Studies in Agricultural Economics

The reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for the period after 2027 has reopened fundamental questions regarding the purpose, governance and financing of agricultural policy in the European Union. This paper argues that the contemporary CAP is justified by a combination of objectives relating to food security and resilience, environmental stewardship, territorial cohesion, and competitiveness and innovation. It examines how these competing rationales shape the current reform debate and assesses them using the principle of European value added. While all four rationales provide legitimate grounds for public intervention, they differ in the extent to which they justify common European...

The complexity of the issues that practitioners in the field of agricultural economics encounter is increasing, with agriculture intersecting with most of the challenges that society faces. Policies related to agriculture need to address an increasing number of objectives, while at the same time it is necessary to understand their related trade-offs. How can policy analysts make use of the available quantitative tools to support an evidence-based policymaking process? In this context, collaborative approaches are increasingly recognised as a vital solution. This paper provides a framework for conducting multi-model analysis for policy and encourages its use in the field of...

The European Commission’s July 2025 Multiannual Financial Framework proposal introduces structural changes to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for the 2028–2034 programming period, raising questions about its alignment with the environmental ambitions of the Green Deal. This paper uses the spatially explicit partial equilibrium model GLOBIOM to assess how the proposed policy shifts alter production incentives and land allocation across EU Member States. We operationalise the reform by linking regional budget envelopes with unit payment rates for the key interventions, including the degressive area-based income support corridor, the consolidated Agri-Environmental and Climate Action (AECA) framework, and expanded coupled income support....

This article develops a political economy framework to interpret the evolution of rural development policy in Europe. It argues that European rural policy should not be understood as a linear transition from agricultural modernisation to placebased development, but as a layered and contested policy field in which multiple strategies coexist and compete. The paper identifies four ideal-typical strategies: distributive support, agri-food competitiveness, disparity reduction, and holistic place-sensitive development. These strategies are analysed not only as policy paradigms, but also as concrete configurations of instruments, governance arrangements, beneficiaries, delivery mechanisms and financial allocations. Their effectiveness is assessed in relation to two...