TFP comparisons across nations, sectors and time have been frequently used to represent the relative technological levels of the production systems. In this paper the use of the TFP as a proxy of the technological level in Italian agriculture is questioned. The cyclical behaviour seems to be the...

This paper proposes an evolutionary reading of rural development referred to cases of rapid industrial growth, where a strong concentration process has involved the main urban centers and the successful industrial districts. This territorial development pattern has gradually extinguished rural...

This paper aims at making the world price endogenous within the AGMEMOD modelling approach. This approach constructs country-level commodity market models where supply and demand sides are equalized on the basis of the observed domestic prices. These prices are endogenous as they depend (price...

This paper deals with the role of public research in Italian agriculture during the period 1960--1995. A short-run Generalised Leontief cost function capable of accommodating quasi-fixed factors and variable returns is used. Temporary equilibrium and scale economies are investigated with special...

This paper analyses, through a Random Utility Model (RUM), how a public institution selects among competitive agricultural R&D projects on the basis of observable distinctive features. In particular, we aim at verifying if, which and how other criteria, beyond the pure scientific value, are...

Much has been written on the alleged negative impact of rapidly growing biofuel production on agricultural markets and prices. Within a longer-term perspective one critical aspect in this respect is the limited development of biofuel international trade observed thus far. Due mainly to the...

This article investigates the impact of both the Common Agricultural Policy and structural policies on European regions by estimating a conditional growth convergence model. The Common Agricultural Policy influences the convergence process by affecting regional aggregate productivity, eventually...