Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - DFG research unit SiAg 2007-2010

The Objective of the Research Group

Agricultural sectors in developed countries undergo a far-reaching structural change which is driven by technological change, globalisation, new societal demands, and a paradigm shift of the agricultural policy. The objective of the research unit is the integrative economic analysis of these adjustment processes. Already existing theoretical and methodological approaches for the analysis of the transformation process in the agricultural sector should be supplemented, further developed and consolidated. The result is a closer view regarding the agricultural structure change. The outcome is an enhanced picture and a better identification of causalities between exogenous factors, political instruments and corporate decision making. And it is an essential precondition to predict and to govern structural change in terms of social objectives.

Examples of unsolved research questions are:

• How can the persistence of farm structures overtime and the design of organisational structures within a value added chain be explained, and which relevance inhere political and institutional factors in that course?
• Which consequences emerge from a new orientation of agricultural politics towards policies for rural areas and their sectoral adjustment processes?
• Which perspectives do the production of renewable energies offer the agricultural sector?

An important feature of the research project is the joint application of various quantitative methods, amongst others partial and general equilibrium models, multi-agent-models, and econometric models. The linkage of these approaches facilitates the analysis and the evaluation of complex policy scenarios.

Project Structure