SABIIA - Sistema Aberto e Integrado de Informação em Agricultura (Sabiia)

Thomson, Kenneth J..

The “new institutional economics” has influenced the study of public (or policy) choice, e.g. via the organization and incentives of “stakeholders”, and the analysis of international and other (e.g. state-private) agreements. Stakeholders in fisheries policy include fisherman and their families and communities, processors, scientists, environmentalists, fish product consumers, other (non-fishing-)marine, coastal and land users, government fisheries departments, and taxpayers. These play different roles, with different weights, in policy discussions, as shown in the reformed Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) of the European Union. The recently set up North Sea Regional Advisory Committee is used as an illustration. Conclusions suggest that successful...

Labour Management for Profit and Welfare in Extensive Sheep Farming

Palavras-chave: Fisheries; Aquaculture; Governance; Policy; North Sea; Livestock Production/Industries; Q22.

Ano: 2005

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/55991

Kirwan, Susanne; Thomson, Kenneth J.; Edwards, Ian E.; Stott, Alistair W..

Sheep welfare is an emerging topic in research and food marketing, and recent studies suggest that farm labour is a key factor for both animal welfare and productivity in extensive sheep farming systems, although little research has been done into labour utilisation in these systems. This paper reports field data collection on two commercial farms and the use of a linear programming (LP) model to link labour economics and animal welfare analysis. The model maximises the number of ewes to clooked after over the lambing period, when constrained by labour availability for various key tasks and by a pre-determined level of sheep welfare. The results show a trade-off between welfare level and labour input per sheep. Dropping tasks with less significant welfare...

Modelling Policies for Multifunctional Agriculture and Rural Development in a Remote EU Region (Caithness & Sutherland, Scotland, UK)

Palavras-chave: Labour; Sheep; Linear Programming; Animal Welfare; Livestock Production/Industries; Q10; Q19; Y1.

Ano: 2009

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/51060

A modified version of a system dynamics model constructed for an EU-wide case-study project (TOPMARD) using STELLA software was used to simulate the effects of a number of development scenarios for a remote rural area in Northern Scotland, i.e. Caithness & Sutherland, which is characterised by multifunctional agriculture. In this paper, the context of the modelling work in policy and socioeconomic terms is first described. This is followed by the specification of the model and of the modelling scenarios, one of which relates to the “decommissioning” (run-down) of a major industrial site (Dounreay) within the area. The modelling results are discussed, in terms of regional population, land use, economic and other terms, from 2001 to 2015/2031. Finally,...

REFORMING PILLAR 2 –TOWARDS SIGNIFICANT AND SUSTAINABLE RURAL DEVELOPMENT?

Palavras-chave: Modelling; Multifunctionality; Input-output; Systems dynamics; Rural policy; Agricultural and Food Policy; Community/Rural/Urban Development; Public Economics; Research Methods/ Statistical Methods.

Ano: 2008

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/6596

Bergmann, Holger; Dax, Thomas; Hocevar, Vida; Hovorka, Gerhard; Juvancic, Luka; Kroger, Melanie; Thomson, Kenneth J..

With the ongoing “Health Check” and the decisions needed for after 2013, the Common Agricultural Policy is likely to see another major reform and an increase in compulsory modulation. By employing a regional model, this paper compares the long-term impact of spending along the Pillar 2 Axes in NUTS3 areas on selected indicators of sustainability in several peripheral areas across Europe. The four case study areas are: Pinzgau-Pongau (a tourism-dominated alpine area in Austria), the Wetterau (an urbanised industrial area in Germany), Gorenjska (a tourism and manufacturing dominated area in Slovenia) and Caithness-Sutherland (a remote area in Scotland). The results suggest although devolution in European rural development policy has taken over the last 10...

REGIONAL IMPACT ANALYSIS OF EUROPEAN POLICY SPENDING IN A RURAL REMOTE AREA (CAITHNESS & SUTHERLAND, SCOTLAND, UK)

Palavras-chave: CAP; Pillar 2; Rural development; Agricultural and Food Policy; R15; Q18; Q01.

Ano: 2008

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/44793

A modified version of a system dynamics model constructed for an EU-wide case-study project (TOP-MARD) using STELLA software was used to simulate the effects of a number of development scenarios for a remote rural area in Northern Scotland, i.e. Caithness & Sutherland, which is characterised by a high regional importance of agriculture for the local economy. In this paper, the context of the modelling work in policy and socio-economic terms is first described. This is followed by the specification of the model and of the several modelling scenarios, which relate to the reconfiguration of Pillar 2 spending within the area and an reversal of recent Structural Funds spending for 2007 onwards. The modelling results are discussed, in terms of regional...

Devolution and delivery: recent rural policy-making in Scotland

Palavras-chave: Modelling; Input-output; Systems dynamics; Rural viability; Marketing.

Ano: 2008

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/52645

Thomson, Kenneth J..

