newsletter

Edition 4/15, 8 December 2015

IAMO represented at two panel discussions at GFFA

Flags. Photo: IGW 2015

In cooperation with the Working Group on Agriculture of the Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations (OA), IAMO will hold an expert panel entitled Urbanisation, Migration and Structural Change – Challenges and Strategies for Agriculture in Eastern Europe” on 14 January 2016. The panel discussion will be held at the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA) in Berlin during the International Green Week. Accelerating urbanization and increased migration away from rural areas are leading to a lack of nationally-produced quality food in most east European cities. Special incentives must be created to keep young and qualified employees in agriculture or even to attract new ones. How to deal with the challenges ahead will be discussed on the podium by representatives from politics, science and industry.  
Moreover, IAMO is represented on a second expert panel at 15 January 2016. Organized by the Leibniz Research Alliance “Sustainable Food Production and Healthy Nutrition“ IAMO Director Alfons Balmann will discuss the role of agriculture in the tension between modernization and social responsibility at the expert panel entitled “Healthy Food for the city! The supply of large cities with healthy food - challenges and visions”.
 Furthermore, IAMO researchers will be available to answer questions at the cooperation market in CityCube Berlin on Saturday 16 January from 9am – 3pm.
The events are free, but registration is necessary: http://www.gffa-berlin.de/en/registrierung/

"Urbanisation, Migration and Structural Change – Challenges and Strategies for Agriculture in Eastern Europe
14 January 2016 | 3.30-5.30 pm
CityCube Berlin, Level 3
Registration:
http://www.gffa-berlin.de/en/registrierung/

“Healthy Food for the city! The supply of large cities with healthy food - challenges and visions”
15 January 2016 | 10.00 am – 12.00 pm
CityCube Berlin, Level 3

Registration: http://www.gffa-berlin.de/en/registrierung/

Contact:
Daniela Schimming
Tel.: +49 345 2928-330

presse(at)iamo.de

IAMO Forum 2016: Submission of papers still possible

Maximilian Auffhammer at IAMO Forum 2015. Photo: Markus Scholz

The IAMO Forum 2016, entitled „Rural Labor in Transition: Structural Change, Migration and Governance”, will be held on 22 – 24 June 2016 in Halle (Saale) and is organized by IAMO together with the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). International researchers will discuss the challenges of rural labor markets within the context of labor mobility in European, Eastern European and Central Asian countries. The effects of structural change on employment in the agricultural sector, the role of migration in labor market adjustments and local development and organization of labor relations in agriculture are among the key topics of the conference. Researchers can submit proposals for organized sessions until 18 January 2016. Session proposals should include the title of the proposed session and a description of the relevance of the session to the meeting theme. Furthermore, extended abstracts are accepted until 8 February 2016. These should accurately summarize the methods, data and results of the research questions. All entries must be submitted in electronic form via the conference website and should not exceed 1.000 words. Additional information on submitting papers can be found here.

IAMO Forum 2016
„Rural Labor in Transitions: Structural Change, Migration and Governance“

22 – 24 June 2016 | Halle (Saale)
www.iamo.de/forum/2016
#iamoForum16

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

 

Online registration for IAAE Inter-Conference Symposium starts 15 January 2016

Market. Photo: Timea Jung

Together with the International Association of Agricultural Economists (IAAE) and the Kazakh National Agrarian University (KazNAU) IAMO is organizing the IAAE Inter-Conference Symposium entitled “Agricultural Transition along the Silk Road: Restructuring, Resources and Trade in the Central Asia Region“ from 4 – 6 April 2016. During the three-day conference in Almaty, Kazakhstan, leading international researchers will discuss agricultural transition along the Silk Road. The symposium itself will be structured around three sub-themes. In addition to agricultural restructuring and the management of natural resources, regional trade and integration will be examined during the event. The conference can be attended free of charge but requires online registration on the website, which opens 15 January 2016. The symposium is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research as part of the project AGRIWANET. Further information about the IAAE Inter-Conference Symposium can be found on the conference website.     

