Sustainability and Competitiveness of Agriculture in Mountain Areas: A Willingness to Pay (WTP) Approach

Chiara Mazzocchi and Guido Sali
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Chiara Mazzocchi: Department of Agricultural and Environmental Science, University of Milan, via Celoria 2, 20133 Milan, Italy
Guido Sali: Department of Agricultural and Environmental Science, University of Milan, via Celoria 2, 20133 Milan, Italy

Sustainability, 2016, vol. 8, issue 4, 1-13

Abstract: One of the most evident elements of the agricultural crisis is farm abandonment in many marginal rural areas, such as mountains. Some traits of mountain agriculture such as remoteness, low productivity, extreme weather and small farm size, can limit the adaptation and the competitiveness of this branch. The analysis aims to assess the consumers’ Willingness to Pay (WTP) for permanence of the upland farms and mountain pastures, by a Contingent Valuation analysis. The main results are that a WTP for the redevelopment of the pastures exists and that the personal characteristics of the sample are more influential than the opinions of the individuals on WTP. Moreover, it has been demonstrated that consumers seem to prefer an agricultural orientation of the upland farms rather than a touristic one. In the conclusion section, some policy guidelines are proposed.

Keywords: multifunctionality; sustainability; WTP; mountain pastures (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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