Veronica Alampi Sottini

Productivity growth in the winery sector: evidence from Italy and Spain

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to estimate total productivity change in the winery sector, decomposing it into efficiency change and technical change. Design/methodology/approach – The methodology is based on the estimation of the Malmquist productivity index for a sample of Spanish and Italian wineries between 2005 and 2013. Findings – The results show very low efficiency levels for the wineries under study. Further, Spanish and Italian wineries show a decrease in their average annual productivity for the period of time analysed. Practical implications – The analysis of the efficiency and the productivity of the wineries is crucial to improve their competitiveness and guarantee their survival. Originality/value – For the first time, a comparative analysis is carried out with data from two major wine-producing countries.

Italian wines and Asia: policy scenarios and competitive dynamics

Purpose – The paper aims to analyse the current situation and the perspectives of Italian wine in key Asian export markets – China, Japan, India, Singapore and South Korea. These countries show the highest growing rates in wine consumption and are forecasted to become increasingly more strategic for Italian wine producers.Design/methodology/approach – A SWOT analysis is applied to the most recent set of secondary data available from the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), the Italian National Institute for Foreign Trade (ICE), the International Organisation of Wine and Vine (OIV) and Euromonitor International reports.Findings – The study reveals that the most interesting markets for Italian wines are China and South Korea. The key strengths are mainly related to high quality products, evoking classic values and being perceived as a status symbol, while the main concerns for Italian wines are mainly related to promotion and distribution issues.Research limitations/implications – The SWOT anal...

Possible development of organic production in a mountain area of the Florence province in Tuscany

The organic production technique is a significant innovation for both process and product aspects of the agricultural sector. In less favoured areas, organic production contributes to develop the potential revitalisation of the production sector and also supports the application of endogenous development models, thus favouring sustainable development both on socio‐economic and ecological bases. The paper focuses on a case study about the possible growth of organic production in a mountain area of the Florence province, in Tuscany. The organic and non‐organic agricultural activities of the area are illustrated, with regards to the whole territorial organisation and the need to maintain agricultural activities for territorial defence. The potential development of the organic product supply is described as a result of a direct survey on the major distribution channels. The main reasons for the delayed expansion of the organic production are outlined in a direct survey on the farms of the area.

Le variazioni del territorio rurale e le diverse tipologie di imprenditore agricolo: un caso di studio

The increasing attention of the Agricultural Policies on the issues regarding rural development must take into account the elements which influence the farmers’ behaviour. In fact, it is thanks to the farmers’ choices that there will be direct effects on the territorial, social, environmental and economic rural development. This paper examines a marginal area of Tuscany, the Mugello, and for that territory several farmers’ typologies have been detected. These farmers’ typologies are differentiated depending on the followed objective function, in order to assess the most probable future landscape management. Together with this economic analysis, based on a farmers’ typologies mathematical programming approach, the paper implements also a georeferred analysis (SIT), thanks to which it has been possible to create forecasted scenarios, using a raster cartography.

Effetti del disaccoppiamento e della condizionalità su una azienda biologica ed una convenzionale nel Mugello

Decoupling, cross-compliance and modulation represent the innovative elements introduced with the Mid Term Review. While modulation will produce effects on the mid-long period, decoupling and cross-compliance assume the role of variables able to orient the farmer’s choices in the short period. After one year from the introduction of these new measures, it seems necessary to analyze how these guidelines have been received by the farms and in which way they are able to influence the management of the different farms. The paper focuses on the analysis of the zootechnical farms in the Mugello area, one being organic, the other being conventional. The aim of the work is to examine if at farm level, after the introduction of decoupling and cross-compliance, some changes in the farm management occurred, mainly analysing the differences between the diverse production methods adopted. At the same time, thanks to the implementation of a linear programming method, the paper intends to evaluate which could be the maximum farm gross margin under the present guidelines of the MTR.