Several global developments such as diminishing production resources, limits in the availability of water and the growing demand for bio-energy as well as sector-wide crises (e.g. BSE, swine fever, dioxin) have led to a changing attitude of society towards the conse-quences of the food...

We devise a decision tool to help economic researchers select a causal detection method compatible with real-world dynamics of an economic system under investigation. We apply it to test for dynamic causality between promotions and sales of a case-study beer brand in England. We find evidence...

This paper provides insights of the Italian farmers' markets (FMs) experience. These short food chains can be conceptualized among the so-called "alternative agro-food networks", which reject the traditional food chains features - productivity, products standardization and industrial...

The market of local and organic food is still a niche market in the USA, despite its strong growth rates. Both offer consumers an alternative to a globalized anonymous food supply chain. Yet local food and organic food seem to be overlapping and to some degree competing food concepts. While the...

The paper investigates the role of innovation intermediaries in sector-specific regional innovation systems. Innovation is viewed as a non-linear, iterative process and open process involving multiple actors from different parts of the innovation system. The paper studies in particular...

The milk quotas were introduced in Italy in 1984; from that time onward, the dairy chain has progressed in technology and organization with consequences for the market competition. The Aglink-Cosimo simulations suggest milk production will return to an increasing path, driven by a fairly optimistic...

Knowledge exchange is a prerequisite for learning and consequently for innovation. Through open innovation, the innovating firms establish ties with other organizations, in order to innovate. At the baseline, open innovation is thus the exchange of knowledge through in- and out-flows of the...

Sustainability is arguably one of the greatest challenges to Hungary in the future. The question is how to meet this need and tackle this challenge that requires commitment from the different players of the supply chain. This aim of the work within the FP7 Salsa project was to detect, explore...

A contract is considered incomplete when the optimal solution for a contractual problem requires some information from the parts which is not observable by one or both parts. This problem is found in the biodiesel production chain among small scale farmers and biodiesel companies in Brazil,...

The importance of networking as a way to enhance innovation has been pointed out in many scientific papers, in particular for SMEs. A great number of scientific studies clearly establish the significant role of SMEs in economic growth, promoting flexibility and innovation in an economy. The...