This study examines the relationship between market experience and the adoption of risky but profitable agricultural technologies and explores the role of demand-side barriers. Using survey and incentivized experimental data, we find that market experience is significantly associated with increased adoption of improved agricultural technologies. Furthermore, we find that market experience is linked

This study evaluated the implications of the Innovation for Agribusiness (InovAgro) value chain interventions (VCIs) on farmers’ input use, market information access and land access. We used a spatial identification strategy to classify farmers as beneficiary or non-beneficiary farmers. The study used a FFs DiD analysis on a matched sample using the three-wave panel data. Our findings show that InovAgro

Agglomeration externality is a feature that has received limited attention in food production supply chains. Using highly disaggregated trade data, this paper investigates the presence of regional agglomeration effects in Norwegian seafood exports. Results indicate strong agglomeration effects in the exports of both farmed and harvested seafood at the region–product–destination level. Regional agglomeration

Our paper investigates productivity, output growth and total factor productivity (TFP) growth using a novel single-index smooth-coefficient stochastic frontier approach and two firm-level datasets respectively from the high technology (high-tech) manufacturing and Knowledge Intensive Business Services (KIBS) sectors in Norway. The approach considers input productivity and technical inefficiency to

Motivated by the emphasis on securing property rights as an important tool for the efficient allocation of resources, including land and labour, we use three rounds of China Rural Household Panel Survey data to assess the impact of a land certification programme (LCP) on the labour and land allocation in rural China. We find that the LCP results in increased rural–urban migration, more active land

Recall biases in retrospective self-reported survey data have important implications for empirical research. We leverage the survey design literature and test three strategies to attenuate mental anchoring in retrospective data collection: question ordering, retrieval cues and aggregate (community) anchoring. We focus on maize production and happiness reports among smallholder farmers in Malawi. Asking

The increase in farmland prices in many parts of the world over the past decade has sparked discussions about whether non-farmers pay higher prices for farmland. This study uses a causal machine learning approach with a rich data set of land transactions in Germany to quantify the potential price premium paid by non-farmers. By applying the causal forest method, we uncover the heterogeneity of price

We study how rural households in Ethiopia adapt to droughts through labour reallocation. Using three waves of panel data and exploiting spatio-temporal variations in drought exposure, we find that households reduce on-farm work and increase off-farm self-employment in response to both short-term and persistent droughts, without abandoning family farming. Diversification into off-farm activities is

The replication crisis in empirical research calls for a more mindful approach to how we apply and report statistical models. For empirical research to have a lasting (policy) impact, these concerns are crucial. In this paper, we present Probabilistic Programming (PP) as a way forward. The PP workflow with an explicit data-generating process enhances the communication of model assumptions, code testing

This paper employs the recently proposed climate penalty model to estimate season-specific climate change impacts on Chinese winter wheat yields and also reveals the effects of long-run adaptions by comparing the short-run and long-run estimates identified from the model. We find that Spring freezing days are critical as we estimate small yield gains when considering a reduction in the number of freezing

Beef production is a major contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. We conducted a choice experiment to analyse consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for beef characterised as carbon-friendly. We included a treatment where respondents were informed about carbon-friendly production and surveyed beliefs regarding beef production’s contribution to GHG emissions. The results show that consumers have

We present a new approach to establish an empirical overview of farmers’ risk preferences and the characteristics associated with these preferences. We rely on an Individual Participant Data Meta-analysis whereby we identify studies eliciting risk preferences through self-assessments and Holt and Laury lotteries, and construct and analyse a unique dataset of 5,157 farmers from 19 studies in 13 European

This introduction presents five articles of the virtual issue on bioeconomy innovation pipelines and supply chain shocks. The presented cases use alternative methodological approaches with their own advantages and disadvantages. The conclusion we can draw is that the specificities of individual case studies make it difficult to generalise and many more cases would be needed to perform a meta-analysis

Using Rwandan Integrated Household Living Conditions surveys (2013/2014 and 2016/17), we investigate whether financial inclusion leads to improved nutrition in rural Rwanda. Our empirical evidence shows a robust positive impact of financial inclusion by formal financial institutions, although informal institutions like tontines were ineffective in improving food expenditure or nutrition. Furthermore

Understanding agricultural commodity futures is crucial for efficient business operations. This study employs textual machine learning on 290,271 articles (2009–2020) focusing on corn markets, aiming to model the impact of news on corn futures pricing. Our novel approach enables the identification of seven distinct topics within corn news, offering a comprehensive view of the news coverage spectrum

