Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: n.d. Title: Editoriale Abstract: Classification-JEL: Keywords: Note: Pages:5-6 Volume: 11 Year: 2009 Issue:3 File-URL:http://www.francoangeli.it/riviste/Scheda_Rivista.aspx?IDArticolo=38314&Tipo=Articolo PDF File-Format: text/HTML Handle: RePEc:fan:ecaqec:v:html10.3280/ECAG2009-003001 Number: 1 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Antonio Guariglia Title: Il regime degli scambi nel commercio internazionale agroalimentare e la pac Abstract: Protectionist policies have prevailed between the two World Wars but, at the end of World War II regulations and progressive liberalisation of international trade have been pursued especially in open market countries through the Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (gatt) first and the wto later. The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade is an international agreement signed in Geneve by twenty three counties on October 31 1947 and which came into force in January 1948. The main objective of this Agreement was the reduction of tariff barriers to international trade and set the ground for a multilateral system of trade relations aiming to favor international trade liberalisation. The principle the gatt is based on is not that of discrimination in fact it is based upon the most favored nation clause: the conditions applied to the most favored nation (i.e. a nation with fewer restrictions and more trade advantages, such as low tariffs) are applied to all nations with which it has commercial agreements. Another clause of the non discrimination principle is that of "National treatment": imported goods cannot be treated more unfavorably compared to locally produced goods. The gatt has organized eight rounds of multilateral negotiations up to the signature of the last round, the Uruguay round in April 1994 at Marrakech, where among other things the wto was born. In mid-70?s the average tariff barriers of the industrial goods in nine most developed countries was around 4.7% compared to 40% of 1948. In general the freetrade proposition established the virtuous circle between foreign exchange increase and economic development. In fact, between the ?50s and the ?80s the first increased threefold and the second sixfold. In this period the primary sector gave a partial contribution to the international trade increase (annual average 3.5%), as it was a sector caracterized, in almost al countries, by a substantive public intervention and, consequently by a considerable diffusion of non-tariff barriers which constitute some of the most difficult obstacles to overcome in negotiations on trade liberalisation. In the Uruguay Round agriculture played a more relevant role than in the past ever did and the agreements reached were more important for the influence on the subsequent agrarian policies of the various participants than for the effective contribution to the agri-food trade liberalisation. In November 2001 the Fourth wto Ministerial Conference, held in Doha (Qatar), started the negotiations called Doha Round; the final Ministerial Declaration was called Doha Development Agenda (dda) and it states that, within the agricultural negotiations, by March 2003 they should have designed a draft of agreement on the quantification of liberalisation modalities on. Market access, exports subsidies and internal support mechanisms. In the aftermath several negotiations in different places have followed but they didn?t come out to an agreement. In the latest meeting of July 2008 held in Gen?ve to the "historical" conflicts between usa and eu and Developed countries and Developing countries was added the position of Less Developed countries. The principal oppositions, which contributed to prevent a positive conclusion of the negotiation, have occurred among the exporting countries (cairns and G-20 groups), promoters of an easier access to markets by reducing tariffs, and importers (G-33), concerned about defending themselves from an increasing level of imports. Both groups are interested in reducing internal support and the abatement of exports subsidies more from usa than from eu. In fact, the eu has gradually dismantled protectionist mechanisms (transformation into tariffs of non-tariff barriers) and is reducing the internal support (price fixing and coupling of subsidies) and is eliminating exports supports through the Mac Sharry Reform of 1992, the Agenda 2000 of 1999, the Fischler Reform of 2003, the Common Market Organization Reforms of many sectors between 2004 and 2007, the decisions made after the Health Check of 2008. In substance, the changes of the cap have been implemented to counter the problem of surplus in some sectors, to lower excessive costs of price and market policies, in order to spur rural development but also to comply with the requirements of multilateral treaties aiming to liberalise foreign trade. The pretext of the breaking out of the last negotiation has been the proposal of India to introduce the Special Safeguard Mechanism (tariffs increase) to a level of imports increase by 10% against a usa proposal of 40%. The less liberalist positions are not held, as in the