Department Structural Change

Structural Development of Farms and Rural Areas

This department researches process complexities of agrarian structural change. Special focus is placed on inherent dynamics, influencing factors and effects, which are analyzed on various analytical levels by means of a broad array of methodical instruments.

Research subjects are, firstly, the development of enterprises in the agricultural and food sector, including their strategies and organization. Secondly, the effects that changing framework conditions such as agricultural policies have on agricultural businesses and structural change are analyzed. Thirdly, institutional economics and system theory questions relating to the role of nonprofit organizations and civil society engagement in the agricultural and food sector are investigated. A fourth focus is on interdependencies between the environment, resources, structural change and growth, in which context the changes of land use are studied or agricultural production potentials are assessed.

The department’s key methodical competencies are in the field of computational economics, particularly agent-based modeling. Further methodological expertise has been developed in spatial econometry, data mining, econometric methods, as well as productivity and efficiency analyses.