newsletter

Edition 2/2017, 21 June 2017

International researchers will meet with political and industry representatives in Halle (Saale), Germany, from today to 23 June for the IAMO Forum 2017. The focus of this year’s forum will be on “Eurasian Food Economy between Globalization and Geopolitics”. At the conference, ongoing research results and different strategies towards ensuring food security and intensifying trade in the context of geopolitical tensions and divergent trade integration efforts in Eurasia will be discussed. The three day conference program includes three plenary sessions, eighteen parallel sessions and a podium discussion. The IAMO Forum 2017 is organized with technical support from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and in partnership with the Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations (OA). The German Research Foundation (DFG), the Leibniz ScienceCampus “Eastern Europe – Global Area” (EEGA), the Leibniz Research Alliance “Crises in a globalised world” and the city of Halle (Saale) financially support the conference. For further information see here.

IAMO Forum 2017
Eurasian Food Economy between Globalization and Geopolitics
21 – 23 June 2017 | Halle (Saale), Germany
www.iamo.de/forum/2017
#iamoForum17

Contact:
Lena Kuhn
Tel.: +49 345 2928–210
forum2017(at)iamo.de

The four-year research project “Understanding Food Value Chains and Network Dynamics” (VALUMICS) was launched on 1 June 2017. The goal of the project is to open up new perspectives on food value chains for policy makers both in government and within the food industry sector with the help of modelling approaches, consumer research, foresight analysis and synthesis into policy options. A comprehensive suite of approaches and tools are thus provided in order to evaluate the impact of strategic and operational policies and enhance the resilience, integrity and sustainability of food value chains in the EU. VALUMICS is sponsored by the European Commission within the scope of the Horizon 2020 project. In addition to IAMO, 20 further research and economic institutes take part in the project which is led by the University of Iceland.

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

 

On 1 June 2017, IAMO initiated a three-year research project on “The Ethics and Economics of Modern Agricultural Myths” (AGRIMYTHS) in cooperation with the Chair of Economic Ethics at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), Germany, and the Centre for Business, Organisations and Society (CBOS) at the University of Bath, UK. The project will examine the common moral (mis)conceptions about agriculture in politics, the public sphere and academia from an ethical and (agricultural) economic perspective. By identifying agricultural myths, the project will seek to enlighten public discourse and to better align it with the goals of sustainable development. The project is supported by the ScienceCampus Halle - Plant-based Bioeconomy (WCH) with the funds from the Investment Bank of Saxony-Anhalt and the European Fund for Regional Development (EFRE).

Contact:
Vladislav Valentinov
Tel.: +49 345 2928-228
valentinov(at)iamo.de

 

On 29 May 2017, IAMO director Thomas Herzfeld and IAMO researcher Judith Möllers presented the research results from the project “Study on Rural Migration in Kosovo” to representatives from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), and the Kosovar Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Internal Affairs in Prishtina, Kosovo. The migration wave of 2014/2015 was discussed in the IAMO Policy Brief 24, while the results of the current study focus on the returnees. In 2015 and 2016 more than 20,000 migrants returned to Kosovo, the majority of whom had seen their requests for asylum in Western Europe declined. Due to the difficult economic situation, and the precarious state of the labor market, reintegration poses a substantial challenge not only to the returning migrants, but to the country of Kosovo as well. Psychological stress resulting from the sometimes traumatic experience of migration and forced return can further impede the process of reintegration. The study shows that state support measures for reintegration are to a large extent unknown by those who need them and many returnees plan to re-migrate due to difficult personal circumstances and the challenging general economic situation in Kosovo.

Contact:
Judith Möllers
Tel.: +49 345 2928-245
moellers(at)iamo.de

 

Within the scope of the EU project “Building an Excellency Network for Heightening Agricultural Economic Research and Education in Romania” (ENHANCE) Thomas Herzfeld and Mathias Kloss held a training module at the University of Agricultural Science and Veterinary Medicine (USAMV) in Bucharest, Romania, from 27 to 31 March 2017. Fifteen university lecturers took part in the course on “Economic Models in Policy Evaluation”. Modelling approaches for assessing policy impact on a microeconomic and macroeconomic level were discussed. Future training modules to take place are “Agent-based Modelling” by Marten Graubner, planned for autumn 2017 and “Partial Equilibrium Analysis” by Nodir Djanibekov scheduled for the beginning of 2018. In addition, IAMO is organizing a summer school on “Institutional Economics” for master and PhD students in Bucharest in September 2018. The training courses for lecturers and the summer school for junior researchers aim to strengthen the agricultural economic expertise of the Romanian university and thus support the sustainable development of agriculture and rural areas in Romania.

