Konstadinos Mattas

An analysis of EU wine trade: A gravity model approach

In this research study, a gravity model approach was used in order to analyze the main factors affecting the trade flows of wine in the EU. The empirical model was applied using data for the first twelve EU countries for the period 1989–97. It has been clearly shown in the empirical literature that gravity models can be successfully applied to a single commodity market. The present study utilized pooled cross-sectional and time series data in a one-way fixed effects model that accounted for country-pair heterogeneity. The results revealed that wine trade was positively influenced by an increase in GDP per capita, since greater income promotes trade. The remoteness of one country from another influenced exports positively and imports negatively, and the quantities traded did not prove to be very sensitive to wine prices. The depreciation of EU currencies and the high production of wine in the EU increased exports and reduced imports, while EU integration enhanced trade among members.

A new approach to determining sectoral priorities in an economy: input–Output elasticities

This paper uses input–Output elasticities to identify important economic sectors. Elasticities of output employment and income are used to identify key sectors of the Greek economy. A comparison of the rankings of economic sectors based on input–output elasticities with those based on net backward linkages indicates significant divergence in sectoral rankings obtained from the two approaches. The elasticity approach yields more consistent estimates of sectoral output employment and income potentials than the net backward linkage approach. Measured in terms of the potential to generate output employment and income agriculture services and textiles are found to be the key sectors for the Greek economy.

Perspectives for integrating human and environmental risk assessment and synergies with socio-economic analysis

For more than a decade, the integration of human and environmental risk assessment (RA) has become an attractive vision. At the same time, existing European regulations of chemical substances such as REACH (EC Regulation No. 1907/2006), the Plant Protection Products Regulation (EC regulation 1107/2009) and Biocide Regulation (EC Regulation 528/2012) continue to ask for sector-specific RAs, each of which have their individual information requirements regarding exposure and hazard data, and also use different methodologies for the ultimate risk quantification. In response to this difference between the vision for integration and the current scientific and regulatory practice, the present paper outlines five medium-term opportunities for integrating human and environmental RA, followed by detailed discussions of the associated major components and their state of the art. Current hazard assessment approaches are analyzed in terms of data availability and quality, and covering non-test tools, the integrated testing strategy (ITS) approach, the adverse outcome pathway (AOP) concept, methods for assessing uncertainty, and the issue of explicitly treating mixture toxicity. With respect to exposure, opportunities for integrating exposure assessment are discussed, taking into account the uncertainty, standardization and validation of exposure modeling as well as the availability of exposure data. A further focus is on ways to complement RA by a socio-economic assessment (SEA) in order to better inform about risk management options. In this way, the present analysis, developed as part of the EU FP7 project HEROIC, may contribute to paving the way for integrating, where useful and possible, human and environmental RA in a manner suitable for its coupling with SEA.

Employing real options methodology in agricultural investments: the case of greenhouse construction

The latest developments in investment analysis offer a number of valuable insights into how to evaluate investment opportunities encountering the weaknesses of net present value criterion. More specifically, irreversibility, uncertainty and the choice of timing are conditions that net present value does not include but they alter the investment decision in a determinant way. By employing contingent claims analysis in tangible investments better assessment results can be derived. In this work, an attempt is made to modify the NPV criterion by incorporating the real options approach, and its application is demonstrated in a greenhouse construction investment plan. A discounted cash flow approach indicates that the adoption of a new technology project under uncertainty is feasible while the real options approach differentiates the results. The corollary is that the real options approach can be proved useful when assessing projects with uncertainty and irreversibility and it can provide a new way of examining agricultural investment decisions.

Exploring Convenience Food Consumption Through a Structural Equation Model

In this study the model of convenience orientation suggested by Scholderer and Grunert (2005) is applied in order to examine consumer behavior in the context of convenience food usage. The empirical results indicate that sociodemographic characteristics affect behavior both directly and indirectly through perceived time resources and convenience orientation toward meal preparation and clearing up. Findings seem to be important for all the bodies involved in the marketing of convenience food products because they describe the way various consumer characteristics interact, affecting the consumption of such products.

