This article investigates the long-run decline of the agricultural sector during economic development and its contribution to this process. A two-sector model is proposed where the share of agriculture, relative prices and capital accumulation are simultaneously determined within the economy....

This paper deals with the policy and regulatory options currently adopted for managing the main issues raised by the recent large diffusion of the genetically modified crops. A first aim is to analyse in depth which are these policy options and which is the rationale behind them. Though many...

The paper proposes an evolutionary reading of rural development referred to cases of rapid industrial growth, where a strong concentration process has involved the main urban centres and the successful industrial districts. This territorial development pattern has gradually extinguished rural...

In this paper we aim at investigating the price-induced innovation hypothesis in Italian agriculture. We generalize the framework of analysis proposed by Peeters and Surry (2000). The generalization includes a short-run specification of the dual technology as well as a quadratic spline in a time...

The paper presents a dynamic model for the analysis of the National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) strategy. In a context of increasing globalisation, both intersectoral and international technology spill-ins may greatly affect the NARS design, and this paper proposes an analytical...

Obiettivo di questo lavoro Š l'dentificazione di quei moduli (asset) della conoscenza che contribuiscono alla creazione ed alla valorizzazione delle innovazioni biotecnologiche in agricoltura (essenzialmente, varieta' GM). Uno dei principali caratteri di questi asset Š la loro spiccata...

The paper proposes an explanation of the migration behaviour over a regional space on the base of individual preferences and of the functioning of the local labour market. Data on employment and population dynamics at the municipal level often show a clear correlation as effect of spatial...

This article deals with the role of public research in Italian agriculture during the period 1960 to 1995. A short-term specification of the GL cost function capable of accommodating quasi-fixed factors and variable returns is employed. Temporary equilibrium and scale economies are investigated...

The search for an appropriate methodology to analyse the relation between R&D investments and the knowledge stock is the main purpose of the paper. The high estimates of internal rates of return on agricultural R&D reported in the literature suggest that there are major empirical problems with...

The paper analyses agricultural TFP growth across Italian regions during the 1952-2002 period, and aims at identifying those factors that favour or hinder regional agricultural TFP growth convergence. Among them, idiosyncratic, R&D-spillover and learning components are included. Of major...