This special issue focuses on how information influences the transition to sustainable and resilient agri-food systems. The contributions analyse farmers’ and consumers’ responses to different information strategies, including behavioural framings, advisory services, digital tools, data-sharing rules and communication around meat taxes. While the findings show that information alone may not always have a strong impact, its effectiveness can often be improved when combined with incentives. Together, the articles advance understanding of how information economics can inform policies and interventions to close sustainability and resilience gaps in agri-food systems.
{"title":"Information economics to support sustainable and resilient agri-food systems: Special issue introduction","authors":"Doris Läpple, Liesbeth Colen, Daniel Hermann","doi":"10.1093/erae/jbaf059","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/erae/jbaf059","url":null,"abstract":"This special issue focuses on how information influences the transition to sustainable and resilient agri-food systems. The contributions analyse farmers’ and consumers’ responses to different information strategies, including behavioural framings, advisory services, digital tools, data-sharing rules and communication around meat taxes. While the findings show that information alone may not always have a strong impact, its effectiveness can often be improved when combined with incentives. Together, the articles advance understanding of how information economics can inform policies and interventions to close sustainability and resilience gaps in agri-food systems.","PeriodicalId":50476,"journal":{"name":"European Review of Agricultural Economics","volume":"12 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-11-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145559537","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ogoudele Simon Codjo, Bachir Kassas, Hayk Khachatryan, Rodolfo M Nayga
Although organic labels inform consumers about food production, many incorrectly infer that organic foods contain fewer calories than regular foods, a phenomenon known as the organic health halo effect. This study examines the influence of mood, restrained eating, and food healthiness perceptions on the prevalence of the organic health halo effect. Results revealed that both restrained and unrestrained eaters perceive organic foods as healthier and less caloric. Although organic and regular foods were identical in calories, calorie misperception persisted across mood conditions and restrained eating status. However, positive and negative moods decreased the organic health halo effect among unrestrained eaters.
{"title":"The organic health halo: Influence of mood, restrained eating and healthiness perceptions","authors":"Ogoudele Simon Codjo, Bachir Kassas, Hayk Khachatryan, Rodolfo M Nayga","doi":"10.1093/erae/jbaf058","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/erae/jbaf058","url":null,"abstract":"Although organic labels inform consumers about food production, many incorrectly infer that organic foods contain fewer calories than regular foods, a phenomenon known as the organic health halo effect. This study examines the influence of mood, restrained eating, and food healthiness perceptions on the prevalence of the organic health halo effect. Results revealed that both restrained and unrestrained eaters perceive organic foods as healthier and less caloric. Although organic and regular foods were identical in calories, calorie misperception persisted across mood conditions and restrained eating status. However, positive and negative moods decreased the organic health halo effect among unrestrained eaters.","PeriodicalId":50476,"journal":{"name":"European Review of Agricultural Economics","volume":"120 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-11-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145535871","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Alexa Leyens, Philipp Feisthauer, Jan Börner, Monika Hartmann, Hugo Storm
Respondents in multi-round experimental studies can show round-dependent response behaviour, subsumed as round effects, which can distort the analysis of study results. In this paper, we develop a novel probabilistic programming approach to capturing round effects. We apply our model to experiment data, investigating the relevance of three theoretically defined types of round effects: preference learning, institutional learning and fatigue effects. By using a Bayesian modelling workflow featuring the specification of a data generating process and extensive model inspection prior to data analysis, we demonstrate the high adaptability and transparency of our approach, as well as its value for future experimental research.