IAAE Inter-Conference Symposium
“Agricultural Transition along the Silk Road: Restructuring, Resources and Trade in the Central Asia Region”
04 – 06 April 2016 | Almaty,
Kazakhstan
www.iamo.de/silkroad

Contact:
Nodir Djanibekov
Tel.: +49 345 2928–128
silkroad(at)iamo.de

 

EU funds research project to strengthen agronomic competency in Romania

Students in lecture hall. Photo: Fotolia

As part of the “H-2020-Twinn-2015” tender, the European Commission is funding a three-year research project entitled „Building an Excellency Network for Heightening Agricultural Economic Research and Education in Romania” (ENHANCE), which aims to strengthen the agronomic expertise of the University of Agricultural Science and Veterinary Medicine (USAMV) in Bucharest, Romania. Together with the University of Agricultural Science in Vienna, Austria, the Swiss Federal Research Station for Agricultural Economics and Engineering in Ettenhausen, and the USAMV, IAMO will develop and perform training and advanced courses for faculty as well as summer schools for students at the Romanian University. Furthermore, several month stays will allow researchers to carry out joint research projects and exchanges on research and publication strategies. The aim of ENHANCE is to raise the educational level of USAMV to international standards to promote the sustainable development of agriculture and rural areas in Romania. The European Commission is providing more than 1 million Euros for the project, which is scheduled to start in January 2016.

Contact:
Axel Wolz
Tel.: +49 345 2928-114

wolz(at)iamo.de

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

 

IAMO researches in Argentina on sustainable land management

Field in Argentina. Photo: Fotolia

Together with the Geography Department of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Argentinean partners, IAMO researchers Daniel Müller and Zhanli Sun examine sustainable land management in Argentina since 1 September 2015. The research Project “Pathways to sustainable land management in Northern Argentina” (PASANOA) is founded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research as part of the program “Bioeconomy International”. Within PASANOA the Researchers will, among other things, provide new insights into the trade-offs and synergies between agricultural production, ecosystem services provisioning, and biodiversity. The project aims to formulate results of direct policy relevance. Aside from the scientific impact, a major strategic goal of the project is to deepen existing ties and establish new long-term collaboration between leading Argentinean, German and international scientists. Further information can be found on the project website.

Contact:
Daniel Müller
Tel.: +49 345 2928-328
mueller(at)iamo.de

 

Information session on Ukrainian agricultural- and food reforms at the Agritechnica 2015

Aleksander Vershechovski, Alfons Balmann, Volker Sasse, Oleksander Romanovskii, Dirk Stratmann. Photo: APD

In collaboration with the Working Group on Agriculture of the Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations (OA), the German-Ukrainian Agricultural Policy Dialogue (APD) and the German Agricultural Society (DLG), on 10 November 2015 IAMO organized an information session entitled “Reforms in the agricultural sector of Ukraine – Results and Prospects” as part of the Agritechnica in Hannover. More than 100 participants attended, including representatives of German and Ukrainian trade associations, corporations and academic organizations. Among the speakers were the Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, Oleksiy Pavlenko, the Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister for Food and Agriculture, Peter Bleser, as well as the representative of the Ukrainian Agricultural Forum, Aleksander Vershechovski. The focus of the presentations and discussions were questions about reasonable taxation of the agricultural sector, the current land market reform, and the introduction of European standards for the development of new markets in the European Union. During the panel discussion IAMO Director Alfons Balmann paid tribute to the performance of the new Ukrainian government, together with international partners, to the effect that confidence in the performance of Ukrainian agriculture has been strengthened and a collapse of production has been avoided. Moderation of the panel discussion was carried out by the project manager of the APD, Volker Sasse.