past, only by more developed countries but have often found their backing in other countries preoccupied with protecting their agricultural productions on which the economy is still based on. The failure of the Doha Round does not benefit: a) to more competitive developing countries (G-20), as they have got limited commercial preferences and could not increase their exports; b) to the poorest (African Union and G-33), as they would see the problems of insufficient produce; c) to developed countries as they cannot afford a further increase of produce prices over a world recession of which it is difficult to forecast the characteristics and the evolution. For this reason it is needed a resumption of negotiations in order to reach a sufficiently unanimous agreement. Classification-JEL: F13, Q17, Q18 Keywords: Note: Pages:7-28 Volume: 11 Year: 2009 Issue:3 File-URL:http://www.francoangeli.it/riviste/Scheda_Rivista.aspx?IDArticolo=38315&Tipo=Articolo PDF File-Format: text/HTML Handle: RePEc:fan:ecaqec:v:html10.3280/ECAG2009-003002 Number: 2 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Anna Rita Fioroni Author-Name: Enrica Rossetti Author-Name: Gaetano Martino Title: Fiducia e contratto nelle relazioni tra imprese agro-alimentari: elementi teorici ed evidenza empirica Abstract: The paper aims at examining the hypothesis that the trust-oriented rules in the institutional environment and the specific internal antecedents of trust enlarge the range of stability of hybrid governance structures. Expanding on a previous analytical framework (Martino, 2007; Fritz et al., 2008), the study focuses on the contracting basis of hybrids and the centrality of trust to the existence of hybrids structures (Hofstede, 2006). M?nard and Valceschini (2005) show that the emergence hybrids characterizes the change of Agri-Food sector. Trust is a complex concept addressed under different analytical views. Scholars seem to often interpret trust in terms of rules for social interaction. Thus, under a transaction cost perspective, the trust issue can also be conceived in terms of the relationship between the institutional environment and governance structures, emphasizing the fact that trust-oriented rules tend to modify the parameters of the basic economic calculus (Williamson, 1993). Deakin et al. (2001) have pointed out that compliance with terms of contracts is central to trust, but also that contract adherence is tempered by flexibility beyond and outside the contract. On the other hand, the institutional forces constraints and channel contractual behaviour opening options for cooperative behaviour. Our analysis recognizes that trust-oriented rules can be identified in the institutional environment and that trust could emerge as a consequence of the influences of specific factors acting within given governance structures as antecedents of trust. We namely identify as sources of trust three basic factors acting as antecedents to trust within a hybrid structure: information exchange; control; risk aversion. These antecedents are thought of as exogenous variables determining the emergence of trust, which in turn is conceived here as an endogenous variable (Fritz et al., 2008). The analytical extent of our conjecture is intended to contribute to the understanding of the variety of the organizational forms in the AgriFood System (Saccomandi, 1998). The study also includes a case study designed to provide an example of the analytical framework proposed. The paper is organized as follows. In the paragraph 2 the objective of the study is presented with a brief discussion of the method adopted. In the paragraph 3 are illustrated the conceptual premises of the study: the diffusion of the hybrid structure in the Agri-Food chains and the concept of trust. Then the roles of the institutional environment and of the trust conditional to governance structure (Fritz et al., 2008) are examined. The thesis of the study is then proposed and it is introduced a tentative classification of the outcomes of the interaction between the institutional environment and the factors of the conditional trust. In the paragraph 4 it is presented the brief case study which concern a retailer involved in a system of relationship both at national and local level, entailing long term supply contracts. In the last paragraph are presented the final remarks of the study and the limits. Potential future research could address research questions related to the influence of the institutional environment rules, while a more extensive data collection is requested in order to test the prediction proposed. Classification-JEL: Codes: D2, L2, Q1 Keywords: Note: Pages:29-51 Volume: 11 Year: 2009 Issue:3 File-URL:http://www.francoangeli.it/riviste/Scheda_Rivista.aspx?IDArticolo=38316&Tipo=Articolo PDF File-Format: text/HTML Handle: RePEc:fan:ecaqec:v:html10.3280/ECAG2009-003003 Number: 3 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Gianluigi Guido Author-Name: Piermario Tedeschi Author-Name: M. Irene Prete Author-Name: Laura Franceschini Author-Name: Carolina Buffa Title: Il consumo etico dei prodotti alimentari biologici: il ruolo delle norme morali Abstract: The aim