Contact:
Thomas Herzfeld
Tel.: +49 345 2928-100
herzfeld(at)iamo.de

 

On 8 November 2016, IAMO adopted its own Open Access Policy. The institute is committed Open Access and encourages its researchers to publish in accordance with the Open Access principle. IAMO adheres to the “Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities” as well as the “Guidelines on Open Access within the Leibniz Association”. A key objective of Open Access is to make research results freely available to all. This is carried out in IAMO by publishing results as Open Access publications and, within legal limitations, simultaneously, or at the earliest opportunity, making them available in repositories. In addition to the Leibniz Association’s Open Access Publishing Funds, researchers also have access to internal funding within the institute to meet the Open Access publication fees. The institute’s Open Access Officer, Christian Drondorf, is available for advice and support. Further information on Open Access at IAMO can be found here.

Contact:
Christian Drondorf
Tel.: +49 345 2928-439
drondorf(at)iamo.de

 

The publication of the handout “Sustainability Management in Research Organizations” set the foundations for creating a working group on sustainability in IAMO. Based on IAMO-specific priorities, it aims to individually and collectively address the areas of activity (organization management, research, human resources, buildings & infrastructure, and supportive processes) that are presented in the Guidelines for Sustainability (LeNa). Furthermore these guidelines are used to identify areas of need and systematically integrate appropriate measures into the institute's workflow. During the opening event in May 2017 on “Transdisciplinary Research” IAMO staff discussed how to involve non-academic stakeholders in research processes. Within the field of human resources, a Health Action Day took place in June 2017, as well as a workshop dealing with questions of employment law tailored to the specific and individual needs of IAMO staff. Further events are planned over the course of the year including in the areas of networking and alumni as well as facility and procurement management.

Contact:
Stephanie Garling
Tel.: +49 345 2928-400
garling(at)iamo.de

 

The members of the Dual Career Network Central Germany met at IAMO in Halle (Saale) on 26 April 2017 to discuss the network’s future activities. The main objective of the network is to support dual career couples and to integrate into professional life in Central Germany. To this extent, the network members meet to discuss vacant positions and exchange ideas on issues related to partners with relevant qualifications. Twenty-seven members from public institutes and commercial companies have signed the Memorandum of Understanding from February 2017. In addition to IAMO, the Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry (IPB) is currently one of the organizers of network meetings. As of autumn 2018, the Leibniz Institute for Economic Research (IWH) and the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg will take over this role as active members of the Dual Career Network.

Contact:
Petra Zehler
Tel.: +49 345 2928-422
zehler(at)iamo.de

 

Healthy eating and a strong back were the focus of the first Health Action Day at IAMO on 16 May 2017. The Health Action Day aimed to provide employees with valuable tips for maintaining well-being in the workplace and sought to demonstrate solutions for the active prevention of health problems. A wide range of information and advice was on offer. Employees were able to take part in a presentation on the topic of “Healthy Back” and receive a spinal screening. A nutritional consultation was offered as well as a practical workshop on a “Healthy Diet at Work”. All interested staff members were able to learn how to prepare quick and healthy snacks. IAMO employees were also able to participate in the course “Fitness Break at Work” or try physiotherapy sessions. The Health Action Day was carried out within the scope of IAMO’s sustainability management for the support of occupational health.

Contact:
Petra Zehler
Tel.: +49 345 2928-422
zehler(at)iamo.de

 