Contact:
Franziska Schaft
Tel.: +49 345 2928-229

schaft(at)iamo.de

 

Over 300 visitors at the "Conference Large Farm Management"

Tractor. Photo: Fotolia

From 16 – 18 September 2015, the "6th International Conference Large Farm Management" took place in Kiev, Ukraine. The event is organized annually by the Ukraine Agribusiness Club and the Agency AgriEvent in cooperation with IAMO and the Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations (OA). The aim of the conference was to support the exchange of knowledge between business, science and politics about the management of large farms. More than 300 representatives of international organizations, scientific institutes and leading agricultural enterprises of Ukraine, CIS countries and Europe attended the event. For the first time this year a "Science Day" took place, in which scientists from Ukraine, Germany, Argentina, Brazil and India had the opportunity to discuss their research results with representatives of large farms. The next "Large Farm Management Conference" will be held in 2016 and is organized by the European Association of Agricultural Economists (EAAE). The "Science Day" will then be part of the last day of EAAE Seminar 155.

Contact:
Taras Gagalyuk
Tel.: +49 345 2928-326
gagalyuk(at)iamo.de

 

IAMO Policy Brief 25 questiones strategies for coping with labor shortage in agriculture

IAMO Policy Brief 25. Photo: Ralf Kircheis

“Employment of migrants in East German agriculture”, written by Martin Petrick, Christa Gotter, Vasyl Kvartiuk, Diana Traikova from IAMO and Bettina Wiener and Susanne Winger from the Centre for Social Research (ZSH), was recently published as IAMO Policy Brief 25 (in German only). In the latest edition of the publication series, the researchers examine the lack of qualified junior employees in agriculture. For example, in Saxony-Anhalt, the expected graduates of agricultural vocational training can replace only about half of the aging workforce employees by 2020. In particular, the declining birth rate, migration and converted career plans for young people have led to a labor shortage in the East German agricultural sector. Employing workers of foreign origin for agricultural activities is a possible strategy being brought to the attention of many farm mangers. Qualified foreign skilled workers only find their ways into East German agriculture if companies and agencies offer them specific information about their employment opportunities. But the authors also point out that the selection, application, training and integration of employees of foreign origin give rise to substantial costs and require careful consideration at the individual level. However, if both employers and policy makers do not seek to attract skilled workers more than they have previously, employment in the agricultural sector will dwindle. IAMO Policy Brief 25 is available in German and is free for download on the IAMO webpage.

Are you interested in receiving the print or the PDF versions of IAMO Policy Briefs in future? Please use our online order form.

 

Social Science Paper honored with Thyssen Prize

Michael Kopsidis. Photo: Markus Scholz

IAMO researcher Michael Kopsidis has been awarded the 2014 Third Prize of the Fritz Thyssen Foundation for the best social science paper in German for his article "Peasant Agriculture and Economic Growth: The Case of Southeast Europe c. 1870-1940 reinterpreted" ("Bäuerliche Landwirtschaft und Agrarwachstum: Südosteuropas 1870-1940 im Licht moderner Entwicklungstheorie"). The Thyssen Prize Jury, consisting of ten university professors and coordinators, honoured the entry published in the "Yearbook of Economic History" with a monetary prize. In his paper, Kopsidis examines the developmental problems of the agricultural sector in Southeastern Europe during the period 1870-1940. Interpreting agricultural development as a mainly demand-driven process, this paper argues that the potential for agricultural growth was much more restricted in Southeast Europe than in Northwest Europe, but Balkan peasants seem to have exploited their growth potential as far as possible. There is ample evidence that the reasons for sluggish growth before 1940 were definitely not rooted in any 'peasant traditionalism' as often claimed by Balkan elites and many scholars. The prize of the Fritz Thyssen Foundation for the best German-language social science papers was awarded by a jury in the Institute of Sociology and Social Psychology (ISS) at the University of Cologne for the 34th time.

