There has been an extensive discussion on the applicability of Poisson Pseudo Maximum Likelihood (PPML) to trade. Here, we are going to analyse again the performance of PPML but in the light of a bimodal distribution; in addition, we also explicitly account for excess zeros. Simulations are...

The emergence of 'New New Trade Theory' fundamentally changed the thinking of international trade, and it is now at the heart of science. Here, we are going to take up the discussion of Golpinath et al. [2007], looking at whether 'New New Trade Theory' is applicable to agriculture. Revisiting...

French (2011) can analytically show that the standard Anderson and van Wincoop (2003) gravity trade model is only correctly specified for disaggregate data; gravity trade model analysis should be done at product level and then estimation results should be reaggregated. If however gravity trade...

In this paper, we are going to reconsider the standard Viner Model [Viner, 1950] however under the premise of firm heterogeneity. By means of a graphical analysis we show that a consideration of the degree of firm heterogeneity is important for an evaluation of a preferential trade agreement....

Recently, discussion about the appropriate estimation of gravity trade models has started in agriculture. Here, we are going to review recent developments in the literature. It appears that fixed effects Poisson Pseudo Maximum Likelihood is not only the only consistent estimator [Santos Silva...

A detailed decomposition of the sources of the Total Factor Productivity (TFP) growth index within an output distance function framework was carried out, looking at the following components: technical change, change in technical efficiency, scale component, and violations of the profit...

This paper explores the consequences for parametric and non-parametric efficiency levels and rankings when using grouped instead of individual Decision Making Units (DMU). The bias results due to the differences of the grouped DMUs frontier compared to the individual DMUs frontier. Monte Carlo...

The present dissertationis devoted to the issue of price discovery in agricultural markets. Price discovery is considered one of the central functions of financial markets and is usually analyzed empirically for highly homogeneous assets traded on these markets. We investigate whether this...

The thesis contains three essays in the field of environmental policy. In the first paper, we study the relationship between the agri-environmental payments for farmers and wildlife. The effects of EU agri-environmental programs (AEPs) on the environment have been mixed. Spending on AEPs has...