newsletter

Edition 2/2016, 9 June 2016

On 1 July starts at IAMO the research project “The Role and Functions of Bioclusters in the Transition to a Bioeconomy (TRAFOBIT)”. The project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) with 1.487 million euros. Within the five-year project, a research group headed by IAMO researcher Frans Hermans will examine the role of so-called “bioclusters”. In these clusters businesses, governments, research institutes and universities work together towards the bioeconomy that aims to replace our current fossil based sources of carbon with renewable ones. The junior research group aims to explore these innovation processes that occur inside bioclusters and the interaction of bioclusters in their societal environment ranging from the local, regional, national and international level. It will aim to contribute to the development of new innovative research methods through the development and application and adaptation of Social Network Analysis and statistical network models to the study of transitions.

Further information can be found on the project website.

Contact:
Frans Hermans
Tel.: +49 345 2928-134
hermans(at)iamo.de

The theme of the IAMO Forum 2016 is “Rural Labor in Transition: Structural Change, Migration and Governance”. During four plenary sessions, 18 parallel sessions and a podium discussion, international researchers will present their latest research results and discuss them together with political and business representatives from 22 to 24 June. The conference focuses on challenges of rural labor markets in the context of labor mobility in Eastern European and Central Asian countries as well as a depopulation of rural areas. One of the highlights is the second day`s plenary session “Rural Labor Markets in Transition Economies”. The session is organized by the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), co-organizer of this year’s IAMO Forum. Alexander M. Danzer, Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, Germany, Corrado Giulietti, Southampton University, UK, Hartmut Lehmann from the University of Bologna, Italy, and Norberto Pignatti from the International School of Economics at Tbilisi State University (ISET), Georgia, will discuss related development trends in Tajikistan, China, Ukraine and Georgia. IAMO Forum 2016 is supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG), the Edmund Rehwinkel Foundation, the Federal German State Saxony-Anhalt and the City of Halle (Saale).

Further information is available on the conference website.

IAMO Forum 2016
Rural Labor in Transition:
Structural Change, Migration and Governance
22 – 24 Juni 2016 │ Halle (Saale)
www.iamo.de/forum/2016
#iamoForum16

Contact:
Vasyl Kvartiuk, Diana Traikova
Tel.: +49 345 2928-101
forum2016(at)iamo.de

 

From 2 to 5 November IAMO will organize a conference in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on “Regional and International Cooperation in Central Asia and South Caucasus: Recent Developments in Agricultural Trade”. The expansion of the Eurasian Economic Union, the accession of several countries to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and trade tensions between Russia and the western countries have led to considerable changes over the last two to three years in trade policies in the Central Asian and Caucasus countries. In the context of the three day event, the development and implications of agricultural trade in these regions will be presented and discussed. The aim of the conference is to strengthen the exchange of knowledge and research findings among regional and international experts as well as policy makers. Papers are requested to be sent electronically by 1 July to samarkand(at)iamo.de. In addition to the conference, several field trip options will be offered including a visit of large scale commercial export farms and a guided tour of the historical city.

Information on the conference and submission of papers can be found here.

Samarkand Conference
Regional and International Cooperation in Central Asia and
South Caucasus: Recent Developments in Agricultural Trade
2 – 5 November 2016 │ Samarkand, Uzbekistan
www.samarkand.iamo.de

Contact:
Ihtiyor Bobojonov
Tel.: +49 345 2928-247
samarkand(at)iamo.de

 

The research project “Exploring the Potential for Agricultural and Biomass Trade in the Commonwealth of Independent States (AGRICISTRADE)”, carried out in joint cooperation between IAMO and international partners, presents new price formation results along different food supply chains. The analyses of selected value chains such as those for wheat, meat and milk showed that prices at the level of agricultural production in some of the states of the former Soviet Union adjust considerably faster to changing conditions than prices in the food retail market. This also indicates that the value chains are not perfectly coordinated. A comparison of price adjustments in the food retail sector in various countries makes it clear that retail prices especially in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Belarus quickly adjust to changes in producer prices, whereas those in Russia require much more time. In addition, the analyses show that Russian retailers are in a position to exercise market power over consumers and sell at prices that are “too expensive” which accordingly hurts consumers, and in particular, the poorest sections of the population. Thus the studies offer important insights into the functionality of food supply chains in the observed countries even in the midst of an increasingly globalized food industry.

