First published in 1982. Considerable public controversy surrounded the large amount of public expenditure devoted to agriculture under the European Community's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). There were serious disputes over how the farm support system operated and how it was financed. This book describes the CAP situation and summarises previous attempts to assess some of the economic and financial flows arising from its creation using a common framework of well-established economic theory and methods. The CAP turned out to have a number of 'costs', depending on the concept of 'cost' used, the alternative policies considered, and the various assumptions made. The bulk of the book presents the structure and results of a comprehensive model of European Community agricultural markets and the associated CAP support mechanisms. This model is validated against official Community budget figures and then run to simulate a number of policy options and their consequences. This title will be of interest to students of economics, geography and agriculture.

A unique title comparing rural policies and employment in the two most developed parts of the world - the EU and USA. While both regions are concerned for their vast rural areas, each adopts a strikingly different approach to create and maintain employment there, making rural space attractive to businesses and residents.This book focuses on a major issue of socioeconomic and policy concern, i.e. whether jobs and incomes can be protected or created in rural areas, where often agriculture no longer provides a large and secure basis for employment. Within a 'paired' chapter structure covering both the European Union and the United States of America, it deals with several themes of interest including farm policies, labor entry and exit, and rural and household enterprise diversification. Specific 'special studies' also analyze recent developments within countries or regions.

This book presents the methodology and results of a three-year, eleven-country science-to-policy research project - Toward a Policy Model of Multifunctional Agriculture and Rural Development - undertaken between 2005 and 2008 and financed under the European Union's Sixth Framework program. It deals with an important contemporary policy issue: how best to ensure that an agriculturally-based policy can contribute to the development of rural regions. It tackles this problem in a number of different but complementary ways, primarily by the development of a unique and innovative dynamic systems model, POMMARD (a Policy Model of Multifunctional Agriculture and Rural Development).

This book presents the methodology and results of a three-year, eleven-country science-to-policy research project, Toward a Policy Model of Multifunctional Agriculture and Rural Development, undertaken between 2005 and 2008 and financed under the European Union's Sixth Framework program. It deals with an important contemporary policy issue, how best to ensure that an agriculturally-based policy can contribute to the development of rural regions. It tackles this problem in a number of different but complementary ways, primarily by the development of a unique and innovative dynamic systems model, POMMARD (a Policy Model of Multifunctional Agriculture and Rural Development).

First published in 1982. Considerable public controversy surrounded the large amount of public expenditure devoted to agriculture under the European Community's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). There were serious disputes over how the farm support system operated and how it was financed. This book describes the CAP situation and summarises previous attempts to assess some of the economic and financial flows arising from its creation using a common framework of well-established economic theory and methods. The CAP turned out to have a number of 'costs', depending on the concept of 'cost' used, the alternative policies considered, and the various assumptions made. The bulk of the book presents the structure and results of a comprehensive model of European Community agricultural markets and the associated CAP support mechanisms. This model is validated against official Community budget figures and then run to simulate a number of policy options and their consequences. This title will be of interest to students of economics, geography and agriculture.

Of the ten Central and Eastern European countries that have applied for membership in the European Union, Romania ranks among the largest and most impoverished. Romania represents the final challenge in the European Union's enlargement to the east, largely due to its major, but underdeveloped, agriculture and food sectors. The agriculture industry, which is a major component of the national economy, extends its pervasive influence to both Romanian social life and environment. Consequently, the transition towards a market oriented economic system will pose new obstacles for the country's farmers, processors, traders, and policymakers. While identifying the impediments that surround Romanian agriculture and its inevitable progression towards transition is a simple task, the challenges lie in recommending solutions. Through careful analysis of numerous recent studies on reform policies in the Romanian agri-food sector during its economic transition, this comprehensive examination offers perspicacious suggestions and insights on the following topics in particular: international trade, credit for agricultural development, price policies, and rural development. The conclusions reached are not only of domestic importance and application, they are also of immediate relevance for many post-socialist countries, for which the agri-food sector is a principal vehicle for rural development.