Several new publications covering a diverse range of topics linked to the economics of the food systems have been published recently by the Joint Research Centre.
They can also be found in the DataM publications navigator
Title: Bioeconomy and resilience to economic shocks: insights from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020
URL: https://dx.doi.org/10.36253/bae-14827
Year: 2024
Authors: Lasarte-López, J; Grassano, N; M'barek, R; Ronzon, T
Journal: Bio-based and Applied Economics
Abstract: Using the latest release of employment and value added numbers in the bioeconomy sectors, we conducted an analysis on the performance of the EU bioeconomy during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Our findings point to a possibly higher level of resilience of the bioeconomy sectors compared to the overall economy. While employment in the bioeconomy registered a similar (but slightly sharper) decrease to the total EU average (-1.7% vs. -1.4%), the value added fell substantially below average (-0.4% vs. -4.0%). The more contemporary biomass-processing sectors (chemicals and pharmaceuticals, as well as bioelectricity) performed better than the more traditional sectors (such as food or textiles). At the Member State level, we observe a high degree of heterogeneity in sectoral performance. By discussing these estimates alongside previous qualitative insights from the related literature, we emphasize the relevance of the bioeconomy not only for environmental sustainability but also for socioeconomic resilience.
Title: Agro-economic determinants of violations of protected areas in Western Africa
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2023.107033
Year: 2024
Authors: Rogna, M
Journal: Land Use Policy
Abstract: Despite protected areas are a useful instrument for preserving locations with a high natural value, violations are frequent, endangering their primary scope. Encroachment, the use of land inside protected areas for agricultural purposes, is a common violation. The present paper investigates the determinants of encroachment in eight Western African countries, with a broad coverage rarely seen in previous research on the topic. The focus is placed on the agro–economic determinants, in the form of average characteristics of rural households living in the proximity of protected areas. The analysis is performed through a Tobit model, with OLS, Probit and Poisson regressions used as robustness checks. Protected areas in locations with a strong agricultural vocation or with a high percentage of protected land are more likely to be subject to violations. Furthermore, economic deprivation and land profitability are other two mild drivers of encroachment together with mechanization. Other indicators of modern practices such as irrigation and use of inorganic fertilizers, instead, do not increase the probability of violations to protected areas. Furthermore, husbandry is a significant determinant of encroachment, but only when involving cattle, while specializing in certain types of crops, e.g. cereals, vegetables or cash crops, does not affect the probability of violations.
Title: The rapid development of bioeconomy policies in the EU and other regions of the world
URL: https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1746-692X.12415
Year: 2024
Authors: M'barek, R; Wesseler, JHH
Journal: EuroChoices
Abstract: This article mainly focuses on the European Union, in which we provide an overview of strategies followed, but also referencing other regions. This includes describing how the bioeconomy has been defined and the focus of the strategies on specific sectors or policies. In addition to countries and regions, international organisations have also developed policy strategies.
Title: Bioeconomy transition pathways – Potential impacts for the EU bio-based chemicals sector
URL: https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1746-692X.12414
Year: 2024
Authors: Philippidis, G; M'barek, R; van Zeist, W-J
Journal: EuroChoices
Abstract: A modelling exercise was performed employing a series of bioeconomy narratives or transition pathways, focused mainly on the promotion of biomass in EU industrial activities. The integrated assessment of the BioMonitor model toolbox forges a series of inter-model links based on a common set of drivers. In this paper, featured results, with a specific focus on the EU chemicals industry, are reported from an economy-wide model from the toolbox, called MAGNET.
Title: The impact of geographical indications on farms’ performance. An empirical analysis of the EU vineyard sector
URL: https://dx.doi.org/10.2760/320984
Year: 2024
Authors: Antonioli, F; Ciaian, P; Baldoni, E
Journal: Publications Office of the European Union
Abstract: Relying on the EU FADN dataset for the period 2004-2020, the reports quantitatively estimates the impact of Geographical Indications (GIs) on the economic, environmental and social performances of GI vineyard farms. The empirical analyses employed the combined matching and difference-in-differences estimation technique, which allows several important sources of bias to be addressed, such as self-selection bias, time-invariant and time-variant systematic differences across farms and functional form misspecification. The estimated results suggest that GIs improve economic performance of vineyard farms. GIs also have some positive impact on social dimension by stimulating higher farm wages, while have statistically insignificant impact on farm employment. In contrast, GIs are found to have rather small impact on environmental performance of farms potentially leading to some reduction of energy use, while having no impact on plant protection use of vineyard farms.