Contact:
Michael Kopsidis
Tel.: +49 345 2928-230

kopsidis(at)iamo.de

 

IAMO publication honored with GEWISOLA Award and Best Paper Award

Photo: Fotolia

During this year’s GEWISOLA conference (23 – 25 September), the Society for Economic and Social Sciences in Agriculture e.V. honored two IAMO contributions. Firstly, agricultural economist Swetlana Renner received the GEWISOLA Award for her outstanding dissertation entitled “Flexibility of Enterprises: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis” (in German only). The prize honors outstanding achievements in  economic and social sciences in agriculture. The researcher used newly-developed methods to investigate the magnitude and the determinants of flexibility of Polish farms. The results of her study were published in international journals such as the European Review of Agricultural Economics and the Journal of Productivity Analysis. The Dissertation was supervised by IAMO Director Thomas Glauben. Secondly, the Best Paper Award was given to Franziska Appel, Alfons Balmann, Changxing Dong (all IAMO) and Jens Rommel (Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research), who submitted a paper entitled „FarmAgriPoliS – an agent-based model to examine the structural change in agriculture using behavioral experiments“. Therein the researchers presented experimental software developed at IAMO called FarmAgriPoliS in which a real person takes control of a model farm and makes decisions about the lease of land, investments, and operational tasks. The aim of the conducted experiments is to identify factors such as risk considerations, strategic behavior, and possibly mental models. The scientific symposia of GEWISOLA are held annually and are funded by the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture.

Contact:
Thomas Glauben
Tel.: +49 345 2928-200

glauben(at)iamo.de

Franziska Appel
Tel.: +49 345 2928-117
appel(at)iamo.de

 

Personalia

IAMO. Photo: Markus Scholz

Tina Engler successfully defended her dissertation entitled „Worst-case optimal investment and consumption - A study with stochastic interest rates” on 8 October 2015. In her work Engler determines optimal investment and consumption strategies for an investor in financial markets. Therefore, she analyzed the possibility of sudden changes in prices of shares as well as stochastic interest on the savings account. From January 2016 Tina Engler will work in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, as a mathematician.

 

IAMO news now on Facebook and Twitter

@iamoLeibniz on Twitter. Photo: Ralf Kircheis

This is the last edition of the IAMO Newsletter in 2015. But since November, you can also read and comment the latest news from IAMO on Facebook and Twitter. We are pleased to share about research projects, upcoming events and vacancies with you and looking forward to hearing your comments. We would like to thank you for your interest and wish you and your family a happy holiday season, with good health and lots of success in the New Year. The next IAMO Newsletter will be published in March 2016.

 

Publications

Publications. Photo: Ralf Kircheis

all publications

IAMO Annual 2015 Download german Download english

IAMO Policy Briefs

Petrick, M., Gotter, C., Kvartiuk, V., Traikova, D., Wiener, B., Winge, S. (2015): Beschäftigung von Migranten in der ostdeutschen Landwirtschaft, Nr. 25, Halle (Saale).
Download german

 

Further selected publications

Amersdorffer, F., Buchenrieder, G., Bokusheva, R., Wolz, A. (2015): Efficiency in microfinance: financial and social performance of agricultural credit cooperatives in Bulgaria. Journal of the Operational Research Society 66 (1): 57-65. Link

Appel, F., Balmann, A., Dong, C., Rommel, J. (Hrsg: German Association of Agricultural Economists (GEWISOLA)) (2015): FarmAgriPoliS – Ein agentenbasiertes Modell zur Untersuchung des Agrarstrukturwandels mittels Verhaltensexperimenten. Link

Baisakova, N., Herzfeld, T. (2015): Aspekte der Agrarpolitik 2014. German Journal of Agricultural Economics 64 (Supplement): 1-7. Link

Balmann, A., Hockmann, H., Kataria, K., Schaft, F. (2015): What drives the growth of agroholdings? An analysis of Russian and Ukrainian experiences. In: Kimhi, A., Lerman, Z. (eds): Agricultural Transition in Post-Soviet Europe and Central Asia after 25 Years - International Workshop in honor of Professor Zvi Lerman, The Center for Agricultural Economic Research and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 20-22 March 2013, Rehovot, Israel, Studies on the Agricultural and Food Sector in Transition Economies, Bd. 79, IAMO, Halle (Saale), 251-280: IAMO Eigenverlag.

