging to different species of the Seslerio-Caricetum sempervirentis in the Dolomites was investigated by means of 16 transects each of 2 metar lenght. Along each transect all individuals of vasculars plants growing along the axis were registered. The elaboration was carried out on the 13 species occurring most frequently, on the basis of binary association. The frequences observed differ in general significantly from a random distribution. In some cases there is the tendency for a species to occur more frequently in contact with individuals of certain species and avoids other species. In particular the two dominating species {Sesleria albicans and Carex sempervirens) seem to avoid each other and to be in contact with some preferential species. Consequently, in the community there is the tendency towards a differentiation of microniches. These relationships are explained as a consequence of growth form and characteristics of soil.Prostorna rasprostranjenost jedinki različitih vrsta koje rastu u zajednici Seslerio-Caricetum sempervirentis u Dolomitima proučavana je na temelju 16 transekata dužine 2 m. Na svakom transektu zabilježene su sve jedinke viših biljaka, koje su rasle duž osi transekta. Obrada je izvršena na 13 najčećih vrsta, upotrebljavajući metodu "binarne asocijacije", tj. brojenjem koliko puta jedinke jedne vrste rastu u dodiru s jedinkama iste vrste ili pak drugih vrsta. Rezultati pokazuju da u mnogo slučajeva zapažena učestalost znatno odstupa od slučajne rasprostranjenosti: jedinke pojedinih vrsta nastoje se udružiti ili razdružiti. Posebno valja istaknuti, da dvije dominantne vrste Sesleria albicans i Carex sempervirens nastoje ne rasti jedna blizu druge, pokazujući da imaju pratilice s kojima su češće u kontaktu. U sklopu zajednice javlja se dakle tendencija diferenciranja mikroniša. Ti se odnosi mogu objasniti pomoću oblika rasta i obilježja substrata