Further information can be found on the project website and in this publication.

Contact:
Ivan Djuric
Tel.: +49 345 2928-241
djuric(at)iamo.de

 

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and IAMO welcomed guests to an expert round table on “Best Practices in Export Promotion: Experiences in Latin America, Europe and Central Asia” which took place in Halle (Saale), Germany, from 24 to 25 May. The 32 participants came from a total of 18 countries in order to exchange ideas on the developments, strategies and implementation possibilities of export promotion programs. The experts indicated that exporting agricultural and food products to new destinations require a thorough analysis of the requirements and consumer preferences in export markets and strengthening testing and certification procedures to ensure the quality of the products. Moreover, an active stance on positioning national products abroad, including through trade fairs, and developing a positive country image and brands were deemed essential. Many countries have specialized agencies for export promotion that have been critical in supporting private sector in exporting activities. The significance of trade missions was also highlighted during the event. Agricultural attachés and representatives play a decisive role in the development of trade relations and the resolution of trade problems.

Contact:
Ivan Djuric
Tel.: +49 345 2928-241
djuric(at)iamo.de

 

A new ScienceCampus is currently under development in Central Germany that will lead the way in the context of global challenges for research on and in Eastern European countries. In cooperation with universities and external institutes in Leipzig, Halle (Salle) and Jena, IAMO will study the globalized Eastern European and Central Asian regions through economic ties, geopolitical shifts, cultural exchange and migratory movements. The Leibniz ScienceCampus will provide the participating institutions with exceptional opportunities for interdisciplinary cooperation in their research and transfer activities as well as in the training and further education of scientists. Special attention will be placed on the distribution of research findings to the media and a wide general public. The ScienceCampus “Eastern Europe – Global Area” will be funded by the Leibniz Association from July 2016 for a period of four years. Under the direction of the Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography (IfL) but also IAMO, the Universities of Leipzig, Halle-Wittenberg and Jena, the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, the Fraunhofer Center for International Management and Knowledge Economy (MOEZ) as well as the Centre for the History and Culture of East Central Europe (GWZO) will participate in the development.

Contact:
Thomas Glauben
Tel.: +49 345 2928-210
glauben(at)iamo.de
 

After 21 years at IAMO, Director and Head of Administration Hannelore Zerjeski retired on 30 April. The economics graduate was one of the founding directors of the research institute when it was established in 1994 in Halle (Saale), Germany, and significantly shaped and directed the development of IAMO over the course of her time in office. As member of the executive board and budget commissioner, Hannelore Zerjeski, together with the scientific directors, was responsible for the administration and strategic and operational management of the institute.
During the ceremonial handover on 26 April, the IAMO Directors, Alfons Balmann, Thomas Glauben and Thomas Herzfeld, acknowledged Hannelore Zerjeski’s outstanding work and commitment. “Always attesting to great enthusiasm and commitment, she built up and headed IAMO’s administration department for more than two decades. Despite the large void left behind by her retirement, an excellently constructed administration remains as a future asset to IAMO”, Alfons Balmann said. In addition to IAMO employees, long-time partners of the institute from science, politics and business also attended the ceremonial event. Gisela Liepelt from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Sciences and Digital of the Federal State of Saxony-Anhalt delivered a message from Ministerialrat Thomas Reitmann who sent his special thanks for her work and emphasized the excellent and trustful cooperation with the ministry. Hannelore Zerjeski announced: “They have been exciting and eventful years at IAMO and of course saying farewell is not easy, but I am looking forward to what lies ahead of me now.” She handed over her responsibilities on 1 May to her successor, Stephanie Garling.

