A multi-regional general equilibrium model to assess policy effects at regional level

This paper develops a multi-regional general equilibrium model (MEG-R) to compare the social desirability of the CAP reform in the three Italian macro-regions: North, Center and South. The model employs a mixed complementary framework that allows for the decision of not producing a particular crop in one or more regions and presents an attempt to model interregional trade flows. The model incorporates the links between production and consumption that characterize farm household’s behavior and allows for heterogeneous household responses across regions. Results show a general tendency to reallocations from cereal crops to forage that appear more severe in the South. In this region, the reduction in crops cannot be translated into an effective expansion of fodder and could lead to the “deactivation” of the land.