Balmann, A. (2015): Ackerland ist nicht zu teuer! DLG-Mitteilungen (11): 32-35.

Belyaeva, M., Hockmann, H. (2015): Impact of regional diversity on production potential: an example of Russia, Studies in Agricultural Economics, Vol. 117, No. 2, pp. 72-79. Link

Djanibekov, N., Djanibekov, U., Sommer, R., Petrick, M. (2015): Cooperative agricultural production to exploit individual heterogeneity under a delivery target: The case of cotton in Uzbekistan, Agricultural Systems, Vol. 141, pp. 1-13. Link

Djanibekov, U., Van Assche, K., Boezeman, D., Villamor, Grace B., Djanibekov, N. (2015): Revealing the role of agricultural contracts in rural livelihoods in Uzbekistan. In: Kimhi, A., Lerman, Z. (eds.): Agricultural Transition in Post-Soviet Europe and Central Asia after 25 years: International Workshop in honor of Professor Zvi Lerman. Studies on the Agricultural and Food Sector in Transition Economies, Bd. 79, Halle (Saale), 141-158: IAMO Eigenverlag. Link

Djuric, I. (2015): Da li je zabrana izvoza psenice efektan instrument agrarne politike za smanjenje inflacije? Gea Centar Poljo Magazin 1 (1): 62. Link

Djuric, I., Götz, L., Svanidze, M., Levkovych, I., Wolz, A., Glauben, T. (Hrsg.) (2015): Agricultural market integration of the Commonwealth of Independent States. Link

Dufhues, T., Theesfeld, I., Buchenrieder, G. (2015): The political economy of decentralization in Thailand: how past and present decentralization affects rural actors'participation, European Journal of Development Research, Vol. 27, No. 5, pp. 793-910. Link

Engler, T. (2015): Worst-case optimal investment and consumption- A study with stochastic interest rates, Dissertationsschriften, Universitätsverlag Halle-Wittenberg, Halle

Gafarova, G., Perekhozhuk, O., Glauben, T. (2015): Price discrimination and pricing-to-market behavior of Black Sea region wheat exporters, Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Vol. 47, No. 3, pp. 287-316. Link

Grau, A., Hockmann, H., Levkovych, I. (2015): Dairy cooperatives at the crossroads, British Food Journal, Vol. 117, No. 10. Link

Gruebner, O., Khan, M. H., Lautenbach, S., Müller, D., Kraemer, A., Lakes, T., Hostert, P., Galea, S. (2015): The Spatial Epidemiology of Mental Well-being in Dhaka's Slums, in: Kanaroglou, P., Delmelle, E., Páez, A.(eds.): Spatial Analysis in Health Geography, S. 139-160.

Herzfeld, T., Glauben, T., Dries, L., Teuber, R. (2015): Agricultural labor adjustment and the impact of institutions: Panel Data Analysis. In: Kimhi, A., Lerman, Z. (eds.): Agricultural Transition in Post-Soviet Europe and Central Asia after 25 years: International Workshop in honor of Professor Zvi Lerman, The Center for Agricultural Economic Research and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 20-22 March 2013, Rehovot, Israel, Studies on the Agricultural and Food Sector in Transition Economies, Bd. 79, Halle (Saale), 53-73: IAMO Eigenverlag. Link

Jin, S., Bluemling, B., Mol, A. (2015): Information, trust and pesticide overuse: Interactions between retailers and cotton farmers in China. NJAS - Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences 72-73: 23-3. Link

Koester, U. (2015): Markets and Morality: The relevance for transforming the agricultural sector in transition countries. In: Kimhi, A., Lerman, Z. (eds.): Agricultural Transition in Post-Soviet Europe and Central Asia after 25 years: International Workshop in honor of Professor Zvi Lerman. Studies on the Agricultural and Food Sector in Transition Economies, Bd. 79, Halle (Saale), 35-52: IAMO Eigenverlag. Link

Kopsidis, M. (2015): Northwest Germany, 1750-2000, in: Thoen, E., Soens, T. (eds.): Struggling with the Environment: Land Use and Productivity. Economy and Society in Nort-western Europe, 500-2000, S. 340-380.

