A fertile discussion is developing in the EU regarding the application of the Water Framework Directive (60/2000) (WFD), the legislative act that provides the framework for water regulation in Europe and emphasises the role of economic instruments in water policy. The objective of this paper is...

Auctions are a potentially suitable policy tool for increasing the efficiency of Agri- Environmental Schemes (AES) through an improved allocation of contracts. In theory, through the auction mechanism, farmers have incentives to reveal their compliance costs, helping to reduce information rents...

The connection between policy and other context variables and land markets is at the core of the policy debate, including the present reform of the Common Agricultural Policy. The objective if this paper is to evaluate the impact of the post 2013 CAP policy instruments on the land market in the...

The results of the study, based on survey-based statistical analysis as well as on modelling of farm behaviour, can be summarised in four main outcomes. Similar to the results of the first Investment study carried out in 2006 and published in 2008 (Gallerani et. al.), in the context of the...

Assessing the environmental impact of agri-environment schemes (AESs) is complicated by the lack of both specific measurable objectives and dedicated environmental monitoring of the impacts. A methodology to estimate the environmental performance of AESs was applied in nine EU case study areas,...

Water scarcity and droughts events in Italy are occurring more frequently than in previous decades and are forecasted to be more severe in the future. Current water management will likely be no more suitable to face extreme events and more efficient instruments to balance future demand and...

Agriculture is the main source of nitrogen loading (EEA, 2012) and is the sector with the largest remaining emission reduction potential (Sutton et al., 2011). Furthermore, surpluses of nitrogen are forecast to grow in the next decade (FAO, 2008). The objective of this study is to evaluate the...

Nowadays innovation represents a strategy to face the economic crisis affecting many sectors globally. It is believed that innovation is one of the most significant factors for the enhancement of competitiveness. Innovation is identified with the creation of value by companies, and networking is...