1. African smallholders and their market environment -- 2.African Agricultural Value Chains: A Brief Historical Overview -- 3. Economic theory and value chain governance -- 4. The evolution of Agricultural Value Chains in Africa -- 5. Small holders and Markets -- 6. Product quality and...

This monograph addresses the methodological and empirical issues relevant for the development of sustainable agriculture, with a particular focus on Eastern Europe. It relates economic growth to the other dimensions of sustainability by applying integrated methods. The book comprises five...

The aim of this paper is to investigate the nexus between demand patterns and innovation as it stems from research efforts and the extent of specialization. In the proposed model an innovation race conducted by entrants investing in research and development against established incumbents raises...

The strong political support for biogas production in Germany over the past decade has greatly affected agricultural production, farms and land markets. This paper analyzes the effects of Germany's biogas policies on agricultural development by using the agent-based simulation model AgriPoliS....

The economic nature of agricultural cooperatives is explained by means of a logical continuation of the organizational economics rationale for family farms. The traditional explanations of the importance of family farms is discussed, and embedded in a broader framework which considers their...

In most industrialized countries, employment has grown predominately in jobs at the upper and lower tails of the wage distribution, while employment in the middle part of the distribution has stagnated or declined. This process of job polarization is well documented for a number of countries. We...

Foreign direct investment (FDI) flows to Mexico are substantial and play an important role in the Mexican economy since the mid-1990s. These investments reflect the activities of multinational firms that shape to some extent the economic landscape and sectoral structure in this host country. We...