B016209 - AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS

Italian

Learning the basic principles of Political Economics, Agricultural Economics and the role of agriculture in the development of the economic system.

Microeconomics. Supply and demand. Market equilibrium. Consumer theory. Cost theory. Macroeconomics. Economics of the agricultural sector.

None

Lectures, labs.

Oral exam. During the exam, the solution of brief exercises might be required.

First part: methodological approach and objectives of Political Economics, analysis of single economic subjects (consumers, firms, markets...) and national aggregates (gross product, aggregate expenditure...). In detail, the following topics are addressed:
- Introduction to economics and to the study of economic systems with a brief overview of the tools for economic analysis;
- Demand, supply, market;
- Demand and supply elasticity;
- Theory of Demand and consumer choice;
- Theory of Supply and managerial choices in the short and long term for profit maximization;
- Main competition forms, market inefficiencies and failures;
- Introduction to macroeconomics; main national aggregates, income flow.

Second part: methodological approach and objectives of Agricultural Economics and analysis of agricultural changes through history to design its current structure and its role in economic development. In detail, the following topics are addressed:
- Basic skills for a structural and conjunctural analysis of agriculture;
- Evolution through history of agriculture and its role in development processes;
- Agriculture is addressed on three levels: a) sectorial, to underline the relations between agriculture and economic system, b) production filieres, to analyse all the phases and subjects that contribute to the realization of products; c) territorial, to address local differentiation of development;
- Social and institutional characteristics of agriculture with a special attention towards the markets for agricultural goods and production factors (land, labour, capital);
- Principles of agricultural policy: the "agricultural problem", the choice of agricultural policy targets and tools.

- Begg D., Fischer S., Dornbusch R.; (2011), Economia, McGraw-Hill, Milano.
- Polidori R.; (2011), "Introduzione all'economia del settore agricolo: una proposta metodologica", available on-line.

No additional information