Gianluca Stefani

• Phd Enviromental Economics and Management (York, UK), Msc Agricultural Economics (Reading, UK)
• Associate Professor ( SECS P06 Applied Economics) at University of Florence

This work deals with issues relating to multiperiod hedging ratios (MHRs). First, we derive an analytical formula for the MHR starting from the triangular representation of a cointegrated system. Second, using both overlapping and non-overlapping price changes, we investigate the properties of OLS MHR. Third, we resort to simulated data to investig...

We analyse the exit behaviour of Tuscan farms during the period 2000–2007 both at the farm and the territorial level. The study combines data from the 2000 National Census of Agriculture and three waves of the ‘Farm Structure Surveys’. The exit probability of the resulting sample, composed of 3,187 farms, is estimated through a Bayesian hierarchica...

The spread of geographical indications (GIs) is quite heterogeneous within the European Union. Some areas show a large number of registered GI products, while others scarcely use this policy tool. In our study, we investigate the relation between several environmental and socio-economic factors and the degree of GI use at regional level in the thre...

Throughout its history, several attempts have been made to map the structure and subfields of agricultural economics; however, these attempts either rely on the experience of distinguished scholars or require processing a massive amount of textual data. This paper investigates the structural dynamics of agricultural economics, focusing on the chang...

The paper develops a measure of consumer welfare losses associated with withholding information about a possible link between BSE and vCJD. The Cost of Ignorance (COI) is measured by comparing the utility of the informed choice with the utility of the uninformed choice, under conditions of improved information. Unlike previous work that is largely...

Il volume affronta il tema delle aree interne, territori periferici, prevalentemente rurali, caratterizzati da persistenti processi di spopolamento, diffìcoltà di accesso ai servizi e criticità geomorfologiche, in un'ottica proattiva, in cui risorse e vincoli, anche istituzionali, sono analizzati per suggerire in­terventi utili a sbloccarne le pote...

The world organic sector has evolved in a rapid way over the last few decades, driven by consumer interest, producer and retailer strategies, as well as by the evolving normative context. This growth has stimulated an increase in academic research, particularly in socio-economic research. The present work aims to understand the evolution of organic...

Among the main obstacles hindering the return to the land by farmers in inner areas land fragmentation, which complicates the productive recovery of abandoned and widely scattered land is a salient one. Notwithstanding many initiatives to deal with the issue like the creation and funding of business incubators in agriculture, and the support and st...

Complex societal, environmental, and economic challenges are affecting the post- covid-19 societies. They must increasingly rely on multi-stakeholders’ and multi-domain coalitions to find innovative solutions and achieve sustainability transitions in the near future. Triple helix model featuring interactions among academia, industry, and government...

Nel volume, che fa parte di un cofanetto dedicato al PIT Alta val di Pesa progetto PAMIR (finanziato PSR 2014-2020 della Regione Toscana – Bando multimisura Progetti integrati Territoriali “PIT Alta Val di Pesa” misura 16.5), si trovano le relazioni presentate al convegno del 4 dicembre Al Castello di Albola (Radda in Chianti (SI). Sommario Interve...

A large and fast-growing field of studies, known as sustainability transitions, emerged at the end of the 1990s, relying on a number of theoretical approaches. Transition management, strategic niche management, sociotechnical transition and technological innovation systems are among the most popular frameworks used to theorize sustainability transi...

In recent years, the European Union is stressing the importance of monitoring and evaluating its policies, among which the common agricultural policy plays an important role. Policy evaluation, in order to provide reliable results on which to take important legislative decisions, should rely on robust methodological tools. A recent strand of litera...

Urban population growth has raised concerns about food security. Agricultural systems are asked to satisfy a growing demand of food while addressing sustainability issues and facing resources constraints. Ecological footprints are widespread instruments for the study of human impact and dependence on natural resources. Amongst these tools, Land Foo...

In recent years, a dramatic increase in Alternative Agri-Food Networks (AAFNs) has been interpreted by experts of the sector as triggered by innovative food supply chains capable to reconnect producers with consumers. Simultaneously, the worldwide growth of consumers’ initiatives towards AAFNs is reducing the distance with producers shortening the...

The objective of this paper is twofold: firstly, it analyzes the evolution of frauds in the Italian wine value chain over the period 2007–2015, and then, using a properly disaggregated social accounting matrix (SAM) of the Italian economy, it simulates the impact of wine frauds on the national economy in terms of growth, employment, value added and...

This paper assesses the impact of assistance on the wellbeing of Palestinian households. The impact evaluation analysis uses a difference-indifference approach for the treatment of sample selection bias. The paper uses data from the 2013 and 2014 rounds of the Palestinian SocioEconomic and Food Security survey to estimate the impact of assistance t...

