http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/36345 Search the Channel search http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/simple-search http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/32003 Title: Deliberation, Responsivity and Power in German and Swiss Agricultural Policy <br/> <br/>Authors: Mann, Stefan <br/> <br/>Abstract: Preferences with respect to agricultural policy have changed in Germany and Switzerland. In the middle of the 20th century, food self sufficiency and a certain cultural solidarity with farmers were central issues. Today, farmers are expected to contribute to environmental protection and safe food. Switzerland and Germany are two examples of countries where national agricultural policies have attempted to take the changing preferences into account. However, in Germany the government had a hard time succeeding since the general features of agricultural policy are decided by the EU. Comparing Germany with Switzerland indicates that it might be more appropriate to decide on agricultural policy on the national rather than on a regional or supranational level. Fri, 29 Oct 2004 22:58:59 GMT http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/32004 Title: Resistance des abattoirs locaux en zone de montagne et filieres de qualite <br/> <br/>Authors: Perrin, Pierre-Yves <br/> <br/>Abstract: In Switzerland, the number of abattoirs has dramatically decreased in the last ten years (-24,2 %). This is especially true for small structures (- 25,7 %). The modifications of the legislation after the various meat scandals are partially responsible for this decrease. As a matter of fact, the measures with regard to ensure a high quality in meat and to reassure consumers lead to investments that can only be met with difficulty by small abattoirs. In mountainous areas we observe that the required renovation of small abattoirs and, in certain cases, even new premises are financed by the communities. The reason for this support is an effort to keep agriculture in those regions. In interviews with professionals of the meat sector, three factors for this extraordinary support for abattoirs were highlighted. First, a local abattoir provides the meat producers with nearby slaughtering facilities for urgent slaughtering, and the transporting of the animals can be kept short. Second, consumer-proximity and directed ways of distribution and sale is assured. Finally, there is a will to maintain small local abattoirs to develop and improve the supply chains of quality products. Preserving small local abattoirs is essential for their impact in terms of agricultural dynamism in mountainous areas, of value creation, and of externalities. A comprehensive understanding of these different interacting mechanisms should allow the state and the professionals of the meat sector to find common solutions. Fri, 29 Oct 2004 22:58:59 GMT http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/32005 Title: Agriculture's Contribution to Swiss Climate Policy: Results of an Economic Analysis <br/> <br/>Authors: Hartmann, Michael <br/> <br/>Abstract: Greenhouse gas emissions from Swiss agriculture have been reduced by about 8 % since 1990. Hence, Swiss agriculture has already contributed 13 % to the national Kyoto target, although it is not legally bound to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Since the reductions are a result of changes of agricultural policy and relative prices, related income losses can not be attributed to climate policy. In other words, the agricultural sector did not have to bear effective emission abatement costs. If the current agricultural policy is continued, further reductions of agricultural GHG emissions by 3 to 10 % can be expected until 2010. These expectations are based on economic calculations made with the integrated agricultural allocation model S_INTAGRAL. Accordingly, Swiss agriculture may contribute 17 to 28 % to the national Kyoto target. The economic value of this reduction is estimated to be within the range of 30 to 107 million Swiss francs per year. This value is optional and can only be realized in the commitment period of 2008-2012. It reflects the reduction costs that could be saved by the rest of the economy. Moreover, the results show that soil carbon sequestration may constitute a moderate option in the reduction of the emissions in the short term. However, this potential is rather small compared to the national Kyoto target, and may involve relatively high costs of monitoring. From an economic point of view, this leads to the advice to renounce to targeted measures and incentives for additional GHG mitigation by the agricultural sector. Fri, 29 Oct 2004 22:58:59 GMT http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/32006 Title: Imbedding Ecological Farming in EU Agricultural Policy: The EU Plan of Action for Ecological FarmingEinbettung <br/> <br/>Authors: Stolze, Matthias; Lampkin, Nicolas <br/> <br/>Abstract: The development of organic agriculture in Europe is mainly driven by consumer demand for organic products and policy support through area payments and standard setting through regulations. The policy challenge therefore is to achieve a balanced policy mix recognising governmental policy support on the one side and the