The food sector and economic growth

Abstract This paper analyses the contribution of the food sector, disaggregated into raw and processed sectors, to economic growth. Using the input-output method and data from Greece, the interdependence between food and non-food sectors is examined. It is found that the food sector substantially influences economic output, income and employment. The processed food sector generates output for the non-food sector whereas the non-food sector provides inputs for the food sector. It is concluded that policies that permit balanced sectoral growth can benefit both the food and non-food sectors, and lead to stable economic growth in the long run.

Public support toward tobacco control: consumer responsiveness and policy planning.

OBJECTIVES To explore individual differences in support toward antismoking policies by investigating psychosocial, socioeconomic, and demographic characteristics; smoking restrictions; smoking status; and individually perceived cigarette price. METHODS The empirical analysis uses data from a random sample of 680 consumers and employs a bivariate semiordered probit model. RESULTS Consumer responsiveness shows strong association with optimistic bias, perceived positive and negative consequences of smoking, health status, and family smoking patterns. Smoking status, gender, age, and occupation also affect antismoking policy support. CONCLUSIONS Public support toward tobacco control reflects potential smoking acceptance and social norms, confirming policy effectiveness and current needs for demarketing tobacco use.

Agricultural Productivity Growth in the Euro-Med Region: Is there Evidence of Convergence?

This paper measures agricultural productivity growth by means of the sequential Malmquist Total Factor Productivity (TFP) index among a set of 32 West European, Central and East European (CEE), and Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) countries for the period 1961–2002. In a second stage, the authors also investigate whether this measure is converging among these countries by employing cross-sectional tests for absolute and conditional β-convergence as well as for club convergence. The results suggest that, despite the fact that the CEE and MENA countries have exhibited a high rate of productivity growth since the 1990s, absolute convergence cannot be confirmed. Evidence for conditional convergence is still found and the formation of two separate clubs of countries that converge to different equilibrium points is identified.

Agriculture and the Evolution of Agricultural Policies in the Mediterranean Partner Countries: Putting a Retrospective Overview in Context with Future Prospects

This chapter provides a brief description of the main characteristics of the agricultural sectors in the Mediterranean Partner Countries (MPCs), together with a short retrospective overview of the evolution of national agro-food policies, in an attempt to highlight the changes that occurred in the agro-food policy agendas in recent years. In this respect, some insights to the future evolution of natural agricultural policies are also made. Although agriculture constitutes a crucial element of the national economies of MPCs and remains a major source of employment in most cases, MPCs are faced with low self-sufficiency rates even for staple food and a large reliance on food imports. In the past, national agro-food policy agendas have traditionally relied on intervention, subsidisation and protectionism in order to protect domestic produce, but their effectiveness on increasing agricultural productivity and reducing rural poverty remained questionable. During the last decades, most MPCs gradually began adopting a reform process that resulted in a more liberalised agricultural sector. These structural adjustments have indeed led to decreased levels of support, but evidence thus far, does not show compelling progress in productivity/competitiveness which is a necessity in order to increase food security and alleviate poverty in rural areas. Today, the EU is called to play a critical role in assisting the reform process. The EU would need to strengthen its relations with the region and introduce mechanisms to support the modernisation of agricultural sectors. Specific policies for assisting cooperation in research and rural development should become a priority.

Rural Development Through Input–Output Modeling

Input–output (I-O) models developed in the late 1930s and ever since have been applied extensively. Though the contribution of I-O models in depicting economic transactions was recognized early on, computational constraints have limited their use. This is mainly because of huge data requirements, difficulties in computational handling, and lack of software developed and adjusted for I-O analysis. Today, I-O analysis can be applied extensively in regional and local economies and can provide valuable information on growth and investment priorities, sectoral interrelationships, and policy impacts. I-O analysis has been employed in research on both agriculture and rural development to evaluate the importance of agricultural activities, the interdependence among agriculture and the rest of the economy, the intensity of the rate of growth, and the impacts of policy interventions.