 

Once a year, the Leibniz Association organizes an event entitled “Leibniz in the German Bundestag”. In this context researchers from IAMO recently met with members of parliament in Berlin to hold bilateral discussions.
On 2 June IAMO Director Thomas Herzfeld exchanged ideas on the promotion of science with Stefan Kaufmann, Spokesperson of the CDU-CSU parliamentary group on the Committee on Education, Research and Technology Assessment. The EU twinning project “Building an Excellency Network for Heightening Agricultural Economic Research and Education in Romania” was presented as an example. The project aims at strengthening agricultural economic research at the University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest, Romania, with the collaboration of the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria, and the Agroscope Institute in Tännikon, Switzerland. Topics of the discussion were the challenges faced by Eastern European universities and methodological issues on the measurement of quality in research.
Central to the discussion between IAMO researcher Christine Burggraf and Deputy Karin Binder, member of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Consumer Protection as well as the Committee on Food and Agriculture, was health-based nutrition on 31 May. The varied aspects of food quality were highlighted and comparisons were made between Germany, Russia and China. In the process, specific measures aimed at the improvement of problems in nutrition were discussed.

Contact:
Thomas Herzfeld
Tel.: +49 345 2928-101
herzfeld(at)iamo.de

Christine Burggraf
Tel.: +49 345 2928-223
burggraf(at)iamo.de
 

The next general meeting of the IAMO-Alumni Association will take place at the conclusion of the IAMO Forum 2016, in Halle (Saale) on 24 June. During the annual membership meeting former and current employees as well as friends of IAMO will be able to discuss current events in the institute, opportunities for cooperation and the further development of the association. The aim of this meeting is to propose new research topics, support the exchange of information and promote the work of IAMO researchers. The association provides a platform for an international network of members and IAMO supporters in academics, economics and politics. Former employees as well as friends of IAMO are very welcome as new members and can actively participate in the association’s work.

More details and the membership application can be found here.

Contact:
Marianne Müller-Albinsky
Tel.: +49 345 2928-337
alumni(at)iamo.de
 

In the context of the German-Kazakh Agricultural Policy Dialogue, a seminar entitled “Management to Increase Efficiency in Agricultural Science Research Institutes” was held in Almaty, Kazakhstan, from 14 to 16 April. The seminar was organized by IAMO and commissioned by IAK Agrar Consulting GmbH Leipzig. Training was aimed at directors as well as managerial employees from all research organizations of the National Center for Agricultural Science and Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan (NANOZ), including institutes, agricultural universities, service providers, and testing and breeding stations. Within the seminar, Peter Tillack, former IAMO director and member of the board of the IAMO-Alumni Association, and IAMO employee Marianne Müller-Albinsky presented the structures and procedures of agricultural research in Germany. In addition to the current standard practice, experiences related to the transformation of agricultural research in East Germany were also outlined. Central to the event were questions on applied and basic research as well as research funding and the internal organization of research institutes. Even outside of the workshops, in-depth discussions on institute-specific issues were held with the heads of the Kazakh National Agrarian University (KazNAU) and the seminar participants. The agricultural policy dialogue is financially supported by the GFA Consulting Group GmbH, General Agent of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) for the cooperation program.

Contact:
Marianne Müller-Albinsky
Tel.: +49 345 2928-337
mueller-albinsky(at)iamo.de
 

Under the title “The Methodology of the EU Commission to Evaluate the Impact of Direct Payments”, IAMO Visiting Research Fellow Ulrich Koester and researcher Jens-Peter Loy, both professors in the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of Kiel, published the IAMO Policy Brief 26 in June 2016. The authors investigate whether the evaluation applied by the European Commission is adequate to measure the impact of direct payments on the officially stated policy objectives of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The Commission has not presented a clear definition of the objectives. Moreover, the use of indicators does not inform on the causal impact of the policy intervention on the changes in the policy objectives. Moreover, the evaluation does not take into account the economic costs of the policy intervention.

The publication can be downloaded for free here.

Contact:
Ulrich Koester
Tel.: +49 431 880-4436
ukoester(at)ae.uni-kiel.de

Would you like to receive future IAMO Policy Briefs by mail or e-mail? Then please use our order form.