market mechanisms for yielding premium prices. Action Plans are suitable policy instruments to address and integrate different and sometimes conflicting policy measures. In 2004, the European Action Plan for Organic Food and Farming was published by the European Commission. The action plan takes up very important issues for the further development of organic farming standards through EC Reg. 2092/91, stresses the importance of information provision to both organic actors and consumers and thus sets a baseline for balanced 'push' and 'pull' strategies. However, there is no consideration of interaction of organic farming with main parts of the CAP, nothing about how, by when and on the basis of which resources the suggested actions should be implemented. Furthermore, the action plan failed to set clear targets for organic farming development. On the positive side, the action plan i) expresses the relevance of organic farming in the context of the EU agricultural policy and ii) recognizes the dual societal role of organic farming (provision of public goods and services and infant market responding to consumer concern) - and it doing so as an official EU document. Fri, 29 Oct 2004 22:58:59 GMT http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/32007 Title: Warenkorbanalysen mit Data Mining <br/> <br/>Authors: Muller, Stephan <br/> <br/>Abstract: With increasing price-competition in retail business, marketing becomes the critical success factor. All activities have to be oriented towards customer needs. Within marketing research, the individual act of purchase plays a decisive role and necessitates a holistic analysis of the market basket. Moreover, progress in information technology has enabled us to store huge amounts of data, including a valuable pool of business experiences. It is not possible to make this potential knowledge completely available with conventional statistical approaches. This is where Data Mining provides an ideal approach. It is an analysis process for extracting information from large databases. The aim of the study, submitted as diploma thesis at the ETH Zurich, is to show a possible Data Mining Process for analyzing sales data in retail business. Thereby the analysis is focused on the efficiency of the process model and the identification of professional needs. According to Hippner, the Data Mining Process is applied systematically on the basis of a Market Basket Analysis. The Association Analysis, which detects relevant correlations between different products of an assortment, is the core of the process. Problems of interpreting identified association rules make a transformation into marketing recommendations very difficult. Nevertheless, the Data Mining Process turned out to be very efficient. Fri, 29 Oct 2004 22:58:59 GMT http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/32008 Title: Bedeutung und Entwicklung des Biologischen Landbaus in der Schweiz <br/> <br/>Authors: Leumann, Markus; Weilenmann, Daniel <br/> <br/>Abstract: Organic farming has rapidly grown in Switzerland in the past years. It is now well established in agriculture and accepted by consumers. However, recent developments show declining growth rates. This raises the question of the future that can be expected for organic farming in Switzerland. Future trends and potentials of organic farming in Switzerland made subject of two diploma theses in which prospects of the dairy and livestock sector and the fruit and vegetable sector were analysed. With a linear optimization model (farm level), taking into account probable future conditions, the development of supply was estimated. The future evolution of consumer demand was assessed by the means of a qualitative analysis. The analysis of supply and demand showed that there will be structural changes and that a future growth of the organic market is questionable. The problem does not mainly lie in the expected trend of consumer demand but rather in the development of the supply of organic products in Switzerland. In contrast to alternative production systems, organic farming is more labour-intensive, which results in higher per unit production costs. Due to the increasing abolishing of protective measures in the agricultural sector, product prices will continue to decrease. Therefore it is questionable if domestic demand for organic products can be fully met by local production. Fri, 29 Oct 2004 22:58:59 GMT http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/32009 Title: Does Switzerland Have a Productivity Problem? <br/> <br/>Authors: Ferjani, Ali <br/> <br/>Abstract: This paper focuses on the evolution of productivity in the agricultural sector of 21 developped countries over the period of 1990-2002. It uses Data Envelopment Analysis, a non-parametric approach that allows decompositions of changes in productivity into variations in efficiency and technical change. The results show that productivity improvements (0,6 % per year) were principally due to technological progress (0,4 % per years). However, this performance was not uniform in all the countries. Fri, 29 Oct 2004 22:58:59 GMT http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/32010 Title: Non-technical Innovations in Swiss Agriculture <br/> <br/>Authors: Buser, Christian <br/> <br/>Abstract: The main objective of the inoVagri research project is to reach a better understanding of non-technical innovation in Swiss Agriculture. For this purpose a diversified case study was carried out. It enabled the analysis of innovative activities such as new organisational forms, new marketing models, vertical integration of the value-added chain and new forms of cooperation. SWOT analysis and 'grounded theory' were used as survey instruments. The study shows that the activities described above are typical process innovations, and that they were applied by the farms for the first time. Therefore the use of the innovations involved uncertainties in planning, lack of experience and unknown risks. The desired result of the innovation process is the realisation of a business advantage. The advantage may be of monetary (added value) or nonmonetary utility (social rise). The study identified strong similarities to the marketing-model by Kotler. Based on this model, the article describes the typical attributes of innovative activities in Swiss Agriculture. Fri, 29 Oct 2004 22:58:59 GMT http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/32011 Title: Economic Aspects of Food Safety and Nutritional Behaviour: A Research Agenda <br/> <br/>Authors: Campo, Isabelle Schluep <br/> <br/>Abstract: The problem of overweight / obesity is increasing in Switzerland, especially among children. A comparison with the US shows that although the share of obese adults in Switzerland is significantly lower than in the US, Switzerland might soon catch up with the US rates of obesity. Overweight / obesity does not only occur in the Western World. In fact, many developing countries face a double burden of undernourishment and overweight / obesity. Market failure plays an important role in many respects: There is an information asymmetry with, for example, missing labeling of restaurant food - which leads to inadequate food choices. The external costs of eating too many calories are not included in the market prices. This means that also people with healthy weights have to bear obesity-related health costs, etc. Considering market failure and the children's welfare as a social task, governmental intervention is justified (e.g. taxes, subsidies, insurance solution). Overweight / obesity is a complex problem that cannot be solved with the introduction of one measure alone. Therefore it is also up to research to refocus. Prevention alone is not enough - there must be additional, farther reaching measures. In terms of sustainable nutrition, a paradigm shift regarding the definition of food safety is required. It is not only about the safe provision but also the safe consumption of food. Fri, 29 Oct 2004 22:58:59 GMT http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/32008 Title: Bedeutung und Entwicklung des Biologischen Landbaus in der Schweiz <br/> <br/>Authors: Leumann, Markus; Weilenmann, Daniel <br/> <br/>Abstract: Organic farming has rapidly grown in Switzerland in the past years. It is now well established in agriculture and accepted by consumers. However, recent developments show declining growth rates. This raises the question of the future that can be expected for organic farming in Switzerland. Future trends and potentials of organic farming in Switzerland made subject of two diploma theses in which prospects of the dairy and livestock sector and the fruit and vegetable sector were analysed. With a linear optimization model (farm level), taking into account probable future conditions, the development of supply was estimated. The future evolution of consumer demand was assessed by the means of a qualitative analysis. The analysis of supply and demand showed that there will be structural changes and that a future growth of the organic market is questionable. The problem does not mainly lie in the expected trend of consumer demand but rather in the development of the supply of organic products in Switzerland. In contrast to alternative production systems, organic farming is more labour-intensive, which results in higher per unit production costs. Due to the increasing abolishing of protective measures in the agricultural sector, product prices will continue to decrease. Therefore it is questionable if domestic demand for organic products can be fully met by local production. Fri, 29 Oct 2004 22:58:59 GMT http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/32006 Title: Imbedding Ecological Farming in EU Agricultural Policy: The EU Plan of Action for Ecological FarmingEinbettung <br/> <br/>Authors: Stolze, Matthias; Lampkin, Nicolas <br/> <br/>Abstract: The development of organic agriculture in Europe is mainly driven by consumer demand for organic products and policy support through area payments and standard setting through regulations. The policy challenge therefore is to achieve a balanced policy mix recognising governmental policy support on the one side and the market mechanisms for yielding premium prices. Action Plans are suitable policy instruments to address and integrate different and sometimes conflicting policy measures. In 2004, the European Action Plan for Organic Food and Farming was published by the European Commission. The action plan takes up very important issues for the further development of organic