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AGRICULTURAL
ECONOMICS AND POLICY Section |
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Research
The scientific activity carried out by the Agricultural Economics and Policy
Section is based on ongoing major changes in agriculture, in relation to its
economic, social and institutional roles. Within this framework, the focus is
on changes in the food production and processing system in domestic and
international markets.
The main areas of research are:
a) Agricultural policy and economic systems. Over the years, researchers
have developed skills in the comparative study of economic systems and regional
rural economies, by investigating the impact of farming on social stability,
economic development and on the relations between food production and
processing systems of different countries.
Studies in this area have been carried out in:
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Italy,
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European Union,
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Extra-EU regions, in particular the Central-Eastern Europe, the Balkans and the
Mediterranean basin.
b) Research on food production and processing systems economics and
organization focus on competitiveness, economic integration between the actors
involved, marketing activities and quality policies and regional and
international supply-chains.
Specific attention is paid to fishery, livestock production, dairy produce,
sugar, wine and oil seeds.
An innovative project has also been started up with the name "Last Minute
Market" developing a theoretical and practical approach to transforming food
waste into resources for people in need.
The research regards mainly the following topics:
- quality and valorization of agricultural and food products,
- traceability,
- food processing products and competitiveness.
c) Studies into agricultural and natural resource economics deal with both the
multifunctional aspects of agricultural activity in specific areas of regional
territories and the analysis of the economic and organizational relations of
agriculture with industry in relation to non-food crops (such as textiles) and
alternative energy sources of agricultural origin (bio-diesel), within the
European Network for Industrial Crops.
d) Agricultural law deals with the organization and development of agricultural
activities in their many legal aspects, as defined by the Italian Civil code
and European Community legislation, including comparative law and legal issues
related to the protection of the environment and the marketing of agricultural
products.
e) Research into economic history and the history of economic thought comprises
topics such as the history of the Italian countryside, cities and regions, the
history of agriculture and the environment, the history of economic thought and
the social history of science, and the history of the Jewish persecution in
Italy.
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In order to carry out its research activity, the
Section maintains close relations with national and international Agencies, and
includes specific scientific facilities.
Joint study projects are carried out with many partners along with other
Sections in the Department, as well as with several national and foreign
research agencies (institutions from Central-Eastern Europe, North and South
America, and agencies such as the Joint Research Centre and Institute for
Prospective Technological Studies of the EU, the Centre International de Hautes
Etudes Agronomiques Méditerranéennes, OECD, FAO, etc.)
The Economic Unit of the interdisciplinary Center for Vine growing and
Enological Research (CRIVE) studies the wine market, its organization and
competitiveness.
The Section also jointly promotes teaching and research conferences and
collaboration with the Department of Agricultural Economics at Washington State
University (USA), the Ecole Nationale Superieure Agronomique (ENSAM) in
Montepellier (FR) and the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)
in Paris (FR).
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English
Version