The debate on optimization of policies and instruments of the European agriculture has been lasting for several decades and still there is no unified opinion on that aspect. Although there is an unanimity on targets these policies should achieve, there is an ongoing discussion on policy tools...

The paper deals with the problem of finding relative values for species in the case of biodiversity conservation in a cultural landscape. We use the concept of shadow prices to derive flexible functional forms that allow us to conduct an interactive and internal valuation process. The paper is...

The paper explores the question of diversity in agricultural practice as related to bio-diversity and landscape appearance. It starts with the observation that, in the past, diverse natural conditions have considerably impacted on adapted modes of agricultural production, more than today, and...

This paper deals with crop rotation as a method to pest control and soil fertility from an economic point of view. In the past farmers created complex rotations to benefit from processes like natural pest control, recycling of organics, pollination and water retention. Cropping orders utilizing...

Agri-environmental schemes provide payments for farmers in return for environmental services. Their implementation induces transaction costs for administration and farmers. Although transaction costs became subject of research in recent years, little attention has been paid to activities which...

We will analyze a newly emerging conflict within the second pillar of the rural development policy of the EU: a conflict between those farmers, who want to participate in high nature value agriculture, and farmers, who feel negatively impacted by supporting nature provision. We see a link...

This paper contributes to the discussion on appropriate farm sizes as dependent on energy use and green house gas emission. Normally large farms use more energy than small farms and obtain higher labor productivity which is one of the reasons for their superiority. We presume energy includes a...

Because objectives influence behavior, there should be thoughtfulness of economists on stating objective functions. In contrast, most farm economists work with the assertion that farmers maximize income. A major question is, are there alternatives? It is the aim of this paper to get a deeper...

This paper offers a novel institutional economics approach for conflict solving in meat industries. We show how to apply a bargaining model in case of: (i) economies of scale and strong competition favouring large scale production as well as high stocking supported by increased antibiotic use,...