farming standards through EC Reg. 2092/91, stresses the importance of information provision to both organic actors and consumers and thus sets a baseline for balanced 'push' and 'pull' strategies. However, there is no consideration of interaction of organic farming with main parts of the CAP, nothing about how, by when and on the basis of which resources the suggested actions should be implemented. Furthermore, the action plan failed to set clear targets for organic farming development. On the positive side, the action plan i) expresses the relevance of organic farming in the context of the EU agricultural policy and ii) recognizes the dual societal role of organic farming (provision of public goods and services and infant market responding to consumer concern) - and it doing so as an official EU document. Fri, 29 Oct 2004 22:58:59 GMT http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/32011 Title: Economic Aspects of Food Safety and Nutritional Behaviour: A Research Agenda <br/> <br/>Authors: Campo, Isabelle Schluep <br/> <br/>Abstract: The problem of overweight / obesity is increasing in Switzerland, especially among children. A comparison with the US shows that although the share of obese adults in Switzerland is significantly lower than in the US, Switzerland might soon catch up with the US rates of obesity. Overweight / obesity does not only occur in the Western World. In fact, many developing countries face a double burden of undernourishment and overweight / obesity. Market failure plays an important role in many respects: There is an information asymmetry with, for example, missing labeling of restaurant food - which leads to inadequate food choices. The external costs of eating too many calories are not included in the market prices. This means that also people with healthy weights have to bear obesity-related health costs, etc. Considering market failure and the children's welfare as a social task, governmental intervention is justified (e.g. taxes, subsidies, insurance solution). Overweight / obesity is a complex problem that cannot be solved with the introduction of one measure alone. Therefore it is also up to research to refocus. Prevention alone is not enough - there must be additional, farther reaching measures. In terms of sustainable nutrition, a paradigm shift regarding the definition of food safety is required. It is not only about the safe provision but also the safe consumption of food. Fri, 29 Oct 2004 22:58:59 GMT http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/32007 Title: Warenkorbanalysen mit Data Mining <br/> <br/>Authors: Muller, Stephan <br/> <br/>Abstract: With increasing price-competition in retail business, marketing becomes the critical success factor. All activities have to be oriented towards customer needs. Within marketing research, the individual act of purchase plays a decisive role and necessitates a holistic analysis of the market basket. Moreover, progress in information technology has enabled us to store huge amounts of data, including a valuable pool of business experiences. It is not possible to make this potential knowledge completely available with conventional statistical approaches. This is where Data Mining provides an ideal approach. It is an analysis process for extracting information from large databases. The aim of the study, submitted as diploma thesis at the ETH Zurich, is to show a possible Data Mining Process for analyzing sales data in retail business. Thereby the analysis is focused on the efficiency of the process model and the identification of professional needs. According to Hippner, the Data Mining Process is applied systematically on the basis of a Market Basket Analysis. The Association Analysis, which detects relevant correlations between different products of an assortment, is the core of the process. Problems of interpreting identified association rules make a transformation into marketing recommendations very difficult. Nevertheless, the Data Mining Process turned out to be very efficient. Fri, 29 Oct 2004 22:58:59 GMT http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/32004 Title: Resistance des abattoirs locaux en zone de montagne et filieres de qualite <br/> <br/>Authors: Perrin, Pierre-Yves <br/> <br/>Abstract: In Switzerland, the number of abattoirs has dramatically decreased in the last ten years (-24,2 %). This is especially true for small structures (- 25,7 %). The modifications of the legislation after the various meat scandals are partially responsible for this decrease. As a matter of fact, the measures with regard to ensure a high quality in meat and to reassure consumers lead to investments that can only be met with difficulty by small abattoirs. In mountainous areas we observe that the required renovation of small abattoirs and, in certain cases, even new premises are financed by the communities. The reason for this support is an effort to keep agriculture in those regions. In interviews with professionals of the meat sector, three factors for this extraordinary support for abattoirs were highlighted. First, a local abattoir provides the meat producers with nearby slaughtering facilities for urgent slaughtering, and the transporting of the animals can be kept short. Second, consumer-proximity and directed