{"title":"Round effects in economic experiments—A novel probabilistic programming approach to round-dependent response behaviour","authors":"Alexa Leyens, Philipp Feisthauer, Jan Börner, Monika Hartmann, Hugo Storm","doi":"10.1093/erae/jbaf061","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/erae/jbaf061","url":null,"abstract":"Respondents in multi-round experimental studies can show round-dependent response behaviour, subsumed as round effects, which can distort the analysis of study results. In this paper, we develop a novel probabilistic programming approach to capturing round effects. We apply our model to experiment data, investigating the relevance of three theoretically defined types of round effects: preference learning, institutional learning and fatigue effects. By using a Bayesian modelling workflow featuring the specification of a data generating process and extensive model inspection prior to data analysis, we demonstrate the high adaptability and transparency of our approach, as well as its value for future experimental research.","PeriodicalId":50476,"journal":{"name":"European Review of Agricultural Economics","volume":"114 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-11-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145531734","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The Computer Age has enabled an explosion in Bayesian inference. Historically, agricultural and resource economists have contributed to the development and application of Bayesian econometrics. This article describes Bayesian econometrics in agricultural and resource economics and highlights its use. We detail the basics of Bayesian methodology and computation, and provide an accompanying empirical example. We then examine the strengths and weaknesses of the Bayesian approach, particularly for applications in agricultural and resource economics. Lastly, we consider frontier Bayesian methods and how they might be used to obtain improved inference, make more accurate predictions, or solve computational challenges.
{"title":"Bayesian econometrics in agricultural and resource economics","authors":"A Ford Ramsey, Jisang Yu, Klaus Moeltner","doi":"10.1093/erae/jbaf060","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/erae/jbaf060","url":null,"abstract":"The Computer Age has enabled an explosion in Bayesian inference. Historically, agricultural and resource economists have contributed to the development and application of Bayesian econometrics. This article describes Bayesian econometrics in agricultural and resource economics and highlights its use. We detail the basics of Bayesian methodology and computation, and provide an accompanying empirical example. We then examine the strengths and weaknesses of the Bayesian approach, particularly for applications in agricultural and resource economics. Lastly, we consider frontier Bayesian methods and how they might be used to obtain improved inference, make more accurate predictions, or solve computational challenges.","PeriodicalId":50476,"journal":{"name":"European Review of Agricultural Economics","volume":"50 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-11-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145498476","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Using German crop farm data from the EU Farm Accountancy Data Network for 2004–2020, we investigate how weather and climate extremes interact with farm-level inefficiency, accounting for policy. We use a four-component stochastic production frontier model to disentangle farm heterogeneity from persistent and transient inefficiency, and explicitly address economic and econometric endogeneity. We select weather-related determinants of inefficiency using panel random forests. We find that losses associated with one climate extreme day range from 0.15 to 26.31 Euro/hectare. Water-related extremes appear less detrimental than temperature-related extremes. Our results suggest that efficiency can be underestimated if agro-climatic conditions are not acknowledged.
{"title":"Crop farm efficiency and climate extremes in Germany","authors":"Moritz Hartig, Silke Hüttel, Stefan Seifert","doi":"10.1093/erae/jbaf047","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/erae/jbaf047","url":null,"abstract":"Using German crop farm data from the EU Farm Accountancy Data Network for 2004–2020, we investigate how weather and climate extremes interact with farm-level inefficiency, accounting for policy. We use a four-component stochastic production frontier model to disentangle farm heterogeneity from persistent and transient inefficiency, and explicitly address economic and econometric endogeneity. We select weather-related determinants of inefficiency using panel random forests. We find that losses associated with one climate extreme day range from 0.15 to 26.31 Euro/hectare. Water-related extremes appear less detrimental than temperature-related extremes. Our results suggest that efficiency can be underestimated if agro-climatic conditions are not acknowledged.","PeriodicalId":50476,"journal":{"name":"European Review of Agricultural Economics","volume":"39 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145472856","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Providing farmers with information on their irrigation efficiency and establishing prioritized access to water accordingly requires data. This study assesses French farmers’ preferences for a scheme incentivizing the adoption of regulated deficit irrigation (RDI). Choice experiment results show that 37–60 per cent of the 202 farmers interviewed are willing to adopt RDI in exchange for priority water access, depending on data requirements. Accounting for data reporting preferences is crucial for enhancing water savings in irrigated systems. While mandatory smart meters reduce the potential water savings due to farmer opposition, most farmers accept reporting cropping patterns.
{"title":"Coupling information provision with sharing rules for water conservation: French farmers’ preferences for data reporting","authors":"Pauline Pedehour, Marianne Lefebvre","doi":"10.1093/erae/jbaf054","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/erae/jbaf054","url":null,"abstract":"Providing farmers with information on their irrigation efficiency and establishing prioritized access to water accordingly requires data. This study assesses French farmers’ preferences for a scheme incentivizing the adoption of regulated deficit irrigation (RDI). Choice experiment results show that 37–60 per cent of the 202 farmers interviewed are willing to adopt RDI in exchange for priority water access, depending on data requirements. Accounting for data reporting preferences is crucial for enhancing water savings in irrigated systems. While mandatory smart meters reduce the potential water savings due to farmer opposition, most farmers accept reporting cropping patterns.","PeriodicalId":50476,"journal":{"name":"European Review of Agricultural Economics","volume":"108 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145472736","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Shaibu Mellon Bedi, Riccardo Bommarco, Martin Weih, Helena Hansson
We investigate the long-term economic effects of adopting intercropping using a farm-level dataset from Sweden spanning the period 2001 to 2018. Guided by a causal model framework, specifically a causal path diagram, we apply a debiased fixed-effects method that dynamically incorporates information about past farm performance into the model estimation. We also triangulate the findings from the debiased fixed-effects method with results from both semi-parametric and instrumental variable approaches. Our baseline results indicate that adopting intercropping is associated with a 5–13 per cent increase in farm net income over the long term, with significant variations observed across different farm types. In addition, the findings show that intercropping adoption predicts an increase in the gross value of total production, labor demand and intermediate costs in the long term. Finally, the results reveal that intercropping adoption mitigates the negative effects of extreme climatic conditions on farm net income.
{"title":"Intercropping can enhance long-term farm economic performance: Evidence from Swedish agriculture 2001–2018","authors":"Shaibu Mellon Bedi, Riccardo Bommarco, Martin Weih, Helena Hansson","doi":"10.1093/erae/jbaf049","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/erae/jbaf049","url":null,"abstract":"We investigate the long-term economic effects of adopting intercropping using a farm-level dataset from Sweden spanning the period 2001 to 2018. Guided by a causal model framework, specifically a causal path diagram, we apply a debiased fixed-effects method that dynamically incorporates information about past farm performance into the model estimation. We also triangulate the findings from the debiased fixed-effects method with results from both semi-parametric and instrumental variable approaches. Our baseline results indicate that adopting intercropping is associated with a 5–13 per cent increase in farm net income over the long term, with significant variations observed across different farm types. In addition, the findings show that intercropping adoption predicts an increase in the gross value of total production, labor demand and intermediate costs in the long term. Finally, the results reveal that intercropping adoption mitigates the negative effects of extreme climatic conditions on farm net income.","PeriodicalId":50476,"journal":{"name":"European Review of Agricultural Economics","volume":"161 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145472854","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Matty Demont, Jhoanne Ynion, Marie Claire Custodio, Anindita Ray (Chakravarti), Arindam Samaddar, Suva Kanta Mohanty
We develop the Food Choice App (FCA) based on the Gastronomic Systems Research (GSR) framework to study how behavioral change communication (BCC) on healthier diets influences diet planning under income shocks. A sample of 192 low- and middle-income households in West Bengal use the FCA to plan their diets by allocating a randomized weekly food budget among 162 Bengali dishes across five eating occasions over seven weekdays. Budget constraints drive carbohydrate prioritization, but BCC exposure and women’s empowerment significantly increase dietary protein density. Findings underscore the importance of targeted nudges across multiple levels of the Gastronomic System to promote healthier diets.
{"title":"Nudging consumers toward healthier diets: Evidence from the Food Choice App in India","authors":"Matty Demont, Jhoanne Ynion, Marie Claire Custodio, Anindita Ray (Chakravarti), Arindam Samaddar, Suva Kanta Mohanty","doi":"10.1093/erae/jbaf057","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/erae/jbaf057","url":null,"abstract":"We develop the Food Choice App (FCA) based on the Gastronomic Systems Research (GSR) framework to study how behavioral change communication (BCC) on healthier diets influences diet planning under income shocks. A sample of 192 low- and middle-income households in West Bengal use the FCA to plan their diets by allocating a randomized weekly food budget among 162 Bengali dishes across five eating occasions over seven weekdays. Budget constraints drive carbohydrate prioritization, but BCC exposure and women’s empowerment significantly increase dietary protein density. Findings underscore the importance of targeted nudges across multiple levels of the Gastronomic System to promote healthier diets.","PeriodicalId":50476,"journal":{"name":"European Review of Agricultural Economics","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145472735","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Arnaud Z Dragicevic, Jean-Christophe Pereau, Serge Garcia
This study evaluates the effectiveness of Payments for Environmental Services (PES) in mitigating both climate change and biodiversity loss within bioeconomic supply chains. Employing a variational inequality approach within a multicriteria decision-making framework, complemented by numerical simulations using an optimized machine learning algorithm, we find that reductions of approximately 50 per cent in greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity loss are attainable. However, PES alone are insufficient to achieve these targets. A comprehensive strategy—combining a moderate reduction in production through economic decoupling, increased environmental awareness, and targeted incentives—is necessary for meaningful reductions. Our findings also indicate that supply chain participants collectively forgo 11.36 per cent of their profits when internalizing environmental externalities. Meanwhile, consumers are willing to pay only a 4.04 per cent premium for sustainable products, implying that a significant portion of these costs cannot simply be transferred to consumers. Consequently, firms must invest in greener production methods and abatement technologies to sustain profit margins while mitigating environmental impacts.
{"title":"Assessing the impact of payments for environmental services on a bioeconomic supply chain equilibrium","authors":"Arnaud Z Dragicevic, Jean-Christophe Pereau, Serge Garcia","doi":"10.1093/erae/jbaf031","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/erae/jbaf031","url":null,"abstract":"This study evaluates the effectiveness of Payments for Environmental Services (PES) in mitigating both climate change and biodiversity loss within bioeconomic supply chains. Employing a variational inequality approach within a multicriteria decision-making framework, complemented by numerical simulations using an optimized machine learning algorithm, we find that reductions of approximately 50 per cent in greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity loss are attainable. However, PES alone are insufficient to achieve these targets. A comprehensive strategy—combining a moderate reduction in production through economic decoupling, increased environmental awareness, and targeted incentives—is necessary for meaningful reductions. Our findings also indicate that supply chain participants collectively forgo 11.36 per cent of their profits when internalizing environmental externalities. Meanwhile, consumers are willing to pay only a 4.04 per cent premium for sustainable products, implying that a significant portion of these costs cannot simply be transferred to consumers. Consequently, firms must invest in greener production methods and abatement technologies to sustain profit margins while mitigating environmental impacts.","PeriodicalId":50476,"journal":{"name":"European Review of Agricultural Economics","volume":"130 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-10-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145295776","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Traditional measures of food environments, such as availability, often center on geographic proximity, but in the digital era, proximity is less of a constraint, as consumers browse thousands of food options online. I extend the concept of availability to include what consumers see when buying food online. Using web-scraped data on food-away-from-home offerings from Uber Eats in Michigan, I map retailer presence, product offerings and prices, linking them to nutritional profiles and carbon emissions. I find that the digital food environment is dominated by nutritionally unbalanced, calory-dense and carbon-intensive options. When choice architecture constrains available options, even individuals with strong health and sustainability preferences are unable to make choices aligned with their dietary goals. As these environments are shaped by supply and demand, dual policy strategies are needed to reform what is offered, promoted and priced.
{"title":"From choice to context: Rethinking food environments, consumer agency and policy action","authors":"Vincenzina Caputo","doi":"10.1093/erae/jbaf041","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/erae/jbaf041","url":null,"abstract":"Traditional measures of food environments, such as availability, often center on geographic proximity, but in the digital era, proximity is less of a constraint, as consumers browse thousands of food options online. I extend the concept of availability to include what consumers see when buying food online. Using web-scraped data on food-away-from-home offerings from Uber Eats in Michigan, I map retailer presence, product offerings and prices, linking them to nutritional profiles and carbon emissions. I find that the digital food environment is dominated by nutritionally unbalanced, calory-dense and carbon-intensive options. When choice architecture constrains available options, even individuals with strong health and sustainability preferences are unable to make choices aligned with their dietary goals. As these environments are shaped by supply and demand, dual policy strategies are needed to reform what is offered, promoted and priced.","PeriodicalId":50476,"journal":{"name":"European Review of Agricultural Economics","volume":"25 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-10-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145310800","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}