The scattering of nature areas in the Netherlands and the increased demand for nature lead to a governmental project in 1990 to complete a network of nature favouring areas, the ecological main structure, in 2018. The financial and economic costs and benefits of this project were analysed....

Although the family farm remains the dominant organisational form for farms there are changes in the legal mode of organisation. Applying the new institutional economics and economic organisation theory the different organisation modes are explained, mainly in terms of control and income rights....

The European farm model is aimed at stimulating and facilitating multifunctional agriculture. This paper presents the results of research into the factors determining the adoption of multifunctional activities. In the paper survey results from 495 farms, spread all over the Netherlands, were...

Land-use in rural areas may be reallocated between farmland and forest and nature areas. This paper addresses reasons for forest and landed estate owners to own their property and motivations for different activities of forest and real estate owners, including leasing out land to farmers. In...

The purpose of this paper is to analyse land allocation between competing agri-environmental contracts taking into account institutional issues and farm household and farm characteristics. We consider a Biodiversity Protection Contract, Landscape Management Contract and a Restriction on...

The aim of this paper to determine how structure and governance in the dairy sector in four different regions in the European Union alter as a result of the change in EU’s dairy policy. For this purpose two models of structural change are developed and interviews are held. Results differ...

In this paper a theoretical and empirical model is developed for analysing the decisions of individual farmers whether or not to produce wildlife and landscape services, how much of these services to produce and form an environmental co-operative in order to reduce transaction costs or to build...

Proposals of the European Commission stress the future importance of agri-environmental payments within the rural development policy of the European Union. The aim of this paper is to present and discuss a model for choice for plant species protection contracts in the Netherlands. The model...

Firms are able to survive only if they adapt appropriately in response to disturbances. The ability of a farm to continue after a disturbance is defined as resilience. To analyse the resilience of EU farms we explain exit and the number of adaptation strategies that farmers follow under two...

The purpose of this paper is to analyse land allocation between competing agri-environmentalcontracts taking into account institutional issues and farm household and farm characteristics. Weconsider a Biodiversity Protection Contract, Landscape Management Contract and a Restriction onIntensive...