ways of distribution and sale is assured. Finally, there is a will to maintain small local abattoirs to develop and improve the supply chains of quality products. Preserving small local abattoirs is essential for their impact in terms of agricultural dynamism in mountainous areas, of value creation, and of externalities. A comprehensive understanding of these different interacting mechanisms should allow the state and the professionals of the meat sector to find common solutions. Fri, 29 Oct 2004 22:58:59 GMT http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/32009 Title: Does Switzerland Have a Productivity Problem? <br/> <br/>Authors: Ferjani, Ali <br/> <br/>Abstract: This paper focuses on the evolution of productivity in the agricultural sector of 21 developped countries over the period of 1990-2002. It uses Data Envelopment Analysis, a non-parametric approach that allows decompositions of changes in productivity into variations in efficiency and technical change. The results show that productivity improvements (0,6 % per year) were principally due to technological progress (0,4 % per years). However, this performance was not uniform in all the countries. Fri, 29 Oct 2004 22:58:59 GMT http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/32003 Title: Deliberation, Responsivity and Power in German and Swiss Agricultural Policy <br/> <br/>Authors: Mann, Stefan <br/> <br/>Abstract: Preferences with respect to agricultural policy have changed in Germany and Switzerland. In the middle of the 20th century, food self sufficiency and a certain cultural solidarity with farmers were central issues. Today, farmers are expected to contribute to environmental protection and safe food. Switzerland and Germany are two examples of countries where national agricultural policies have attempted to take the changing preferences into account. However, in Germany the government had a hard time succeeding since the general features of agricultural policy are decided by the EU. Comparing Germany with Switzerland indicates that it might be more appropriate to decide on agricultural policy on the national rather than on a regional or supranational level. Fri, 29 Oct 2004 22:58:59 GMT http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/32010 Title: Non-technical Innovations in Swiss Agriculture <br/> <br/>Authors: Buser, Christian <br/> <br/>Abstract: The main objective of the inoVagri research project is to reach a better understanding of non-technical innovation in Swiss Agriculture. For this purpose a diversified case study was carried out. It enabled the analysis of innovative activities such as new organisational forms, new marketing models, vertical integration of the value-added chain and new forms of cooperation. SWOT analysis and 'grounded theory' were used as survey instruments. The study shows that the activities described above are typical process innovations, and that they were applied by the farms for the first time. Therefore the use of the innovations involved uncertainties in planning, lack of experience and unknown risks. The desired result of the innovation process is the realisation of a business advantage. The advantage may be of monetary (added value) or nonmonetary utility (social rise). The study identified strong similarities to the marketing-model by Kotler. Based on this model, the article describes the typical attributes of innovative activities in Swiss Agriculture. Fri, 29 Oct 2004 22:58:59 GMT http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/32005 Title: Agriculture's Contribution to Swiss Climate Policy: Results of an Economic Analysis <br/> <br/>Authors: Hartmann, Michael <br/> <br/>Abstract: Greenhouse gas emissions from Swiss agriculture have been reduced by about 8 % since 1990. Hence, Swiss agriculture has already contributed 13 % to the national Kyoto target, although it is not legally bound to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Since the reductions are a result of changes of agricultural policy and relative prices, related income losses can not be attributed to climate policy. In other words, the agricultural sector did not have to bear effective emission abatement costs. If the current agricultural policy is continued, further reductions of agricultural GHG emissions by 3 to 10 % can be expected until 2010. These expectations are based on economic calculations made with the integrated agricultural allocation model S_INTAGRAL. Accordingly, Swiss agriculture may contribute 17 to 28 % to the national Kyoto target. The economic value of this reduction is estimated to be within the range of 30 to 107 million Swiss francs per year. This value is optional and can only be realized in the commitment period of 2008-2012. It reflects the reduction costs that could be saved by the rest of the economy. Moreover, the results show that soil carbon sequestration may constitute a moderate option in the reduction of the emissions in the short term. However, this potential is rather small compared to the national Kyoto target, and may involve relatively high costs of monitoring. From an economic point of view, this leads to the advice to renounce to targeted measures and incentives for additional GHG mitigation by the agricultural sector. Fri, 29 Oct 2004 22:58:59 GMT