Despite the fact that policy makers and governments are promoting the development of diverse agro-bio food systems to push and promote sustainability, they are challenging to implement because of a series of obstacles that hinder a successful transition from a conventional to an agro-ecological model of agriculture. Produce is extremely heterogeneo...

This paper proposes a social accounting matrix (SAM)‐based, counterfactual approach to assess the economy‐wide impact of food fraud in a given country and applies it to the Italian economy. The empirical application uses primary data collected by the authority in charge of the monitoring and repression of fraud in food value chains between the year...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide empirical evidence on the relationship between capital structure and technical efficiency (TE) for Italian cereal farms during the 2008–2014 period. Emphasis is given in the understanding of the relationship between the level of financial leverage for cereal farms and their production performance. De...

In the new global economy, intensive production models based on high-yield varieties of wheat have become a central issue for the fight against hunger, undernourishment, and poverty. Nonetheless, this intensive model - and the related globalized processing and marketing system – poses a challenge to the conservation of biodiversity and to environme...

The sustainability of the development of water resources is a pressing challenge. Natural forces, economic pressure and increasing population determine a significant growth in water use and pollution not supported by highly inefficient water supply practices. In this framework, the Italian water services with fragmented management, highly deficient...

In recent years, an increasing number of social farming initiatives have involved adults with autism spectrum disorders, both to improve their life conditions and promote their work inclusion. Several studies have assessed these experiences, showing that the participants derive important benefits from being part of a social community, working in th...

Organic and low-input food systems are emerging worldwide in answer to the sustainability crisis of the conventional agri-food sector. "Alternative" systems are based on local, decentralized approaches to production and processing, regarding quality and health, and short supply-chains for products with strong local identities. Diversity is deeply e...

One of the main functions of geographical indications (GIs) is to provide information and quality to consumers. This, in turn, can generate benefits for producers and stimulate rural development processes, as advocated by European Union (EU) legislation. The objective of the present study is to understand if the theorized effects of GIs on local ec...

Recently, a large and growing body of literature has investigated the health potential of different wheat species. In particular, a considerable number of studies dealing with nutritional aspects has grown up around the theme of the recovery of ancient wheat varieties (species that have remained unchanged over the last hundred years). According to...

Recently, a large and growing body of literature has investigated the health potential of different wheat species. In particular, a considerable number of studies dealing with nutritional aspects has grown up around the theme of the recovery of ancient wheat varieties (species that have remained unchanged over the last hundred years). According to...

The study explores the relation between the protection of traditional products through geographical indications in France and Italy and local environmental, social and institutional factors. The analysis is conducted at a NUTS3 Regions level and a Tobit specification is used, where a protection index is the dependent variable. Results show that fac...

In the new global economy, high yield variety wheat has become a central issue in the fight against hunger, undernourishment, and poverty. Nonetheless, intensive wheat production challenges biodiversity conservation and environmental sustainability. In addition, volatility in world cereal markets is threatening farmers’ income triggering diversific...

Geographical indications (GIs) are a 25 years old European policy instrument and one objective of GIs is to foster rural development. In this respect, very few studies have quantitatively investigated to what extent this policy is effective. In fact, the literature is mainly focused on specific GIs, examined through case studies, in an attempt to i...

Public food procurement (PFP) is a policy instrument that has been used to "link" differen t objectives at once. We undertake a first systematic review of the scientific literature that deals with PFP in order to 1.) assess the progress of the scientific literature concerning PFP in different areas of the world, 2.) look for d ifferences among them...

Consumer appreciation for food environmental attributes has recently gained in importance. The health-related attributes have received less attention in the literature, if organic farming products are excluded. We measure the consumer willingness to pay (WTP) for a traditional Italian product, pasta, when environmental and healthy attributes are ad...

Consumer appreciation for food environmental attributes has recently gained in importance. The health-related attributes have received less attention in the literature, if organic farming products are excluded. We measure the consumer willingness to pay (WTP) for a traditional Italian product, pasta, when environmental and healthy attributes are ad...

The literature on environmental policy shows that institutional arrangements are key factors in designing effective environmental policies. Grass root collective action has been advocated as a possible solution for the provision of agro-environmental public goods. Building on this literature, we present a case study using a well-established theoret...

Gli operatori della filiera del grano panificabile presentano interessi e obiettivi diversi per la gestione del rischio. Gli agricoltori fronteggiano, oltre al rischio di prezzo anche il rischio di resa ed hanno interesse a fissare il prezzo del grano al livello più alto possibile. L’industria molitoria e panificatoria, al contrario, non fronteggia...

Farm capital structure may have contrasting effects on farm efficiency as a strand of the farm efficiency literature as pointed out ( for a review see for example Davidova and Latruffe 2007). Farmers often use external funding both to cover productions costs and to finance investments (machinery, equipment, buildings) to enhance farm economic perfo...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the methodology adopted and the main results achieved by an exploratory study on consumers perception of wine packaging. Design/methodology/approach – The research was designed to elicit the relevant dimensions through which consumers perceive and describe differences between bottles of wine. In or...

