Since the seminal work of Adam Smith, markets have been considered an efficienttool for co-ordinating the behaviour of economic agents. The basic characteristicof a market economy is that the complex system of interaction amongindividuals is not centrally coordinated. Under the assumption of...

The introduction of cross-compliancemechanism in the European Union with its 2003 CAP-reformmight affect the costs of production and thuscompetitiveness of the EU. Little evidence is available toasses the costs of compliance with regulations and it implicationfor trade. In this study a farm...

Since the enactment of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001, owners and operators of farms and ranches have opportunities to evaluate new estate planning strategies for the transfer of farm businesses to subsequent generations. However, with provisions of the Act to be...

Food safety problems such as the BSE and dioxin crises focused attention on traceability systems and the certification of such systems. This study analyzes the status and perspectives of traceability systems and certification schemes, and reviews their potential costs and benefits. Results...

The new EU Animal Health Strategy suggests ashift in emphasis away from control towards preventionand surveillance activities for the management of threatsto animal health. The optimal combination of theseactions will differ among diseases and depend on largelyunknown and uncertain costs and...

This paper analyzes efficiency and total factor productivity (TFP) change of large agriculturalenterprises during their transition to a market economy in Ukraine. In this case the efficiencyis calculated by data envelopment analysis and the productivity change is measured by theMalmquist...

On the verge of EU accession, Poland’s agricultural sector is characterised by anumber of distinct structural weaknesses, which are a major reason for the unsatisfactoryincome situation of rural households. Among these weaknesses are thatfarm productivity is substantially below EU standards,...