Our study employs a stochastic frontier model that explains short- and long-run production risk and efficiency with respect to heat stress conditions and other farm specific characteristics. We use an unbalanced dataset of specialist Swiss dairy farmers between 2003 and 2014. We find that farms are not able to reduce production risk towards heat stress in the short run. We also find that farm-specific

This study examines the dynamics of the integration of and risk transmission between India’s crude oil price index and nine agricultural commodity spot prices. The study uses daily price volatility data from June 2015 to December 2023 and a time-varying parameter vector autoregressive framework to investigate short-term and long-term connectedness dynamics. The results show a strong relationship between

Unravelling theory postulates that consumers assume products without quality information are of the lowest quality. In a discrete choice experiment (DCE) with 1987 respondents from the UK, we find evidence against this assumption. Affirmative disclosure, which indicates only quality above the lowest level, lowers marginal utilities compared to complete disclosure. The development in food choice DCE

I develop a model of provision competition between food retailers to examine one potential economic rationale behind voluntary cage-free egg pledges. I show that competition pushes retailers to a prisoners’ dilemma equilibrium where retailers incur fixed costs to offer both non-cage-free and cage-free eggs to steal or prevent the loss of some basket-shopping consumers. In a dynamic setting, retailers

We estimate the effects of previous crops and crop acreage diversity on yields and chemical input uses. Our estimation approach relies on models of crop yields and input uses defined as systems of simultaneous equations featuring farm-specific random parameters. We find significant and consistent effects of previous crops on yield levels but not on input uses, suggesting that farmers tend to downplay

Livestock productivity is low in Africa, primarily due to feed shortages. We quantify the impacts of the feed shortage experience on livestock and crop production, and its implications on poverty using an instrumental variable approach. Results revealed that the feed shortage experience increased the value of livestock deaths (14 per cent), increased production expenses (77 per cent) and reduced the

This study examines whether informational nudges effectively enhance adherence to the Fertiliser Act among Japanese fertiliser companies (N = 2,382) by conducting field experiments in collaboration with a national regulatory body. We find that the timely submission of reports to the authority increased by at least 5.7 percentage points, from a baseline of 70.3 per cent. This result suggests that highlighting

There is public concern about the degree to which rising farmland rental rates are driven by the perceived market influence of non-agricultural actors. We conduct a structural estimation to analyse the potential bargaining power of different types of actors in the farmland market. It allows us to infer their latent reservation utilities by exploiting equilibrium conditions, derived from a stochastic

In the last decade, climate change, Covid-19, and several international conflicts have created significant disruptions to global and regional supply chains, leading to a re-evaluation of the benefits of globalisation. Modelling food trade as network graphs, this study spotlights the effects of these shocks, on the structure, flow and evolution of food supply chains. Network centrality measures show

Farmland prices have been surging worldwide; yet little is known about the particular strong surges in the upper quantiles of price distribution. We investigate by quantile how the composition of the farmland sales and agents’ valuation of land characteristics contribute to these price developments. Using farmland transactions from Brandenburg, Germany, we decompose the price surges between 2008–09

This study explores how agrobiodiversity at both local and regional scales impacts farmland value across five Mediterranean countries in the EU. Previous literature has primarily addressed on-farm biodiversity and its effects on productivity and risk mitigation, yet the potential externalities of agrobiodiversity across neighboring farms remain underexplored. Using a cross-sectional Ricardian approach

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

Comparing randomly selected and real-world political leaders, this paper investigates the effect of leading-by-example on voluntary contributions in a linear contribution mechanism public goods game experiment with 550 residents in rural China. This setting provides a unique social structure, shaping people’s responses to leadership. We find that leading-by-example set by political leaders and randomly

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

Machine learning (ML) methods have been proposed to improve the assessment of agricultural policies through enhanced causal inference. This study uses a simulation framework tailored to Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) data to scrutinize the performance of both ML and classical methods under diverse causal properties crucial for identification. Our findings reveal significant variations in performance

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

This study employs a state-of-the-art econometric methodology to investigate the relationship between firm productivity and innovation, considering the spatial heterogeneity of firms and locations. It examines significant variations in productivity and production technologies among firms and locations within Norwegian food and beverage (F&B) manufacturing. Analysing data from 336 firms over 12 years

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

Policymakers worldwide set ambitious targets to increase the share of organic farming. We conduct a global, systematic literature review to synthesise evidence on the adoption of organic farming and support policymakers and food-value chain actors in reaching policy goals. First, we map the existing research and identify substantial gaps regarding the research focus, methodology and geographical coverage

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

Nationally representative household surveys are a potential data source that could shed light on the climate–migration nexus. However, they are rarely designed specifically to measure or study migration and often lack the necessary features to identify connections with climate change. This paper offers a critical reflection on current challenges faced by multi-topic household surveys in responding

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

Given the complex managerial tasks and the risks and uncertainties involved in agricultural production, it is expected that personality traits may play an integral role in shaping farmers’ performance. This study uses a large rural household survey dataset collected in three rice-producing provinces in China to examine this proposition. We find that openness to experience and internal locus of control

This study examines farmers’ preferences for practice-based, result-based and hybrid agri-environmental schemes in three countries through a choice experiment conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, focusing on biodiversity, climate and water quality. The results reveal that, in general, farmers tend to prefer practice-based schemes for water quality or climate change

We evaluate how the share of farmland enrolled in agri-environmental schemes affects the biodiversity friendliness of management practices both on the overall farmland as well as on the enrolled and non-enrolled plots separately. To this end, we prepare a unique dataset for Switzerland that links farm-level accountancy data to plot-level data on management practices and their impact on organismal biodiversity

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

Plant disease control is often implemented at the private property level, and problems of cooperation and coordination between landowners can lead to social inefficiencies. Drawing on the private management problem of sharka on Prunus trees, we analyse an epidemic game and its outcomes according to initial infection levels. We show that, depending on the infection level in each farm, the nature of

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

Auctions are widely used for agricultural and seafood products worldwide. However, buyer uncertainty regarding product quality may affect auction participation and efficiency negatively. This study examines repeat purchases (RPs) as a strategy to reduce buyer uncertainty regarding product quality and whether prices are affected. We also examine whether prices are affected by buyers’ option to prioritise

The farmer trainer (FT) model has gained momentum as a cost-effective alternative to traditional agricultural extension systems. However, there may be friction in the transmission of information, whereby farmers closer to the FT may benefit more than socially distant farmers. This study explores whether variations on the standard FT model facilitate the diffusion of information outside the FT’s pre-existing

This paper investigates whether farmers adapt their pesticide use to cope with weather shocks. Using a unique, exhaustive dataset detailing all active substance purchases per zip code in France between 2014 and 2019, we econometrically explain abnormal pesticide purchase deviations by weather shocks. We identify heterogeneous weather impacts across pesticide types, seasons and locations. Because our

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

This paper examines the effectiveness of climate pledges and eco-taxation as strategies for mitigating climate change within a networked agricultural supply chain organisation. We utilise variational inequality techniques within a multicriteria decision-making framework and validate our theoretical findings through numerical simulations using a machine learning augmented algorithm. By employing this

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