FG 986/2: Structural Change in Agriculture - II - TP Z

FG: Structural change in agriculture is a fundamental phenomenon that accompanies the development of market based economies. Since the industrial revolution structural change is driven by shifts of supply and demand leading to a permanent shrinkage of the agricultural sector within growing economies. This process is characterized by high productivity gains and a relatively slow increase of demand for food resulting in price pressure in mature markets and migration of workforce from agricultural production. In view of these developments a new approach seems necessary for capturing and understanding the complex adjustment processes that characterize structural change in agriculture. This approach should embrace different perspectives, but eventually these different aspects have to be brought together in order to allow an integrative view of structural change. Almost all subprojects refer to the German agricultural sector, since Germany is one of the main producers in the EU that can be considered as a representative example for other EU countries. For example, rural policies are implemented at a state level and hence focusing on a particular state or region within Germany is adequate. Some subprojects adopt a comparative view that takes into account differences in economic variables occurring on a county level. Moreover, subprojects applying market models or CGE models cannot confine their analysis to Germany, as German agricultural markets are deeply integrated with EU as well as world agricultural markets. Finally, there are subprojects, which may ignore the spatial dimension without a loss of information. Bringing the results from these different approaches into line is definitely one of the main challenges of the SiAg research unit.