 

Stephanie Garling is the new IAMO Director and Head of Administration since 1 May. She was previously Managing Director of the Biotechnology Center of the TU Dresden (BIOTEC), Germany, and before that Acting Academic Director of the Doctoral Programme at the GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies in Hamburg, Germany. Stephanie Garling studied political sciences and administrative sciences at the University of Leipzig, Germany, where she also completed her PhD. +++ IAMO Director Thomas Glauben was appointed as a member of the scientific advisory board of the Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy (CCAP) in Beijing, China, for a period of three years. +++ Since 1 April Xiaobing Wang, associate professor at the School of Advanced Agricultural Sciences, University Beijing, China, is an IAMO Visiting Research Fellow. Within the department of Agricultural Markets, she is working on issues concerning the development of Chinese food markets and the agricultural sector. +++ Scientist Liangzhi You from the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in Washington DC, USA, and honorary professor of the Central China Agricultural University, was appointed as IAMO Visiting Research Fellow on 1 June. Together with his colleagues in the department of Structural Change, he is investigating the impact of technological changes and the implications of climate change on agricultural production. +++ Vladislav Valentinov joined the editorial board of Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations. +++ On 10 May Christine Burggraf was awarded the distinction “summa cum laude” for her doctoral thesis "Russian Demand for Dietary Quality: Nutrition Transition, Diet Quality Measurement, and Health Investment Theory". She was supervised by IAMO Director Thomas Glauben and by the Faculty of Law and Economic Sciences of the University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany. +++ Andriy Yuriyovych Matyukha successfully defended his dissertation entitled "Business Groups in Agriculture Impact of Ownership Structures on Performance: The Case of Russia’s Agroholdings" on 23 May. He was awarded a doctorate by the Faculty of Natural Sciences III of the University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany. +++ On 31 March Franziska Appel and Kristin Leimer were voted IAMO equal opportunities officer and deputy equal opportunities officer.

 

all publications

IAMO Annual 2016 Download German

IAMO Annual 2015 Download English Download German

IAMO Policy Briefs

Koester, U., Loy, J.-P. (2016): The methodology of the EU Commission to evaluate the impact of direct payments. IAMO Policy Brief No. 26, Halle (Saale). Download

IAMO Discussion Papers

Götz, L., Djuric, I., Nivievskyi, O. (2016): Regional wheat price effects of extreme weather events and wheat export controls in Russia and Ukraine, IAMO Discussion Paper No. 154, Halle (Saale). Download

Petrick, M., Pomfret, R. (2016): Agricultural policies in Kazakhstan, IAMO Discussion Paper No. 155, Halle (Saale). Download

Schott, J., Kalatas, T., Nercissians, E., Barkmann, J., Shelia, V. (2016): The Impact of Protected Areas on Local Livelihoods in the South Caucasus, IAMO Discussion Paper No. 152, Halle (Saale). Download

Further selected publications

Appel, F., Ostermeyer-Wiethaup, A., Balmann, A. (2016): Effects of the German Renewable Energy Act on structural change in Agriculture – The case of biogas, Utilities Policy, No. online. Download

Baisakova, N., Herzfeld, T. (2016): Aspekte der Agrarpolitik 2015, German Journal of Agricultural Economics, Jg. 65, Nr. Supplement, S. 1-8. Download

Bluemling, B., Yun, S.-J. (2016): Chapter 5: Giving green teeth to the tiger? A critique of 'green growth' in South Korea, in: Dale, G., Mathai, M.V., Puppim de Oliveira, J.(eds) : Green Growth - Ideology, political economy and the alternatives (2016).

Burggraf, C., Teuber, R., Glauben, T. (2016): Dietary quality as a non-medical health input: a theoretical approach to analyse the demand for dietary quality, European Review of Agricultural Economics, No. online.