In this paper it is proposed a reassembling of the consumer expenditure time series data in Italy from 1986 to 2005 for food and soft beverage, with the addition of alcoholic beverage and meal eaten outside the home. The COICOP groups (Classification of Individual Consumption According to Purpose) are: bread and cereals; meat; fish; milk, cheeses a...

Protected Designation of Origin and Protected Geographical Indication are European labeling regula- tions aimed at protecting names of origin and traditional methods of production of specialty foods. Property rights on these marks are allocated, by a public authority, to a specific area. However, the size of the protected area is hardly defined sol...

The use by governments of their purchasing power to achieve social objectives is a practice that dates back to the 19th centuries when regulations were issued in both the USA and England establishing fair wages or maximum working hours per day for firms working under public contracts(McCrudden,2004). Public food procurement (PFP) is another example...

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the socio-economic impact of the allocation of royalties from oil extraction on regional development through a case study on the Basilicata region (Italy). We examine how the regional government’s chosen policies have impacted the income of Basilicata residents and the economic development of the region and how...

A recent study published by Murphy et al. (2005) reported results of a meta-analysis of hypothetical bias using 28 valuation studies. The authors found a median ratio of hypothetical to actual values of 1.35 but they did not investigate the ratio of variances of the hypothetical and actual value distributions, which is of great relevance in joint s...

Purpose - The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of information on origin, ‘‘typicalness’’, production method, and flavour on the willingness to pay and the sensorial appreciation of Tuscan sanguinacci (Italian Salami) Design/methodology/approach - The goal of the study was to explore how differences of WTP and sensorial appreciation...

This work deals with methodological and empirical issues related to multiperiod optimal hedging OLS estimators. We propose analytical formula for the multiperiod minimum variance hedging ratio starting from the triangular representation of a cointegrated system DGP. Since estimating the hedge ratio matching the frequency of data with the hedging ho...

The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in the working paper series are those of the authors alone. They do not represent the view of Dipartimento di Scienze per l'Economia e l'Impresa, Università degli Studi di Firenze Modelli di trasmissione del prezzo nei mercati della filiera del Grano Duro

Market failure can be corrected using different regulatory approaches ranging from high to low intervention. Recently, classic regulations have been criticized as costly and economically irrational, and thus, policy makers are giving more consideration to soft regulatory techniques such as information remedies. However, despite the plethora of food...

The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in the working paper series are those of the authors alone. They do not represent the view

Abstract We report results from a laboratory experiment that allows us to test the incentive compatibility hypothesis of hypothetical referenda used in CV studies through the public or private provision of information messages. One of the main methodological issues about hypothetical markets regards whether people behave differently when bidding fo...

In the last decade Italy has experienced a consistent decline in the number of agricultural firms. Beyond the new definition of agricultural firms, this structural change of farms is characterized by exit of small farms and increasing farm size. This paper aims at analyzing the determinants of the net exit of Tuscan farms from the market during the...

We propose a Bayesian approach that overcomes the identification of scale in referendum contingent valuation data with experimental treatment. We apply this approach to the data originally collected by Cummings et al. (1997) and commented by Haab et al. (1999) and further rejoined by other studies. The results support the substantive findings of a...

Sea bream (Sparus aurata) production plays a significant part in Italian aquaculture, contributing to almost 18% of national pisciculture sales revenue. In recent years, Italian firms faced higher competition from countries with lower production costs. This prompted responses toward both cost reduction and product differentiation. The objective of...

The world economy is experiencing dramatic changes.In this context, the concept of bioeconomy (or bio-economy, or bio-based economy) has emerged as a key strategy to match human needs while facing resource efficiency requirements, based on the sustainable exploitation of biological resources. The Italian Association of Agriculture and Applied Econo...

http://purl.umn.edu/124128

Sea bream (Sparus aurata) production plays a significant part in Italian aquaculture, contributing to almost 18% of national pisciculture sales revenue. In recent years, Italian firms faced higher competition from countries with lower production costs. This prompted responses toward both cost reduction and product differentiation. The objective of...

Social marketing is a growing research field. It has been proved that social marketing has some effectiveness in health programs and can help in shaping people's behaviour. This paper examines the role of social marketing in public communication campaigns and, more specifically, it explores the issue of healthy food habits promotion. An overview of...

We reviewed some moral hazard (MH) models applied to agri-environmental policies and identified the main methodological aspects of the literature on this topics. Imperfect vs incomplete monitoring , static vs dynamic and single vs multiple agents models are the main lines along which the literature has been organised analysing each component of a M...

