Ginevra Virginia Lombardi

Regional Differentiation and Farm Exit: A Hierarchical Model for Tuscany

We analyse the exit behaviour of Tuscan farms during the period 2000–2007 both at the farm and the territorial level. The study combines data from the 2000 National Census of Agriculture and three waves of the ‘Farm Structure Surveys’. The exit probability of the resulting sample, composed of 3,187 farms, is estimated through a Bayesian hierarchical probit model. Our results show that exits reflect the size and type of holdings. Likelihood of exit is higher in areas of higher population density that are not classified as ‘urban’ areas.

An addendum to: a meta-analysis of hypothethical bias in stated preference valuation.

A recent study published by Murphy et al. (2005) reported results of a meta-analysis of hypothetical bias using 28 valuation studies. The authors found a median ratio of hypothetical to actual values of 1.35 but they did not investigate the ratio of variances of the hypothetical and actual value distributions, which is of great relevance in joint stated and revealed preference analysis. We propose an addendum to Murphy et al. (2005) to provide some insights on the distribution of the scale factor across 23 studies for which relevant data is available. We distinguish three types of dispersion parameters reported in the literature. We find that the ratio of real to hypothetical standard deviations of marginal distributions of WTP is about 0.6.

Choice modelling and forecasting demand for alternative-fuel tractors

This paper presents a study focused on potential demand for agricultural multi-functional electric tractor. In this context, the willingness-to-pay is investigated in order to establish the potential diffusion of an electrical solar tractor, by considering different levels of key attributes related to environmental, technical and economical characteristics of different version of alternative fuel tractors. The study is carried out through a choice-experiment and the application of multinomial discrete choice models, by considering heteroscedasticity of the respondent and heterogeneity across alternatives.

Multifunctionality Concepts: A Critical Assessment of the Framework Approaches

Multifunctionality has been the object of several studies and discussions over the past few years. This has resulted into a significant number of chapters, where the concept of multifunctionality is discussed with different approaches and interpretations according to the contexts in which the debate has been developed. The concept is generally quoted as an assumption for the acknowledgement of the primary sector’s complex role for the welfare of the whole society. However, at international level the different concepts originate from a common assumption, although they do not offer an even and comprehensive focus on the issue, but rather provide an interesting overview of the concept’s complexity.