of the present study is to investigate the intention to buy organic food products and, specifically, to understand moral considerations which underlie the purchase of these products in comparison with non-organic food products. The Theory of Planned Behavior (tpb, Ajzen 1991), which considers Attitudes (att) - the individual level of favorable or unfavorable propensity towards the behavior observed - Subjective Norm (sn) - the level of social pressure which people who are considered important exert on individuals - and Perceived Behavioral Control (pbc) - the individual perception of the degree of ease or difficulty required to adopt a specific behavior - has been extended to Moral Norms (mn) - personal beliefs regarding what is right or wrong (Parker, Manstead and Stradling 1995) - and to Self-Identity (si) - relatively stable characteristics that individuals attribute to themselves (Sparks and Guhtrie 1998). Results show that att, sn, mn and si have a direct influence on the intention to buy organic food products, and, furthermore, mn have an effect on moderator variables, specifically, att, sn and si. Classification-JEL: D12, D83, M31, Q18 Keywords: Note: Pages:53-77 Volume: 11 Year: 2009 Issue:3 File-URL:http://www.francoangeli.it/riviste/Scheda_Rivista.aspx?IDArticolo=38317&Tipo=Articolo PDF File-Format: text/HTML Handle: RePEc:fan:ecaqec:v:html10.3280/ECAG2009-003004 Number: 4 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Bernardo De Gennaro Author-Name: Luigi Roselli Author-Name: Umberto Medicamento Title: Il commercio internazionale degli oli di oliva italiani e pugliesi: un?analisi comparata Abstract: The growing olive oil consumption recently raised the interest for the international olive oil trade, increasing the complexity of the market. Profits attracted multinational industries and corporations, whose interest crosses the National borders, influencing trade relationships. At the same time, international trade treaties resettled the map of exchanges, mainly under the influence of globalization and liberalization of markets. Consumers? demand for quality rose almost worldwide. Market segmentation increased, and firms now can chose between different strategies. The ideal association of olive oil with the Mediterranean diet identifies the origin of the product with quality guarantee and expectations. These processes raised recently the value of denominations of origin. Several approaches have been used and tested to provide analytical tools able to unpack and to clearly summarize the dynamics of the olive oil international trade. Most of the studies are Country focused, exploring their perspectives and weaknesses, and estimating economic models. In this study we analyze the position of Italy and Apulia, an Italian region, within the olive oil international market. Apulia is one of the most important producing regions in the World; its position in the net of trade exchanges is therefore crucial to its success. The study compares Italian and Apulian performances along a 12 years time series, with respect to the three most important qualities of olive oil. Results exhibit that market structure globally changed, basically showing a higher foreign competition on lower quality olive oils. The two investigated areas differently reacted to changes. While Italy shifted its competitiveness toward higher quality olive oils and higher price solutions, Apulia lost competitiveness on the export of extra-virgin and virgin oils. At the same time Apulian import of extra-virgin olive oil increased, despite the surplus of supply. Classification-JEL: F14, Q17 Keywords: Note: Pages:79-101 Volume: 11 Year: 2009 Issue:3 File-URL:http://www.francoangeli.it/riviste/Scheda_Rivista.aspx?IDArticolo=38318&Tipo=Articolo PDF File-Format: text/HTML Handle: RePEc:fan:ecaqec:v:html10.3280/ECAG2009-003005 Number: 5 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Maurizio Canavari Author-Name: Erika Pignatti Author-Name: Roberta Spadoni Author-Name: Gert-jan van Sprundel Title: Nuove dinamiche nel commercio dei prodotti agroalimentari: resistenze all?adozione dell?e-commerce nelle relazioni B2B Abstract: Since some decades, agrifood products exchanges can be carried on using Information and Communication Technology (ict) tools. Anyway, their adoption in the agrifood sector appears to be hindered, both because of consolidated dynamics in developing B2B transactions, and of the peculiarities of the agrifood products themselves. The lack of direct relationships between partners heighten problems connected with food safety assessments, and with the definition of standardized production practices able to match business partners? needs. Standardization is the key point in the relationship between e-commerce and agrifood sector. As for some products it is possible to define standardized requirements, it is hard to find a collocation for the wide range of agrifood differentiated and quality products in ecommerce B2B relationships. Moreover, existing e-marketplaces are not always able to convey properly the degree of differentiation and the peculiarities of agrifood products. The study aims at analyzing the barriers connected