The present paper analyses the current trends in the IT&C field, according to which IT is delivered to the user as personalized, updated and secured service packages, at reasonable costs. This new technology class is symbolically named Cloud Computing. The agrifood sector is placed on top...

The Swiss agent-based model (SWISSland) claims to depict as realistically as possible the 50 000 family farms comprising the whole of Swiss agriculture in all their heterogeneity as regards farm and cost structures as well as farm decision-making behaviour and interactions, with the aim of...

Our study examines the potential developments of cultural landscapes, taking into consideration various economic and social conditions (scenarios). The study takes place in three project regions which represent typical landscapes in Southern Germany and Austria. In each project area, the...

This paper addresses three issues of socio-economic factors of Hungarian farm households and their impacts on structural change. This concerns the role of age as a factor influencing the opportunity costs of labour, the impact of empirical age patterns on structural change, and the role of a...

Our study examines the potential developments of cultural landscapes, taking into consideration various economic and social conditions (scenarios). The study takes place in three project regions which represent typical landscapes in Southern Germany and Austria. In each project area, the...

We use a Multiplicative Competitive Interaction (MCI) model, a popular approach in marketing research, to explain the change in farm specialization over time. The change in farm specialization is measured by the variations of the Standard Gross Margin (SGM) shares. The model is applied to the...

This paper investigates the impacts of financial constraints on the structural development of four European regions. The spatial-dynamic agent-based model used considers individual farms’ investment behaviour while those indirectly interact via land rental markets. Scenarios with different...

This paper aims at investigating the factors affecting relative changes in the average farm size over the period 2000-2010. The objective has been pursued applying an empirical investigation in Tuscany region through observation aggregated at municipality level. By applying spatial analysis and...

The Agribusiness is in flux: a shrinking number of up- and downstream corporations questions traditional equilibrium concepts. How will the population of firms develop and which consequences will arise for competition? In 1931, Gibrat stated the firm size and a firm’s growth rate to be...

Within the reformed CAP, Germany decided to support small and young farmers by higher hectare payments. Because of heterogeneous farm structures with smaller farms in the south and large in the east, this causes regional redistributions. Agent-based simulations show that these policies create...