We analyse the impacts of the CAP reforms on technical efficiency of Greek olive farms. We use a production frontier function and a non-monotonic inefficiency effects model which incorporates the influences of exogenous variables on the mean and the variances of farm efficiency. We formulate...

This paper estimates farmer decisions between three discrete occupational choices: exit and close down the farming operation (1), exit and transfer the farm to a new entrant (2), or continue farming and retain the option to exit later on (3). The farmer optimisation problem is formulated as a...

Organic farming technology may be relatively unknown to farmers at the time when they switch from conventional into organic farming. Therefore, experience gained over time and learning by doing may be important determinants in the efficiency of organic farming. It may also take time to reach the...

We make use of data from the 2005 Albania Living Standard Measurement Survey to investigate the factors affecting household agriculture efficiency and land market development. To assess the functioning of land rental markets and explore efficiency- and equity impacts of land rental, we use a...

The paper illustrates a theoretical model of real option value applied to the problem of land development. Making use of the 1998-2001 Kyrgyz Household Budget Survey, we show that when the hypothesis of decreasing return to scale holds, the relation between the threshold value of revenue per...

Land use concepts for ecologically particularly sensitive agricultural landscapes are often focussed on the attainment of specific environmental objectives in specific areas, neglecting both socio-economic effects, in particular income effects, and the farmers' income-driven production responses...

In this paper we apply the technical inefficiency effect model to a set of eight different crop products (i.e., wheat, mixed arable crops, tobacco, cotton, olive oil, fruits, vegetables, and greenhouse horticulture) in Greek agriculture. For each product, a panel data set covering the period...

Organic and low-input farming practices are considered keystones for the conservation of biodiversity in semi-natural systems. Accordingly, attention to the assessment of the benefits stemming from these activities is increasing in order to provide a solid base for the adoption of...