While there is strong evidence that becoming an exporter increases a firm’s productivity, underlying mechanisms that explain such a relationship remain largely unexplored. This paper analyses the contribution of the complementarity between exporting and investment in technology as a potential driver of export-related productivity gains. We employ firm-level data on production and trade combined with

We analyse the effect of front-of-package nutrition labelling using the example of France, where Nutri-Score was adopted in 2017. Our focus is on changes in available products, i.e. on producer choices rather than consumer choices. Employing a difference-in-differences approach, we find that products introduced or altered after the change receive better Nutri-Score ratings than those introduced before

Our paper assesses the technical and economic effects of adopting environmental standards aimed at favouring biodiversity on wheat production. We consider two standards with different levels of environmental stringency. We use data on French wheat production at the plot level from the period 2014–2020. We implement an endogenous switching regression model taking into account two sources of endogeneity

We investigate the impact of severe drought shocks in Morocco’s agricultural sector. Using a staggered difference-in-differences design, we estimate that climatic shocks resulted in a job displacement of approximately 6.5 percentage points for workers exposed to severe drought events. Additionally, we observe that, overall, approximately 39 per cent of these workers remained unemployed, leading to

Organic inputs can be effective in reversing soil degradation and improving crop yields, but are often underused in a developing country context. This study seeks to determine whether farmer field days (FFDs) are effective in disseminating information about novel organic inputs, and the extent to which they increase demand for these products. Using experimental auctions to measure willingness to pay

We present a novel procedure based on eco-efficiency for assessing farm-level effects of technology adoption while considering secondary effects. Secondary effects are defined as structural and behavioural adaptations to technology that may impact environmental, social or economic outcomes. We apply the procedure to automatic milking systems (AMS) in Norway and find that AMS induces secondary effects

This paper examines the relationship between smallholder commercialisation and rural household welfare. Employing a comprehensive three-wave panel dataset of smallholder maize farmers in Ethiopia, we find a positive association between commercialisation and household income which translates to wealth endowments through asset ownership and accumulation. We also show that commercialisation is associated

This study utilises structural gravity models to examine the impact of globalisation on distance in agricultural and processed food trade, the relative effects of international distance and home bias effects. The results show that larger internal distances lower domestic sales. The home bias effect is substantially larger in agricultural commodities compared to processed agricultural commodities. Omitted

Our objective is to identify the individual flexibility of dairy farms, which may be the result of heterogeneous input adjustment costs, based on their observed short-run responses to price variations. For this purpose, we propose an analytical framework based on the panel smooth transition regression model with farm-specific threshold parameters. Our model is estimated using data from a sample of

This study compares a real choice experiment (RCE) with three commonly used experimental auction (EA) mechanisms (Becker–DeGroot–Marschak, random nth price auction (RNPA), second price auction (SPA)) to determine whether willingness to pay (WTP) estimates differ across these elicitation methods. We use quality labels on eggs as the empirical application and find that the SPA, RNPA and RCE yield similar

This paper analyses data from a novel collective agri-environmental scheme (cAES) in Alsace, France, designed to protect the local European hamster population by motivating farmers to engage in habitat conservation measures. In contrast to typical conservation contracts that pay individual farmers based on their own performance, the cAES studied here pays farmers only when the percentage of land conserved

Animal welfare is a credence attribute with public good characteristics. Using a discrete choice experiment, consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for a concretely planned state animal welfare label is derived and compared by product group (fresh vs. processed meat) and tax scenario (no tax vs. additional animal welfare tax included in price). Consumers have a positive WTP for the state label. However

The existence of a negative variance risk premium on agricultural futures contracts suggests that market participants pay to hedge unexpected increases in the volatility of these contracts. In this paper, we decompose the variance risk premium in corn and soybeans markets into jump and diffusive components using options and futures data from 2009 to 2021. We find that market participants on average

Public policies increasingly support the expansion of organic agriculture as part of a menu of food and environmental initiatives. A little-studied yet crucial element of such expansion, especially in light of scientific evidence on lower yields of organic crops, is its impact on overall food production and food prices, especially for poorer households. In this paper, we first establish a positive

Powerful long-term drivers are increasing both the demand and supply of quantified environmental impact information in food systems. The trend is fast (with many initiatives underway) and furious (presenting a confusing landscape) but has so far received little attention from economists. Better information can inform public and private efforts to reduce environmental pressures. However, the use of