IAMO director Alfons Balmann was appointed chairman of the Society for Economic and Social Sciences in Farming (GEWISOLA) on 1 January 2017. He will serve a term of three years. +++ Marten Graubner has taken over the role of Temporary Chair of Production Economics at the University of Bonn, Germany, for the 2017 summer semester. +++ In April 2017, Lijuan Miao joined IAMO as an Alexander von Humboldt Climate Protection Fellow. She received a PhD degree in Physical Geography from the Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, China. During her stay in IAMO, she will primarily work with the Land System Change Group and the China International Research Group. +++ Within the scope of the USAID Transformational Leadership program - Citizen Corps (TLP-CC), Egzon Bajrami was honored with the Volunteer of the Year Award 2017. He has been working as a PhD student in the Agricultural Policy department in IAMO. +++ Young researcher David Ayrapetyan won the “Best Poster Award” at the Eu-SPRI Forum held from 7 to 9 June 2017 in Vienna, Austria. +++ Nizami Imamverdiyev successfully defended his doctoral thesis on 24 April 2017. His dissertation was titled “Essays on Trade Patterns Across South Caucasus and Central Asia, and the Role of Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine in Global Wheat Market”. +++ Maria Belyaeva’s research project is on “A Comprehensive Analysis of Current State and Development Perspectives of Russian Grain Sector: Production Efficiency and Climate Change”. She successfully completed her PhD on 19 June 2017.

 

all publications

IAMO Annual 2017 Download German Download English

IAMO Discussion Paper

Goretzki, P., Perekhozhuk, O., Glauben, T., Loy, J.-P. (2017): Preisdiskriminierung und Marktmacht auf den internationalen Düngemittelmärkten: Empirische Evidenz aus dem russischen Düngemittelexportmarkt, IAMO Discussion Paper No. 163, Halle (Saale). Download

Further selected publications

Butsic, V., Munteanu, C., Griffiths, P., Knorn, J., Radeloff, V., Lieskovsky, J., Müller, D., Kuemmerle, T. (2017): The effect of protected areas on forest disturbance in the Carpathian Mountains 1985-2010, Conservation Biology, Vol. 31, No. 3, pp. 570-580. Download

Cechura, L., Grau, A., Hockmann, H., Levkovych, I., Kroupová, Z. (2017): Catching Up or Falling Behind in European Agriculture: The Case of Milk Production, Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 68, No. 1, pp. 206-227. Download

Demoustier, J., Herzfeld, T. (2017): Aspekte der Agrarpolitik 2016, German Journal of Agricultural Economics, Jg. 66, Nr. Supplement, S. 1-9. Download

Gagalyuk, T. (2017): Strategic Role of Corporate Transparency: The Case of Ukrainian Agroholdings, International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, Vol. 20, No. 2, pp. 257-277. Download

Hermans, F., Chaddad, F., Gagalyuk, T., Senesi, S., Balmann, A. (2017): The Emergence and Proliferation of Agroholdings and Mega Farms in a Global Context, International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, Vol. 20, No. 2, pp. 175-185. Download

Klümper, F., Herzfeld, T., Theesfeld, I. (2017): Can Water Abundance Compensate for Weak Water Governance? Determining and Comparing Dimensions of Irrigation Water Security in Tajikistan, Water, Vol. 9, No. 4, pp. 1-20. Download

Kopsidis, M., Ivanov, M. (2017): Industrialization and De-Industrialization in Southeast Europe, in: O'Rourke, K. H., Williamson, J. G. (eds.): The Spread of Modern Industry to the Periphery since 1871, S. 91-114. Download

Kopsidis, M., Pfister, U., Scholten, F., Bracht, J. (2017): Agricultural Output Growth in a Proto- and Early Industrial Setting: Evidence from Sharecropping in Western Westphalia and the Lower Rhineland, c. 1740-1860, Rural History, Vol. 28, No. 1, pp. 21-46. Download

Neumann, K., Hermans, F. (2017): What drives human migration in Sahelian countries? A meta-analysis, Population, Space and Place, Vol. 23, No. 1. Download

Petrick, M. (2017): Incentive provision to farm workers in post-socialist settings: evidence from East Germany and North Kazakhstan, International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, Vol. 20, No. 2, pp. 239-256. Download

Swinnen, J., Burkitbayeva, S., Schierhorn, F., Prishchepov, A., Müller, D. (2017): Production Potential in the "Bread Baskets" of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Global Food Security, No. online. Download

Valentinov, V., Chatalova, L. (2016): Institutional economics and social dilemmas: a systems theory perspective. Systems Research and Behavioral Science 33 (1): 138-149. Download

Valentinov, V., Chatalova, L. (2016): Institutional Economics, Social Dilemmas, and the Complexity-Sustainability Trade-off. Systems Research and Behavioral Science 33 (3): 488-491. Download

 

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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