Kvartiuk, V. (2015): Participatory Governance in Rural Development: Evidence from Ukraine. Studies on the Agricultural and Food Sector in Transition Economies, Vol. 78, Halle (Saale): IAMO. Link

Lee, J.-S., Filatova, T., Ligmann-Zielinska, A., Hassani-Mahmooei, B., Stonedahl, F., Lorscheid, I., Voinov, A., Polhill, G., Sun, Z., Parker, D. C. (2015): The Complexities of Agent-Based Modeling Output Analysis, Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, Vol. 18, No. 4. Link

Li, Z., Deng, X., Yin, F., Yang, C. (2015): Analysis of Climate and Land Use Changes Impacts on Land Degradation in the North China Plain, Advances in Meteorology. Link

Loy, J.-P; Holm, T., Steinhagen, C., Glauben, T. (2015): Seasonal Quality Premiums for Wheat: A Case Study for Northern Germany. Agribusiness: An International Journal 31 (1): 63-75. Link

Miao, L., Fraser, R., Sun, Z., Sneath, D., He, B., Cui, X. (2015): Climate impact on vegetation and animal husbandry on the Mongolian plateau: a comparative analysis, Natural Hazards. Link

Möllers, J., Meyer, W., Xhema, S., Traikova, D., Buchenrieder, G. (2015): Cognitive constructs and the intention to remit, Journal of Development Studies, Vol. 51, No. 10, pp. 1341-1357. Link

Ostermeyer, A. (2015): Milchproduktion zwischen Pfadabhängigkeit und Pfadbrechung - Partizipative Analysen mit Hilfe des agentenbasierten Modells AgriPoliS. Studies on the Agricultural and Food Sector in Transition Economies, Vol. 81, Halle (Saale): IAMO. Link

Perekhozhuk, O. (Hrsg: APK-Inform) (2015): Food embargo of the RF and its impact on the markets of importers, producers and consumers of meat and meat products in Russia. Link.

Petrick, M. (2015): Between Individual Autonomy and Centralized Control: Outlining an Evolutionary Model of Neo-endogenous Rural Development. In: Beunen, R., Van Assche, K., Duineveld, M. (eds.): Evolutionary Governance Theory, 247-265: Springer. Link

Petrick, M. (2015): Competition for land and labor among individual farms and agricultural enterprises: Evidence from Kazakhstan's grain region. In: Kimhi, A., Lerman, Z. (eds.): Agricultural Transition in Post-Soviet Europe and Central Asia after 25 Years - International Workshop in honor of Professor Zvi Lerman, The Center for Agricultural Economic Research and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 20-22 March 2013, Rehovot, Israel, Studies on the Agricultural and Food Sector in Transition Economies, Bd. 79, IAMO, Halle (Saale), 117-139: IAMO Eigenverlag. Link

Prehn, S., Brümmer, B., Thompson, S. R. (2015): Payment Decoupling and Intra-European Calf Trade, European Review of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 42, No. 4, pp. 625-650. Link

Sahrbacher, C., Brady, M., Dong, C., Sahrbacher, A. (Hrsg: International Association of Agricultural Economists: 29th International Conference, August 8-14) (2015): Potential impact of CAP's Ecological Focus Area on soil fertility.

Unay Gailhard, I., Bojnec, S. (2015): Sustainable participation behaviour in agri-environmental measures, Journal of Cleaner Production. Link

Valentinov, V. (2015): Kenneth Boulding's theories of evolutionary economics and organizational change: a reconstruction. Journal of Economic Issues, 49(1), pp. 71-88. Link

 

 

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Public Relations
Email: presse(at)iamo.de

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