The income stabilisation tool (IST) is the latest tool proposed by the European Union (EU) to manage agricultural risks. It aims at stabilising farm income by compensating income losses. Using a discrete choice experiment, this paper investigates grapevine farmers’ acceptance of the IST in Croatia and tests whether behavioural factors such as risk preferences, probability weighting and subjective probabilities

In order to tackle climate change and biodiversity loss, the European Union (EU) promotes extensive farming. However, identifying such farms across countries and assessing their performance for policy purposes remains challenging. This paper combines a latent class stochastic frontier model (LCSFM) with a novel nested metafrontier approach. The resulting model enables the identification of intensive

The past decade has seen the transition of agricultural economics from perceived irrelevance to being seen as key to saving the world from an array of grand challenges. These challenges include global climate change, non-communicable diseases, hunger and poverty. These challenges require international cooperation. Such cooperation is undermined by global conflicts in which agricultural trade is disrupted

Digitalisation is rapidly transforming the agri-food sector. This paper investigates emerging opportunities, challenges and policy options. We show that digital innovations can contribute to more sustainable and resilient agricultural systems. For example, digital innovations enable increased productivity, reduced environmental footprints and higher resilience of farms. However, these optimistic outcomes

The Coronavirus disease pandemic has disrupted survey systems globally and especially in low- and middle-income countries. Phone surveys started being implemented at a national scale in many places that previously had limited experience with them. As in-person data collection resumes, the experience gained provides the grounds to reflect on how phone surveys may be incorporated into survey and data

In this article, we celebrate the first 50 years of the European Review of Agricultural Economics. We intend to convey some understanding of how the interests of European Review of Agricultural Economics (ERAE) readers change over time as a reflection of how shifting interests show up in our research. To document how the issues, methods, and content of the ERAE evolve over time, we summarise the content

We assess landed costs and selected environmental metrics for field-based and controlled-environment agriculture greenhouse (GH) supply chains for leaf lettuce delivered to New York City. Landed costs for a GH are 46 to 174 per cent higher than field production, with the lower value for an automated GH located in the peri-urban area. Energy use and global warming potential per kg lettuce delivered

Research has highlighted the need for drastic shifts in eating patterns towards healthy and sustainable diets. One element would be the successful introduction of new or reformulated products. This paper discusses the opportunities for studying the role of sensory properties in determining food choices. We illustrate the methodology with the example of mueslis in Germany. We span the sensory space

Payments for Environmental Services (PESs) are increasingly used to foster farmers’ adoption of greener practices, but their effectiveness is often undermined by low enrollment. In a large randomized field experiment (N = 20,000), we test several non-monetary incentives to increase enrollment into the French implementation of the Agri-Environmental Schemes program of the European Union. We find that

We empirically investigate the impact of commodity price uncertainty on US and Euro Area (EA) trade flows. Our results indicate that the response of US and EA trade flows to commodity uncertainty shocks is larger, in magnitude and persistence, when compared with the respective impact of commodity supply and demand shocks. Moreover, our analysis shows that a one-standard deviation shock in commodity

We use a discrete choice experiment with treatments to test if voluntary adoption of smart water meters by French farmers can be fostered by (i) a collective conditional subsidy offered to farmers who adopt a smart meter only if the rate of adoption in their geographic area is sufficiently high and (ii) informational nudges. Using a sample of 1,272 farmers, we find contrasted results regarding our

We study how erroneous nutrition assumptions affect manufacturers’ profits and consumer surplus and how the government could intervene to improve welfare. In our model, two manufacturers produce a conventional product and a fad version misperceived to bring health benefits. We compare the laissez-faire outcome to two outcomes: one without false beliefs and the other with information provision reducing

We examine the effects of spouses’ climate risk perceptions (CRPs), defined by their beliefs about unfavourable climatic events and associated damages, on climate change adaptation (CCA) and the observed gender gap in adaptation. Our analysis uses the intra-household data collected by independent interviews with 1,274 female and male spouses in Kenya, Uganda and Senegal. By addressing the CRP endogeneity

The economic effects of global warming have gained considerable attention in the recent economic literature. While the relationship between rainfall and agriculture is well known, precipitations alone do not capture the soil water availability, which depends on the evaporation of the water (potential evapotranspiration [PET]). This paper presents evidence of the relationship between aridification and

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) risks rolling back many of the efforts and global successes recorded in reducing poverty and food insecurity. We undertake a systematic search and review of the growing microeconomic literature on the association between COVID-19 and food insecurity in Africa, discussing its implications for food policy and research. Furthermore, we review the various coping strategies

