Fabio A. Madau | Università di Sassari (original) (raw)

Books by Fabio A. Madau

The main purpose of the study is to evaluate the economic value related to beach preservation by ... more The main purpose of the study is to evaluate the economic value related to beach preservation by elicitation of the willingness to pay (WTP). This analysis is based on the results of about 5000 interviews conducted on 41 different Italian beaches. A Contingent Valuation (CV)-a closed-ended dichotomous choice model with a follow-up question-approach is used to elicit WTP. Results of the whole sample indicate that respondents would be willing to pay a contribution of almost 15 €/yr per user in order to preserve the beach. WTP is also calculated for natural, semi-urban and urban beach typologies. The analysis shows that beach typologies affect the WTP and similarities and significant differences of each typology are found according to respondents' sociometric indicators .

Papers by Fabio A. Madau

Recreational functions are among the most important practices to improve farmers' income and to p... more Recreational functions are among the most important practices to improve farmers' income and to promote sustainability in the rural territories. Two crucial issues are the ability to rationally allocate farm resources and the ability to efficiently produce different sorts of food and non-food goods. Possible cost savings due to the co-presence of different activities can generate positive effects in the creation of value by agritourist farmers. This paper aims to investigate technical efficiency related to agritourism and recreational functions in Sardinia. Based on a sample of 37 farms and using a data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach, we aim to estimate the technical efficiency of double attitude processes, such as those that characterise agritourism practices. Our findings suggest that efficiency can improve if technical inputs are adequately used; however, the scale appears to be close enough to optimal. Furthermore, we estimated that the margins for improving the efficiency are larger for recreational services and that technical factors contribute to efficiency with a different magnitude. Furthermore, we estimated whether agricultural and non-agricultural resources are efficiently allocated. To our knowledge, this is one of the first attempts in Europe at using an efficiency analysis in agritourism.

RIVISTA DI STUDI SULLA SOSTENIBILITA', 2015

Fishing sea urchins is a traditional activity deeply rooted in several Mediterranean communities.... more Fishing sea urchins is a traditional activity deeply rooted in several Mediterranean communities. Sea urchin is a basic ingredient of well appreciated typical dishes (e.g., pasta, croutons and pizza), but turnover has not been higher than that of niche markets for a long time. Also in Sardinia, production is almost exclusively sold to local consumers; nevertheless supply cannot satisfy a dramatically rising demand, especially without compromising sustainability due to potential overexploitation of the resource. Given the role played by sea urchins in marine ecosystems, the Regional Authority imposed strict restrictions on fisheries by setting the terms of fishing season, fixing a maximum daily amount of captures and a minimum size for each sea urchin harvested. More than 150 small firms are authorized to harvest sea urchins throughout Sardinian coasts. A strong pressure to overcome normative constraints is in place and facing this problem without considering the microeconomic aspect...

RIVISTA DI ECONOMIA AGRARIA, 2014

ABSTRACT Landscape preservation is an important issue of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) tod... more ABSTRACT Landscape preservation is an important issue of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) today. Deeply rooted characteristics of land use in rural areas can be affected by food and land market changes as well as by specific policy decisions. Forests are an important part of rural landscape: their role in environment preservation as well as in space supply for recreation and in economic development is well appreciated. This study aims to assess the contribution of forests in the monetary value building of the rural landscape. A Choice Experiment (CE) model is applied in order to estimate the value of each landscape attribute (presence of vineyards, grazing and forests) in Gallura, which is located in the North-Eastern side of Sardinia (Italy). The estimated median willingness to pay (WTP) for preserving the forest is significantly higher than the amounts recorded for vineyards and grazing lands. Some policy arguments suggested by these findings are discussed.

ECONOMIA AGRO-ALIMENTARE, 2000

ABSTRACT This paper aims to carry out a first-pass estimation of the power wielded by large-scale... more ABSTRACT This paper aims to carry out a first-pass estimation of the power wielded by large-scale retail organisations in the Italian agri-food system, by using the olive oil supply chain as a representative case study. An econometric price transmission model suggests that farmers suffer from big retail’s market power in the olive oil sector. Nevertheless, the increasing power of modern distribution companies in the agro-food supply chain depends on several economic, institutional and policy factors. This is a multi-faceted issue which makes us take into account not only economic but also social, policy, psychological and behavioral aspects too. This complexity can be handled using different empirical approaches: among these approaches, we explore the potential benefits of the so-called "economic-political" framework. From this approach a complex empirical estimation of power presence cannot be discounted.

The Empirical Economics Letters, 2010

Purpose – Buyer power can be defined as the ability to obtain trade terms more favourable than a ... more Purpose – Buyer power can be defined as the ability to obtain trade terms more favourable than a supplier's normal trade terms. The purpose of this paper is to estimate existence of buyer power in the Italian market of fresh milk. The sector is characterised by high industrial and retail firms concentration and a significant gap between the downstream and upstream prices exists. Design/methodology/approach – The authors applied the " first-pass " test proposed by Lloyd et al. (2009) on a set of monthly price indexes series from 2000 to 2013 in order to estimate if a buyer power exists in this sector. This in order to verify how prices are transmitted along the supply chain and to determine if buyer power contributes in conditioning the retail-producer price spread. Findings – Estimated results suggest that buyer power exists in the Italian fresh milk supply chain and oligopsonistic behaviour affects the spread between downstream and upstream prices. Originality/value – The paper gives a contribute on estimation of buyer power in the agro-food supply chains. However, more research needs to be carried out in order to precisely evaluate the nature and the causes of presence of buyer power.