Since 1999, Scotland has (re)gained a considerable degree of political independence from the rest of the UK, and a minority nationalist government since 2007 has determined a strong general policy agenda, including ambitious climate change commitments. This new political framework is being exploited in various ways as regards agricultural and rural policy. Recent developments in Scottish agricultural and rural policy (e.g. implementation of the CAP’s Pillars 1 and 2, especially the latter’s “Rural Priorities” scheme, and “land reform”) and its governance (public administration and private involvement) are described, with conclusions about the implications of devolution.

The Promotion of Rural Tourism in Korea and Other East Asia Countries: Policies and Implementation

Palavras-chave: Scotland; Rural policy; Rural development; Community/Rural/Urban Development.

Ano: 2010

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/94899

Lee, Jae-Ouk; Thomson, Kenneth J..

Within a context of global trade liberalisation and constrained national budgets, agriculture in many countries has proved incapable of sustaining household livelihoods an d socio-economic development in rural areas. The post-war industrial success of several Asian countries has suggested various alternatives for rural development, including tourism for domestic and possibly foreign visitors. After outlining the economic characteristics of rural tourism and its policies, this paper reviews the evolution of government policies in this area in East Asia, including the establishment of "tourist farms" and "pilot scheme" villages in Korea since the 1980s. A field survey of some 200 Korean village leaders and others, undertaken in 2004, is reported as to the...

Effect of Farm-Level Constraints, Existing and Prospective Policies on Expansion of Coconut-Based Intercropping in Sri Lanka

Palavras-chave: Rural tourism; Korea; East Asia; Tourism policy; Community/Rural/Urban Development; Resource /Energy Economics and Policy; O18; Q26; Q28.

Ano: 2006

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/25769

Fernando, Neil; Edwards, Ian E.; Thomson, Kenneth J.; Daw, Mike.

Coconut-based intercropping (CBI) in Sri Lanka was introduced some 20 years ago to overcome the two main limitations of traditional coconut monocropping, inefficient land use and low incomes to farmers, but it has not been widely adopted. This study analyses the effect of farm-level resource constraints, and government policies on the intensity of adoption of CBI. A multiperiod linear programming (MLP) model was applied for three farmer groups - resource poor, medium endowed, well endowed - categorised using cluster analysis. Data was collected from a survey of randomly selected 113 intercroppers. Empirical results reveal that expansion of CBI is mainly constrained by seasonal labour shortages for all farmer groups, particularly the well endowed, and by...

The Distribution of CAP Payments - Redistributional Injustice or Spatially Adapted policy?

Palavras-chave: Crop Production/Industries.

Ano: 2003

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/24347

Bergmann, Holger; Noack, Eva Maria; Thomson, Kenneth J..

This paper analyses the distributional equality of individual Scottish Government-administered payments in 2008 under CAP Pillars One (single farm payments) and Two (rural development measures) and in total, in terms of economic, social and spatial factors. The analysis shows that 94% of all payments were paid to claimants in core rural areas (94%) while only a few (5%) claimants resided in urban areas or outside of Scotland (1%). However, in both Pillars, claims made by urban residents were often higher than those made by rural dwellers. The Ordinary Least Squares spatial analysis shows that the level of payments was extremely dependent on the geographical location and natural conditions. Spatial factors describing the economic situation in the area of...

Distributional Impacts of CAP Adoption on Romanian Households

Palavras-chave: Pillar One; Common Agricultural Policy; Gini-Coefficient; Rural-Urban distribution; Distributional justice; Land Economics/Use; Q15; R14; R11.

Ano: 2011

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/108958

Firici, M. Carmen; Thomson, Kenneth J..

This paper focuses on estimation of distributional economic welfare effects of the adoption of the CAP on different groups of Romanian households. The calculations of welfare effects are based on 1999 household data and refer to a 10-fold breakdown of Romanian households, i.e. five socio-economic categories from urban and rural areas, taking into account own (home) production of food. To identify the most vulnerable groups of Romanian consumers to food price changes, the Slutsky approximation Compensating Variation approach is applied. The results suggest that, if the current CAP is adopted and results in food price changes averaging a 10 per cent increase in all food prices, the lowest-income groups (i.e. urban and rural unemployed households, urban...

General Equilibrium Analysis of the Spatial Impacts of Rural Policy

Palavras-chave: Distributional economic effects; CAP; Slutsky approximation; Compensating Variation; Romania; Agricultural and Food Policy.

Ano: 2002

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/24818

Thomson, Kenneth J.; Psaltopoulos, Demetrios.

General equilibrium (GE) techniques have recently been used to simulate policy impacts for neighbouring or different rural areas, thus focussing on the important spatial aspect of such policies. A Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) represents production, households, government, etc. in matrix form, while computable GE models introduce greater behavioural flexibility at the cost of parameterisation. Several SAM and CGE models have recently been built for rural regions, while others have tried to represent rural-urban linkages. This paper presents two SAM applications, and one current CGE approach. The first SAM was developed for the analysis of the economic impact of Objective 1 policy on six remote rural areas, including two in Greece. Six specific regional...