This study explores the responses of rural land markets to rainfall shocks in Uganda and Kenya. This study matches the panel data on farm households with rainfall shocks constructed using high-resolution precipitation and temperature data. In both countries, access to credit plays a key role in defining households’ land market responses to rainfall shocks. Households with access to credit respond to

We analyse the signalling effect of a strategy known as eponymy whereby owners integrate their name into the company name. Using microdata from German food processors, we find that eponymous companies generate 2.8 per cent-points higher return on assets, which implies additional yearly profits of €253,000 for a median-sized company. The eponymy effect increases with ownership concentration, indicating

Policies and institutions shape the incentives that influence innovation, technology adoption and productivity. We characterise the robusta coffee planting material pipeline in Uganda that connects upstream innovation in improved germplasm to downstream coffee producers. A nationally representative survey of coffee nursery operators reveals poor and heterogeneous production practices, potentially reflecting

We test the assumption that bidders in farmland auctions have private valuations, a necessary condition for auction efficiency. We apply the test of Haile et al. (2003) to farmland auctions in Eastern Germany covering the price boom 2007–2020. To disentangle valuations from observed and unobserved heterogeneity, we develop a new approach relying on professional appraisals of the land. Based on our

This article examines pathways among farmers’ extension participation, the uptake of recommended farm management practices and economic and environmental sustainability. We explore the ‘win-win’, efficiency-based focus of the Irish hybrid extension programme using an unbalanced panel dataset of dairy farms from 2010 to 2019. We apply two-way fixed effects regression models and sensitivity analyses

We shed light on Florida citrus growers’ decisions regarding their adoption of scientifically untested antibiotic sprays over insecticide spray coordination for dealing with the devastating impact of a pernicious plant disease. Using data from a framed field economic experiment, we examine growers’ preferences towards two types of uncertain outcomes, the first resulting from a game against nature and

The European Union (EU) food market is characterised by the presence of several front-of-pack nutrition labels (FOPLs), some of which have only been introduced lately. While the EU Commission proposed to harmonise and possibly mandate the use of FOPLs, agreement on which label to adopt has not been reached. This review explores the main issues related to the adoption of FOPLs from both the demand-side

Appropriately considering adjustment costs, this paper develops a robust nonparametric framework to analyse profits, prices and productivity in a dynamic context. Dynamic profit change is decomposed into a dynamic Bennet price indicator and a dynamic Bennet quantity indicator. The latter is decomposed into explanatory factors. It is shown to be a superlative indicator for the dynamic Luenberger indicator

This paper evaluates whether the devolution reform of forestland to household management improves allocative efficiency and household welfare through participation in forestland rental markets. Using a household panel dataset from three Chinese provinces, we find positive effects of the emerging forestland rental markets: with the reform, forestland was transferred to forestland-constrained and labour-rich

The Common Agricultural Policy reform 2013–2020 has conditioned 30 per cent of the direct payments to greening requirements. Our study investigates whether one of these requirements, the ecological focus area (EFA) obligation, has led to environmental improvements while preserving farms’ economic sustainability. We apply a regression discontinuity design approach on a sample of Italian arable crop

Although choice experiments (CEs) have emerged as the most popular stated preference method in applied economics, the method is not free from biases related to order and presentation effects. This paper introduces a new preference elicitation method referred to as a calibrated CE (CCE), and we explore the ability of the new method to alleviate starting-point bias. The new approach utilises the distribution

Adaptation is a key strategy to mitigate the detrimental effects of climate change on agriculture. Econometric studies are extensively used to account for adaptation within impact assessment, but are generally based on the assumption of fully adapted farms. Building on increasing evidence of potential limitations of adaptation, we develop a conceptual framework which allows us to relax this assumption

This paper investigates the impact of the engagement of individual farmers with Farm Advisory Services (FAS) on total factor productivity (TFP) growth, as a relevant indicator of competitiveness under the vision of sustainable intensification. Using farm-level data from the Irish dairy sector between 2008 and 2017, we estimate a random-coefficients stochastic frontier model and construct a TFP growth

Even though recognised to be of increasing importance, robust estimations of European farmers’ risk preferences are still scarce. Using an incentivised lab-in-the-field experiment with farmers, free of learning bias, this paper analyses the structurally derived parameters of risk preferences based on the cumulative prospect theory. The sector studied is the apple and pear sector in Flanders, Belgium

In this article, we quantify the impact of the crop diversification measure implemented in France as part of the 2013 common agricultural policy greening reform. We exploit a discontinuity in the constraints imposed on farms larger and smaller than 30 ha, respectively, and apply regression differences-in-differences with a regression discontinuity set-up on land use data collected from a representative