with the adoption of ecommerce in B2B relationships in agrifood sector, defining the factors which affect the interaction between the two areas. The attitude towards e-commerce showed by potential ict tools users, chosen between Italian agrifood operators, has been analyzed; moreover, an overview on the evolution of agrifood e-marketplaces in the last 5 years has been carried on. The results describe the main problems concerning the adoption of e-commerce in agrifood sector, deeply connected with the agrifood products specifics. In spite of positive outcomes about efficiency and transactions for standardized products, the interaction between ict tools and agrifood sector?s needs becomes problematic in case of high quality levels and differentiation, which can?t be properly conveyed by e-marketplaces. Results also highlight the role of trust and reputation in e-environments. Classification-JEL: Q13 Keywords: Note: Pages:103-118 Volume: 11 Year: 2009 Issue:3 File-URL:http://www.francoangeli.it/riviste/Scheda_Rivista.aspx?IDArticolo=38319&Tipo=Articolo PDF File-Format: text/HTML Handle: RePEc:fan:ecaqec:v:html10.3280/ECAG2009-003006 Number: 6 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Margherita Gerolimetto Author-Name: Christine Mauracher Title: Struttura ed evoluzione delle esportazioni italiane di vino da tavola e a denominazione di origine Abstract: In the last decades the Italian wine market is experiencing a strong transformation as well as an intense and continuous process of internationalisation. The contribute of Italian wines in the international market is very relevant. In 2005 Italy is the second exporting country: the exports? value is more than 3 billions dollars, the market share is 18% (Unioncamere, 2007). Wine is one of the most important products of the Italian agrifood trade balance, its incidence is around 15% of Italian agrifood exports (inea, 2005). The intense evolution of the trade reflects the need of different frequency and place to consume the product. At the same time, demand is more and more segmented and open to high quality wine. Given the relevance of the changes in the international trade, the objective is to study, by means of time series analysis methods, structure and dynamics of Italian exports of wine for different product typologies, considering both white and red wines and their classification in table and do wine. The data set (istat/ice) consists of monthly observations of world exports for all kinds of wine relatively to 13 years (January 1996 - December 2007). 13 product categories have been identified for the analysis on the basis of wine typology (vqprd or other wines), colour (white, red or ros?) and container (smaller or greater than 2 litres). Classification-JEL: Q13, Q17, C22 Keywords: Note: Pages:119-142 Volume: 11 Year: 2009 Issue:3 File-URL:http://www.francoangeli.it/riviste/Scheda_Rivista.aspx?IDArticolo=38320&Tipo=Articolo PDF File-Format: text/HTML Handle: RePEc:fan:ecaqec:v:html10.3280/ECAG2009-003007 Number: 7 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Gianluca Brunori Author-Name: Adanella Rossi Author-Name: Raffaella Cerruti Author-Name: Francesca Guidi Title: Nicchie produttive e innovazione di sistema: un?analisi secondo l?approccio delle transizioni tecnologiche attraverso il caso dei farmers? markets in Toscana Abstract: The paper deals with the nature and the role of "niches", an issue that is crucial in the evolution from the economy of quantity to the economy of quality. For a long time this word has had a negative meaning in agricultural economics: the niche strategy was considered as a dead end, as symptomatic of weakness, an obstacle to the modernisation of the agri-food system. With the transition to the economy of quality this negative connotation has progressively eased and, instead, there is an increasing empirical evidence of the success of niche strategy for smallmedium scale food enterprises. However, the growth of the number of actors, of the variety of products and needs and of the opportunities offered by globalisation demands a further effort to adjust the conceptual models. In particular, there is a need for an analysis of niches as an important evolution context in the agri-food system and as possible area for innovation policies. Applied in the agri-food system, this approach allows to answer to the rising problem of the transition to more sustainable food systems. In other words, niches represent spaces of experimentation of new rules of consumption, production, research, social organisation, which can be successful the moment the external conditions change, or that can contribute to change the context through their growth. After some brief theoretical considerations, the paper analyses through this key to the reading the experience of farmers markets, and highlights potentials and limits for their growth. The key adopted allows to examine the distinctive features of this experience and to follow their evolution. For this purpose, it is useful the analysis of the network of actors involved, of the set of principles and rules adopted within it, of the set of material resources mobilised. Moreover, it