Generation renewal in farming is an urgent matter for European policy institutions that strive to maintain social cohesion and improve economic development in rural areas. Aids to young Europeans to enter the agricultural business sector have been available since 2000 to counter the negative effect of an aging rural population. This study examines for the first time the impact of the Pillar II policy measure for generation renewal on regional economic growth. The well-established input–output method was selected to estimate the income and employment effects of the policy measure, and it served as a concrete impact analysis tool. Within the AGRICORE project study for the Young Farmers Scheme in Greece, two input–output models were constructed for Thessaly and Central Macedonia, the two most agriculturally oriented regions (NUTS-2 level), to estimate multipliers and elasticities for an ex-post impact analysis of the payments of Measure 6.1 "Start-Up Aid for Young Farmers" for the CAP 2014–2020 period. Results indicate that regional output and employment are significantly benefited from the generation renewal policies while income generation is positive but at a lesser extent. Furthermore, indirect jobs created in rural areas equal to 20% of the direct employment expressed as the number of new entrants. Consequently, the Measure proves to stimulate regional output, refresh the agricultural population and enhance rural employment, and it can be a useful tool for policy makers to support rural welfare and maintain social and economic cohesion.

We study the effect of a set of food quality scheme (FQS) products within the local economy using a local multiplier approach based on LM3 methodology. To evaluate the effective contribution within the local area, we compare each FQS product with its equivalent standard/conventional counterpart. Local multiplier allows us to track the financial flows converging within the local area at the different levels of the supply chain so that we can measure the FQS product role in local economic activation. Overall, the FQS products exhibit a higher positive contribution to the local economy than the standard references. However, there is significant heterogeneity in the impact according to the product categories. In the case of vegetal products, the local economic advantage due to FQS is 7% higher than the reference products, but the statistical tests reject the null hypothesis that the medians are significantly different from zero. On the contrary, animal products exhibit a larger contribution of FQS than the standard counterparts (+24%). The PGI products (+25%) produce the major effect, while PDO products show a median difference lower (+6%). The organic and non-organic products seem to be substantially equivalent in terms of contribution to the local economy, due to the similarity in the downstream processing phase.

Climate change, water shortages and desertification threaten the economic and environmental sustainability in the Mediterranean. Limited rainfall and higher temperatures put agricultural production, which relies on water availability, in jeopardy. Thereupon, Mediterranean countries pursue agri-food resilience and water preservation through efficient water policies. Hence, water-deprived areas ought to import rather than produce water-intensive products to maintain water inventories and sustainability consequently. As this study examines the water sustainability for a Mediterranean water-scarce region with a particular focus on agriculture, the virtual water trade balance explores this hypothesis. A regional input–output model is constructed, and then total water consumption and the virtual water flows for each economic sector are estimated to determine the virtual water trade balance of the economy. Results indicate that the study area has a trade deficit and struggles economically but is a net importer of virtual water and secures water sustainability. As this virtual water deficit relies heavily on agriculture and originates in vast total water consumption rather than a large trade deficit, a paradox occurs; water-intensive cultivations and animals that consume 91.75% of water resources end up appearing to be water-saving. Further research is needed to strike a balance between economic growth and environmental protection.

The present paper attempts to investigate whether the Sub-Measure 6.1 “Start-Up Aid for Young Farmers” payments of the 2014–2020 Rural Development Programme have a role to play in explaining Greek farms’ export orientation and export performance through a statistical analysis of farm-level data. The results demonstrate considerable differences in farm structures between beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries and provide support for the contention that beneficiaries are more likely to operate more productive and economically efficient farms. However, the results also provide a sobering assessment of the role of the young-farmer-related subsidies in stimulating export orientation and export performance.

This study investigates how Chinese ownership in European ports affects trade flows between China and Eurozone countries, set against the backdrop of recent global economic disruptions that have emphasized the crucial role of maritime trade and port efficiency. An augmented gravity model was employed, using the Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood (PPML), fixed effects (FE), and random effects (RE) estimators, to analyze trade data from 2001 to 2023. The analysis shows that, while conventional economic factors like GDP per capita and the Logistics Performance Index (LPI) consistently and significantly drive trade, Chinese port ownership surprisingly exhibits a negative or statistically insignificant impact on both Chinese exports to the EU and EU imports from China. This suggests that these acquisitions may not primarily boost overall bilateral trade but rather consolidate existing routes or serve broader strategic objectives, as evidenced by heterogeneous country-specific effects and phenomena like the “Rotterdam effect”. Ultimately, my findings underscore the paramount importance of logistical efficiency over ownership structure in facilitating trade.