REGIONAL ECONOMIC EFFECTS OF THE WATER FRAMEWORK DIRECTIVE IN THE EMSLAND, NORTH GERMANY

Palavras-chave: Community/Rural/Urban Development.

Ano: 2007

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/9402

The European Union’s Water Framework Directive (WFD) has “the purpose to protect and preserve water resources across the European Union to ensure future sustainable use” but is likely to add to agricultural land losses, e.g. to infrastructure, industrial estates and housing. While the environmental as well as the micro-economic benefits of the Directive - e.g. for water producers and consumers - are well established, there is a lack of knowledge as to its regional economic effects. Based on a system dynamics approach incorporating an input-output table, a regional model (POEMS) has been developed for the Emsland region in Northern Germany. POEMS has been employed to capture the economic, ecological and social effects of three WFD scenarios which reduce...

FARMERS’ SURVIVAL STRATEGIES IN THE NORTH OF SCOTLAND

Palavras-chave: Water Framework Directive; System Dynamics; Regional Economic Modelling; Emsland; Demographics; Community/Rural/Urban Development; Land Economics/Use.

Ano: 2009

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/51637

Small and medium-sized farms all over Europe guarantee their survival by a broad range of strategies and different income sources. In remoter areas of highly developed countries such as the UK, such strategies may be expected to have their own characteristics, both legislative and socio-economic. This paper reports results from a socio-economic survey carried out among 40 Scottish agricultural households in the Caithness and Sutherland region of the North of Scotland, focussing specifically on the diversification strategies of (larger) farms and (smaller) crofts related to the multifunctionality of agriculture. After analysing the land, labour and capital use of farm/croft households in the region, the paper analyses why farms/crofts in this remote area...

REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPTIONS ON A LOCAL SCALE BEYOND 2013 – THE CASE OF CAITHNESS AND SUTHERLAND (SCOTLAND, UK)

Palavras-chave: Farm households; Scottish Highlands; Income sources; Diversification; Agricultural and Food Policy; Community/Rural/Urban Development; Consumer/Household Economics; Q12; Q15; R20; R10.

Ano: 2009

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/52832

With the latest reform of EU Structural Policy, the Highlands and Islands have been excluded from further support by Structural Funds beyond 2013, but the new Scottish Rural Development Programme has increased CAP Pillar 2 expenditures in Scotland. A modified version of a system dynamics model constructed for an EU-wide case-study project (TOP-MARD) was used to simulate the effects of these and other policy changes in Caithness and Sutherland (C&S), a remote rural area in Northern Scotland. Several alternative modelling scenarios were developed, mostly relating to reconfigurations of Pillar 2 spending within the area. The modelling results, i.e. projections from 2001 to 2021, are discussed in terms of agricultural employment, regional population, and...

RDP capacities, changing governance styles and the new challenges

Palavras-chave: Rural development; CAP reform; Scotland; Pillar 2; Regional modelling; Community/Rural/Urban Development; Q01; Q18; R23; R50.

Ano: 2009

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/50935

Dwyer, Janet; Pereira, Sandrina; Mikk, Merit; Peepson, Argo; Thomson, Kenneth J..

CAP Pillar 2 policies and Rural Development Programmes (RDPs) reflect a broad range of governance styles and policy priorities, as well as significant devolution to regions and/or provinces within Member States. The processes supporting this new style of policymaking have become increasingly differentiated. The Europe 2020 document identifies significant “new challenges” facing the EU’s rural areas, notably climate change, sustainable water management and renewable energy generation. All of these “new challenges” impinge on EU rural development policies, and imply a need for significant shifts in priorities and actions. This paper draws from recent research carried out within the RuDI project, to analyse the capacity of the current Pillar 2 approach to...

Palavras-chave: Rural development policy; Governance; New challenges; Targeting; Adaptation; Community/Rural/Urban Development.

Ano: 2010

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/94913

Concluding Remarks

Thomson, Kenneth J..

Rural development policy and the provision of public goods: challenges for evaluation

Palavras-chave: Livestock Production/Industries.

Ano: 2005

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/56085

Slee, William; Thomson, Kenneth J..

Environmental “public goods” generated by agricultural land use are discussed in terms of their conceptual underpinnings and how they have been addressed to date in European Union policy for agriculture and rural development. The current debate on CAP reform has intensified the already considerable debate over how these goods should be valued, and how the relevant policy measures should be evaluated. Against this background, a number of methodological and practical issues for evaluation are discussed, including accounting for spatial scale and diversity, the estimation of use and non-use values, governance, potential conflict between “public goods” and their marketisation, and accounting for the marginal effects of rural development policy on environmental...