allows to assess the role of farmers markets in fostering system innovation processes, by highlighting the dynamics that are developing within the niche and the strains that it put on the regime. The paper ends with some final remarks on the factors that can affect the expression of the innovative potential of these niches. Classification-JEL: Q01, Q13 Keywords: Note: Pages:143-170 Volume: 11 Year: 2009 Issue:3 File-URL:http://www.francoangeli.it/riviste/Scheda_Rivista.aspx?IDArticolo=38321&Tipo=Articolo PDF File-Format: text/HTML Handle: RePEc:fan:ecaqec:v:html10.3280/ECAG2009-003008 Number: 8 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Anna Gaviglio Author-Name: Alberto Pirani Author-Name: Pedol Martina Licitra Author-Name: Eugenio Demartini Title: Qualit? e sicurezza alimentare del prodotto ittico. Il Mercato Ittico all?Ingrosso di Milano Abstract: The increasing attention of consumer to the issue of food safety has led European Union to regard the achievement of high standards of security and quality as a strategic priority for the agrifood system. The whole chain of production is therefore called for a careful and continuous innovation that grants, in addition to commercial needs, respect to European regulations and national laws that imposed to safeguard public health. So, the question of food quality and security has become a priority also in the fisheries sector and this research focuses on economic issues related to the introduction of these policies in the Wholesale Fish Market in Milan. The work intends primarily to monitor the flow of products through the market of Milan, studying their amounts in terms of sales, variety of species and method of production. Then, the economic and organizational aspects of the haccp System are analyzed. The study consequently develops in two stages: the first phase identifies the trade and management peculiarities of the companies operating in the market, the second focuses on protocols and methods applied to ensure the fish products safety and the costs necessary for their implementation. Through data collected from wholesalers referring to the period 2005-2006, the study reports origin and type of products in term of purchases and sales of fished and farmed supplies. Information on retailers were then collected through a questionnaire, allowing them to be classified by size considering the quantity and type of products traded, the number of employees, turnover, customers treated and location of suppliers. Finally profit and loss accounts of the companies has been studied, pinpointing the various items of cost in order to estimate those related to the haccp System application. The standards for food safety applied by the operators in distribution platforms such as the Fish Market in Milan, may provide competitive advantage to those able to exploit the system of documentation involved. Indeed, the implementation costs seem low in comparison with the help which haccp and its traceability system could bring into business management. In a reality made up of many small farms like the one analyzed, introducing new laws creates often pratical and economic problems; for this reason the eu regulations should be interpreted as useful protocols for security and quality management, rather than a list of prescriptions. Classification-JEL: L11, Q18 Keywords: Note: Pages:171-202 Volume: 11 Year: 2009 Issue:3 File-URL:http://www.francoangeli.it/riviste/Scheda_Rivista.aspx?IDArticolo=38322&Tipo=Articolo PDF File-Format: text/HTML Handle: RePEc:fan:ecaqec:v:html10.3280/ECAG2009-003009 Number: 9 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Teresina Mancuso Author-Name: Stefano Massaglia Author-Name: Massimo Morganti Title: Innovative Industrial Processes in the production chain of maize used for human food and relevant economic results Abstract: The main problem concerning the production of grain corn for human food use is on the fumonisins contamination. In the European context, the limits relating to the maximum levels allowed for these metabolites in foodstuffs, necessitate by companies involved in cultivation and in the subsequent stages of storage and processing, to bear costs and investments to get finished products conform to that regulation. The aim of this work has been assessing the economic sustainability of interventions based on particular techniques of grain processing and the use of innovative plants by elevators and processors in order to reduce the level of mycotoxin contamination. The firms examined are a storage center and a mill, located in Northern Italy, which orient their processes in order to achieve production of high food quality and health. The determination of costs and revenues to obtain grain products for human food use, has highlighted that a focused approach on the quality productions permit to obtain broader margin gains and food safety for the consumer. Classification-JEL: D24, O32, Q18 Keywords: Note: Pages:203-222 Volume: 11 Year: 2009 Issue:3 File-URL:http://www.francoangeli.it/riviste/Scheda_Rivista.aspx?IDArticolo=38323&Tipo=Articolo PDF File-Format: text/HTML Handle: RePEc:fan:ecaqec:v:html10.3280/ECAG2009-003010 Number: 10