Lack of consumer trust and communication strategies are probably the main determinants of information failure in modern food markets. This study attempts to tackle these aspects affecting the quality of food information by investigating questions related to what topics are more relevant to consumers, who should disseminate trustful food information...

Recently a wide instability of food prices has been observed in world and European agricultural and food markets. Both media and policy makers have dealt with the unsatisfactory patterns of marketing margins and price transmission along the food chain which may bring about distributive issues and affect inflationary trends. Although price transmiss...

The aim of this research is to provide a The aim of this research is to provide a first financial evaluation and to determine the influence of the substitution of the traditional feed with the ones with a higher or exclusively vegetable proteins content on the production cost of the marine fish farming plants.

The article investigates how purchasing intentions among a sample of Italian consumers are influenced by different levels of risk perception and their trust in food-safety information provided by different sources such as the food industry, government agencies, or consumers' associations. The assessment of the determinants of intention to purchase...

Public concerns about the risk from food hazards have spread in recent years, boosted by a number of well-publicized food scares. As a result, food safety issues are high on the policy agenda in Europe and elsewhere, and a range of policies have been developed to deal with them. The paper illustrates and makes a case for the use of micro-simulation...

Globalization, either directly or indirectly (e.g. through structural adjustment reforms), has called for profound changes in the previously existing institutional order. Some changes adversely impacted the production and market environment of many coffee producers in developing countries resulting in more risky and less remunerative coffee transac...

We report results from a laboratory experiment that allows us to test the incentive compatibility hypothesis of hypothetical referenda used in CV studies through the public or private provision of information messages. One of the main methodological issues about hypothetical markets regards whether people behave differently when bidding for a publi...

While the utilization of scanner data for food demand analyses has become increasingly popular in the United States, few food demand studies, and in particular none on table wine, have been conducted using scanner data in Italy. This paper presents a first attempt to estimate a demand system for selected brands of red tetra-packaged, plastic packag...

The Region of origin of food products affects consumer valuation in two different ways. First, origin can act as a quality cue hinting to other characteristics of the good. Secondly, origin can affect directly the value of food due to its symbolic or affective role. This study was carried out in order to investigate the direct effect of geographica...

The aim of this work is to shed some light on the impact that more or less narrow definitions of the area of origin - such as Garfagnana, Tuscany and Italy - have on consumer willingness to pay for a specialty food - such as spelt. The research consists of an economic experiment aiming at measuring both WTP and hedonic scores for spelt under differ...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the methodology adopted and the main results achieved by an exploratory study on consumers perception of wine packaging. Design/methodology/approach – The research was designed to elicit the relevant dimensions through which consumers perceive and describe differences between bottles of wine. In or...

A Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) Program was introduced as a mandatory measure in the EU in the 1990s. Despite its impact on the food industry, only limited literature addresses the issue of cost and benefits of HACCP at the firm level in Europe. This paper illustrates the results of a pilot study on case studies in Italy, UK an...

Impacts redistributifs de différentes politiques agricoles : analyse pour l’Italie à partir d’une matrice de comptabilité sociale En utilisant une matrice de comptabilité sociale adaptée à l’économie italienne et au secteur agricole en particulier, une analyse des effets multiplicateurs et des impacts redistributifs de différentes politiques sector...

The aim of this paper is to explore possible measures to assess welfare changes resulting from alternative risk communication policies drawing on previous work on welfare losses due to incorrect risk perceptions. A review of the literature analysing models of risk information processing point out the role of Bayesian updating processes in modelling...

The rise of managed healthcare organizations (MCOs) and the associated increased integration among providers has transformed US healthcare and at the same time raised antitrust concern. This paper examines how competition among MCOs affects the efficiency gains of improved price coordination achieved through integration. MCOs offer differentiated s...

The paper presents the results of the first SAM analysis of the agricultural sector in Italy. A SAM of the Italian economy has been properly modified in order to focus the analysis on agriculture. Two type of analysis have been carried out: (i) a multiplier analysis, and (ii) an assessment of the distributive impacts of different agricultural polic...

The paper develops a measure of consumer welfare losses associated with withheld information about BSE linkage with vCJD. food safety. The Cost of Ignorance (COI) is measured by comparing the utility of the informed choice with the utility of the uninformed one, under condition of improved information. Unlike previous work, based on a single equati...

The aim of this work is to improve understanding of the structure of the Tuscan wine production system through a better characterisation of business typologies along the supply chain. Structural ratios are calculated using financial data from business activity of 27 firms for the period from 1997 to 1999; a cluster analysis on ratios is then implem...

La fiducia nelle fonti di informazione e nei manager del rischio del sistema agroalimentare è sempre più importante per gestire le ricorrenti crisi relati- ve alla sicurezza alimentare (BSE, aviaria ecc.). Il progetto TRUST ha studiato le determinanti della fiducia a livello psicologico e sociologico, l'impatto sulle scelte di consumo e sull'econom...