Burggraf, C., Glauben, T., Grecksch, W. (2016): New impacts of Grossman's health investment model and the Russian demand for medical care, Journal of Public Health, Vol. 24, No. 1, pp. 41-56. Download

Elferink, M., Schierhorn, F. (2016): Global Demand for Food Is Rising. Can We Meet It?, Harvard Business Review, No. online. Download

Götz, L., Qiu, F., Gervais, J.-P., Glauben, T. (2016): Export Restrictions and Smooth Transition Cointegration: Export Quotas for Wheat in Ukraine, Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 67, No. 2, pp. 398-419. Download

Horion, S., Prishchepov, A., Verbesselt, J., de Beurs, K., Tagesson, T., Fensholt, R. (2016): Revealing turning points in ecosystem functioning over the Northern Eurasian agricultural frontier, Global Change Biology, No. online. Download

Kopsidis, M., Bromley, D. W. (2016): The French Revolution and German Industrialization: Dubios Models and Doubtful Causality, Journal of Institutional Economics, Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 161-190. Download

Kuhn, L., Brosig, S., Zhang, L. (2016): The Brink of Poverty: Implementation of a Social Assistance Program in Rural China, Journal of Current Chinese Affairs, Vol. 45, No. 1, pp. 75–108.

Levers, C., Müller, D., Erb, K.-H., Haberl, H., Jepsen, M.R., Metzger, M.J., Meyfroidt, P., Plieninger, T., Plutzar, C., Stürck, J. Verburg, P.H., Verkerk, P.J., Kuemmerle, T. (2016): Archetypical patterns and trajectories of land systems in Europe. Regional Environmental Change. Download

Meyfroidt, P., Schierhorn, F., Prishchepov, A., Müller, D., Kuemmerle, T. (2016) Drivers, constraints and trade-offs associated with recultivating abandoned cropland in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. Global Environmental Change 37: 1-15. Download

Perekhozhuk, O., Glauben, T., Grings, M., Teuber, R. (2016): Approaches and Methods for Econometric Analysis of Market Power: Survey and Empirical Comparison, Journal of Economic Surveys, Nr. online. Download

Prehn, S., Brümmer, B., Glauben, T. (2016): Gravity model estimation: fixed effects vs. random intercept Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood, Applied Economics Letters, Vol. 23, No. 11, pp. 761-764. Download

Quoc, H. D., Dufhues, T., Buchenrieder, G. (2016): Individual social capital and access to rural services in Northern Vietnam, International Journal of Social Economics, Vol. 43, No. 4. Download

Reddy, J. M., Jumaboev, K., Bobojonov, I., Carli, C., Eshmuratov, D. (2016): Yield and water use efficiency of potato varieties under different soil-moisture stress conditions in the Fergana Valley of Central Asia, Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems, Vol. 40, No. 5, pp. 407-431. Download

Smaliychuk, A., Müller, D., Prishchepov, A., Levers, C., Kruhlov, I., Kuemmerle, T. (2016): Recultivation of abandoned agricultural lands in Ukraine: patterns and drivers, Global Environmental Change, No. 38, pp. 70-81. Download

Thiel, A., Schleyer, C., Hinkel, J., Schlüter, M., Hagedorn, K., Bisaro, S., Bobojonov, I., Hamidov, A. (2016): Transferring Williamson's discriminating alignment to the analysis of environmental governance of social-ecological interdependence, Ecological Economics, No. 128, pp. 159-168. Download

Unay Gailhard, I. (2016): Job access after leaving education: a comparative analysis of young women and men in rural Germany, Journal of Youth Studies, No. online. Download

Valentinov, V. (2015): Value devolution in social enterprises: institutional economics and systems theory perspectives. Administration and society 47 (9): 1126-1133.

Will, M. G., Prehn, S., Pies, I., Glauben, T. (2016): Is financial speculation with agricultural commodities harmful or helpful? - A literature review of current empirical research, Journal of Alternative Investments, Vol. 18, No. 3, pp. 84-102. Download
 

The website www.iamo.de/en has been adjusted to allow access from smartphones and tablets. The mobile version of the website is now adapted to fit the screen size and layout of different devices.

 

Published by:

Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO)
Theodor-Lieser-Straße 2, 06120 Halle (Saale), Germany
www.iamo.de/en

Editors:

Public Relations
Email: presse(at)iamo.de

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