Several studies have compared technical efficiency estimates derived from paramet-ric and non par... more Several studies have compared technical efficiency estimates derived from paramet-ric and non parametric approaches, whereas a very small number of studies have aimed to compare scale efficiency estimations. This paper aims to estimate technical and scale efficiency in the Italian citrus farming. Estimation was carried out using both Data En-velopment Analysis (DEA) and Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA). Empirical findings suggest that the greater portion of overall inefficiency in the sample might depend on producing below the production frontier than on operating under an inefficient scale. Furthermore, we found that the estimated technical efficiency from the SFA model is substantially at the same level of this estimated from DEA model, whereas the scale efficiency arisen from SFA is larger than this obtained from DEA analysis.

RIVISTA DI STUDI SULLA SOSTENIBILITA', 2015

RIVISTA DI ECONOMIA AGRARIA, 2014

ECONOMIA AGRO-ALIMENTARE, 2000

The Empirical Economics Letters, 2010

International Journal on Food System Dynamics, 5 (3): 111-119

croutons) and its demand is constantly increasing. However marketable value of local sea urchin a... more croutons) and its demand is constantly increasing. However marketable value of local sea urchin appears to be potentially higher than the current value. This paper aims to estimate the value of a based sea urchin dish according to the stated preference of consumers. A Choice Experiment (CE) analysis on 475 consumers was carried out in order to estimate their willingness to pay (WTP) for consuming sea urchin. Seafood was proposed as alternative to sea urchin. CE regarded two attributes: certification of local origin and place where dishes are consumed. Findings suggest that WTP for a generic dish is significantly higher for sea urchin (11.65 Euros) than for seafood (7.94 Euros) based dish. Furthermore, we found that WTP is higher when both foods are consumed with spaghetti and as raw fresh product, whereas an opposite effect is associated to pizza. Finally, the influence of some socio-economic characteristics of responders on their preferences was estimated

Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems 38 (4), pp. 485-501

This paper aims to analyze how sustainability in European agriculture might evolve in the long ... more This paper aims to analyze how sustainability in European agriculture might evolve in the long run, depending on which different policy scenarios are used. Particular attention is paid to the role played by the “new challenges” which are the policy aims of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) after 2013: climate change; safeguarding biodiversity; rational use of water resources and promotion of bio-energy. The conceptual framework is the new set of indicators on sustainability evaluation proposed by the Fondazione ENI Enrico Mattei (FEEM). No empirical findings have been carried out in this research. This study is aimed at highlighting the possible relationships between the challenges that the CAP faces if it is to guarantee sustainability in the sector and to evaluate how the promotion of these policy priorities can affect sustainability. The results of this qualitative analysis show the possible contradictions between the CAP objectives if harmonic and sustainable agricultural development is to be achieved.

Agricultural ad Food Economics 1 (1), pp. 1-11.

Sardinia (Italy) is one of the most important European regions for sheep dairy and sheep milk che... more Sardinia (Italy) is one of the most important European regions for sheep dairy and sheep milk cheese production. However the Sardinian sheep dairy industry is currently going through a dramatic crisis, and verifying whether it can recover part of its profitability is now a priority. Attention is now focused on estimating whether the sheep dairy firms can improve their productivity by more efficient use of their available technical resources. This paper aims to estimate technical efficiency in the Sardinian sheep dairy industry. A stochastic frontier analysis approach was used on panel data from 36 sheep dairy firms over the period 2004-2009 in order to assess whether there are some margins for technical improvements in productivity, given the existing level of technology. A comparative analysis of private firms and cooperatives was also carried out, in order to establish if there were differences in the technology they used and/or their efficiency in using technical inputs. Our findings suggest that there is technological homogeneity among the firms and between private firms and cooperatives. Technical efficiency is equal to 0.905 and it is significantly different between private firms (0.933) and cooperatives (0.877). Our findings have certain implications for what policies should be implemented in order to improve efficiency in the sector and on the orientation of decision makers strategies.

This paper aims to estimate technical and scale efficiency in the Italian citrus farming. Estimat... more This paper aims to estimate technical and scale efficiency in the Italian citrus farming. Estimation was carried out from two different approach: a non parametric and a parametric approach using a Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model and a Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) model, respectively.

Abstract Il presente lavoro si propone di valutare la natura e la portata del potere detenuto dal... more Abstract Il presente lavoro si propone di valutare la natura e la portata del potere detenuto dalla Grande Distribuzione in seno alle filiere agro-alimentari, a partire dal presupposto della particolare complessità che ne caratterizza la natura. La preminente posizione di influenza, governo e controllo assunta dalle grandi insegne del dettaglio si fonda infatti su fonti di diversa estrazione (economica, istituzionale, culturale e politica) e di altrettanti strumenti si avvale.

Abstract Sardinia (Italy) is one of the most important European regions for sheep dairy and sheep... more Abstract Sardinia (Italy) is one of the most important European regions for sheep dairy and sheep milk cheese production. However the Sardinian sheep dairy industry is currently going through a dramatic crisis, and verifying whether it can recover part of its profitability is now a priority. Attention is now focused on estimating whether the sheep dairy firms can improve their productivity by more efficient use of their available technical resources. This paper aims to estimate technical efficiency in the Sardinian sheep dairy industry.