Today the European agrofood sector is increasingly confronted with the threats as well as the opportunities of liberalizing markets. Therefore, competitiveness on global markets is becoming of paramount importance for European farmers. The challenges of global markets are accompanied by a...

Research has highlighted a growing gap between public perceptions of farming and the realities of modern agriculture and the food industry. A number of food scandals have exacerbated consumers’ critical perceptions of the agribusiness sector. This can threaten the reputation and legitimacy of...

Food prices have steadily risen since the 1990s, and price were especially volatile in the years 2008 and 2010. This trend has also been reflected in the European grain market, which presents all European companies along the food value chain with new challenges. This paper focuses on the impacts...

Increasingly, cooperatives in the agribusiness are being confronted with the globalization of agri-food markets. Cooperatives adapt to this development by internationalizing their activities. This paper presents a method of measuring the degree of internationalization (DoI) and its application...

The food industry is currently facing huge structural changes, such as growing concentration ratios and degrees of internationalization and as well as the reorganizations of food supply chains. Such developments do not only contribute to growing market risks but also require strategic...

The EU agricultural policy has recently been characterized by radical changes that increase market volatilities. Especially in the dairy market, fluctuating prices as well as production and political risks lead to high uncertainty for farmers. Based on a comprehensive survey, this paper...

It is often hypothesized that geographical proximity in clusters (or industry districts) has positive effects on access to information and knowledge and on firm competitiveness. We present one of the first empirical tests of this hypothesis in the context of the European agribusiness sector. A...