Courses

Agricultural Economics

General

Course Contents

  1. Introduction to agricultural economy and production: Supply and demand of agricultural products. The Greek agricultural economy in the European context.
  2. Formation of the price of agricultural products. Elasticities of supply & demand, income elasticity.
  3. Agricultural production factors and economic structure. Types of agricultural production units. Production and cost theory.
  4. Cooperation – Agricultural cooperatives: Historical development, agricultural entrepreneurship. The sociology of cooperation in Greece and Europe.
  5. Job offer, employment and multi-employment of farmers.
  6. Agricultural policy and economic welfare. Alternative intervention policies.
  7. Common Agricultural Policy (CAP): Financing of the CAP – Structural problems of the CAP.
  8. Agricultural policy in the EU and Greece. Forms and actions to support the CAP. EU subsidies in the primary sector.
  9. Agricultural sector and economic development. Objectives and priorities of the development policy in the agricultural sector.
  10. International trade relations and economic integration.
  11. Theory and policy of international trade in agricultural products – General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).
  12. Agricultural sector and economic development in the 21st century: Greek agriculture, development, main characteristics and structural problems.
  13. Summary, Recap.

Educational Goals

The purpose of the course is to enable students to approach basic economic thinking and the stimuli for a deeper analysis of the activities of the agricultural economy and politics, but also of agricultural enterprises (agricultural exploitation, business of trading supplies and products, agricultural processing enterprise, agricultural cooperatives).

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

  • Build foundations in matters of Agricultural Economy, Agricultural Policy, Organization & Management of Agricultural/Livestock Businesses, as well as in matters of Agricultural Marketing.
  • Understand and interpret economically the agricultural reality within the EU.
  • Understand agro-economic developments and policies both in Greece and the EU, but also internationally.
  • Effectively develop cooperative – agricultural entrepreneurship in the agricultural sector.

General Skills

  • Working independently.
  • Team work.
  • Search for, analysis and synthesis of data and information, with the use of the necessary technology.
  • Decision making.
  • Production of free, creative and inductive thinking.
  • Working in an interdisciplinary environment.

Teaching Methods

  • In the classroom, face to face.

Use of ICT means

  • Basic software (windows, word, power point, the web, etc.).
  • Support of learning process through the electronic platform / e-class.

Teaching Organization

ActivitySemester workload
Lectures26
Practice Works13
Assignement (Essay writing)20
Independent Study91
Total150

Students Evaluation

Written final exams (60%) that may include:

  • Judgemental questions
  • Short answer questions
  • Application exercises
  • Comparative theoratical questions

In each question, corresponding evaluation points are specified.
Optional assignment (Essay writing and presentation) corresponds to 40% of the final grade.

Recommended Bibliography

  1. Λιανός, Θ., Δαμιανός, Δ., Μέργος, Γ. κ.α. (2016). Αγροτική Οικονομική, Θεωρία και Πολιτική, Εκδόσεις Μπένου, Αθήνα.
  2. Παπαγεωργίου, Κ., Δαμιανός, Δ., Σπάθης, Π. (2015). Αγροτική Πολιτική, Εκδόσεις Σταμούλη, Αθήνα.
  3. Κιτσοπανίδης, Γ. (2006). Οικονομική Γεωργικής Παραγωγής. Βασικές Αρχές και Εφαρμογές, