Organic certification systems and international trading of agricultural products in gravity models

Recent literature about gravity models points out the importance of institutional frictions in the international market of agricultural products beyond the traditional economics variables as transport costs reducing the mass of trade in bilateral relationships. In particular, previous contributions stress that harmonization of food standards could decrease transaction costs in trading relationships by stimulating international market. In a previous work we hypothesized that the acknowledgment of equivalence in organic standards may represent a reliable signal of affinity in bilateral relationships which may be useful to identify areas in which transaction costs for both conventional and organic standards are lower. This article represents a step forward, since it assumes that the acknowledgment of equivalence in identifying areas with lower transaction costs in trading relationships for the whole produce could be a strong assumption that may be relaxed through the hypothesis that affinity in market exchange could be simply signaled by the presence of organic standards for the involved countries. Therefore, in our analysis we test if countries setting specific rules for organic standards are more “affine” in trading relationships because of a low common cultural, law and political distance but also if differences in organic standards themselves can be useful to differentiate the level of affinity among regions. Interesting insights for policy makers about the identification of relevant variables for international business arise from an econometric analysis.Gravity models, organic standards, transaction costs, international market, agricultural trade, food products, Agricultural and Food Policy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Q11, Q13,

Gender wage gap dynamics in a changing Ukraine

The period 2003-2007 was a period of economic and political changes for Ukraine. In 2005, following the Orange Revolution, the new government engaged in a series of economic reforms, among which was strengthening the legislation aimed at encouraging gender equality in the labor market. Using data from the Ukrainian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (ULMS) I explore the impact of these economic and political changes on the gender wage gap. Policies for gender equality seem to be responsible for at least part of the reduction of the wage gap among the workers of the public sector, both through the reduction in the differences between the remuneration of observable characteristics for men and women and through the reduction in horizontal and vertical segregation. On the other hand, the impact of these policies among workers of the private sector (and especially among the informally employed) seems much smaller, especially as far as the impact on horizontal and vertical segregation is concerned. This study utilizes the ULMS data set, a project initiated within the IZA-program 'Labor Markets in Emerging and Transition Economies'. The project is financially supported by a consortium led by IZA, Bonn. The other permanent members of the consortium are CERT, Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh, EERC-Ukraine and RWI-Essen. Any opinions expressed here are those of the author and not those of ISET, University of Bologna or IZA institute

La Vegetazione dell'area Pantaleo-Gutturu Mannu-Punta Maxia-Monte Arcosu nel Sulcis-Iglesiente (Sardegna sud-occidentale)

From the Pantaleo-M. Arcosu district (SW Sardinia) 14 associations are described, 4 of them (Phagnalo-Psoraleetum morisianae, Helichryso-Teucrietum mari, Pistacio-Juniperetum oxycedri and OsmundoAlnetum Glutinosae) for the first time. Prevailing vegetation types in this area are macchia-associations: in lower parts the Pistacio-Juniperetum oxycedri belonging to the Oleo-Ceratonion, in the higher ones the Asplenio-Quercetum ilicis (Quercion ilicis) a transiction belt, between about 400-700 m asI shows the Vibumo-Quercetum ilicis. Up to the last century, the whole study-area was covered by a dense evergreen mediterranean forest which has been modified and partially destroyed by cutting, fire and intense pasture. Nowadays, due also to the protection actions by regional forest authorithies, the woody species show an increasing vigour and are prevailing again. These associations at present can be interpreted as climaxnear vegetation types

What really matters? A qualitative analysis on the adoption of innovations in agriculture

The agricultural industry is confronted with the need of increasing the production to feed a growing population, and contemporarily to manage the decreased availability of natural resources. This major challenge boosts agriculture sector to adopt new approaches and technical innovations; anyway, the adoption of innovations in agriculture is not immediate, due to the interaction of many drivers that impact on individuals and enterprises’ decisions. This paper aims at providing a list of drivers for the adoption of technological innovations in agriculture, on the basis of the outcomes of in-depth interviews and focus groups performed in three European countries (Italy, Greece, Turkey). With specific reference to innovations, ease of use, effectiveness, usefulness, resource savings, and compatibility were mentioned as relevant features for an innovation to be adopted. Trials, demonstrations, experience and knowledge sharing, and support from qualified third parties were included among the facilitating factors for conveying and promoting innovations. Finally, public funding, agricultural policies and market conditions were identified as factors that may tip the balance in the process of innovations’ adoption

Memories of a botanical trip to Mallorca in 1952

Abstract not availabl

Supposed trans-Atlantic migration of Heterostegina around the Eocene/Oligocene boundary

According to our hypothesis, Heterostegina ocalana migrated eastward through the previously much narrower Atlantic Ocean around the Eocene/Oligocene boundary. Sporadic populations of H. n. sp., its phylogenetic successor, survived in the western part of the Neotethys until the end of the Rupelian, when they became extinct

Informal employment relationships and labor market segmentation in transition economies: evidence from Ukraine

Research on informal employment in transition countries has been very limited because of a lack of appropriate data. A new rich panel data set from Ukraine, the Ukrainian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (ULMS), enables us to provide some empirical evidence on informal employment in Ukraine and the validity of the three schools of thought in the literature on the role of informality in the development process. Apart from providing additional evidence with richer data than usually available in developing countries, the paper investigates to what extent the informal sector plays a role in labor market adjustment in a transition economy. The evidence points to some labor market segmentation since the majority of informal salaried employees are involuntarily employed and workers seem to queue for formal salaried jobs. We also show that the dependent informal sector is segmented into a voluntary upper tier and an involuntary lower part where the majority of informal jobs are located. Our contention that informal self-employment is voluntary is confirmed by the substantial earnings premia associated with movements into this state

Paleocene orthophragminids from the Lakadong Limestone, Mawmluh Quarry section, Meghalaya (Shillong, NE India). Implications for the regional geology and paleobiogeography

The late Paleocene orthophragminids, hitherto poorly known from the Himalayan foreland basins, are studied from the Lakadong Limestone in Meghalaya, northeastern India, in order to establish a systematic, biostratigraphic, and paleobiogeographical framework for them in the eastern Tethys. In the Mawmluh Quarry section (MQS) on the Shillong Plateau, to the southeast of Tibet, orthophragminids are associated with typical Paleocene orbitoidiform taxa endemic to the Indian subcontinent, i.e., Lakadongia Matsumaru & Jauhri ( D Setia Ferràndez-Cañadell) and Orbitosiphon Rao, and various species of alveolinids, miscellaneids, and rotaliids, characterizing the Shallow Benthic Zones (SBZ) 3 and 4. The orthophragminids belong to two lineages of the genus Orbitoclypeus Silvestri: O. schopeni (Checchia-Rispoli) and O. multiplicatus (Gümbel), both well known from the peri-Mediterranean region and Europe (western Tethys). The latter species is identified here for the first time from the eastern Tethys. Previous records of the genus Discocyclina Gümbel from the Lakadong Limestone actually correspond to misidentified Orbitoclypeus; this implies that the late Paleocene orthophragminid assemblages from Meghalaya and eastern Tethys were less diverse than in the western Tethys. The lineage of Orbitoclypeus schopeni in the lower part of the Lakadong Limestone (SBZ 3) is identified as O. schopeni cf. ramaraoi based on the morphometry of a few specimens, whereas in the upper part (SBZ 4) it corresponds to a transitional development stage between O. schopeni ramaraoi and O. schopeni neumannae (with average Dmeanvalues ranging between 192 and 199 μ m). The embryon diameters of O. multiplicatus, recorded only in SBZ 4, range between 300 and 319 μ m on average, corresponding to transitional development stages of O. multiplicatus haymanaensis and O. multiplicatus multiplicatus. Our data, along with a review of previous Paleocene and Eocene records from India and Pakistan, suggest that Orbitoclypeus is the only orthophragminid in the Paleocene of the eastern Tethys, whereas Discocyclina first appears in early Eocene times, being mainly represented by endemic taxa confined to the Indian subcontinent. Facies change in the MQS from a marine to continental setting within SBZ 4 corresponds to the oldest record from the Indian plate in the Paleogene, which may be linked to the flexural uplift of the passive margin of the Indian plate, marking the onset of the collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates

Toothless Reforms? The Remarkable Stability of Female Labor Force Participation in a Top-Reforming Country

Low Female Labor Force Participation (FLFP) constitutes a foregone opportunity at both the macro and at the micro levels, potentially increasing the vulnerability of households and lowering the long-run development perspectives of a country. Most international organizations and national policy makers see low FLFP as a serious issue that needs to be addressed by adopting appropriate policies. We investigate the possible reasons of the remarkable stability of FLFP in a top-reforming upper-middle income country. Our goal is to in disentangle the different forces at work and to draw useful lessons for the design of participation-enhancing policies. Using data from a nationally representative Household Survey covering the period 2003-2015, we employ Blinder-Oaxaca (Blinder, 1973 and Oaxaca, 1973) type decomposition to decompose changes over time in FLFP levels into parts that are due to changes in observable factors versus changes in the strength of impact of these factors. This allows us to identify possible shifters of the FLFP rate and propose areas of special interest for policy making. We show that the stability of FLFP in Georgia during the period 2003-2013 is due to offsetting socio-economic changes taking place in the country, and that the increase in the last period covered by our dataset – 2013-2015 – can be attributed to the emergence of new labor opportunities for women. We conclude that, while useful, supply-side economic reforms are not sufficient to increase FLFP and need to be complemented by demand-side policies aiming at creating more and better work opportunities for women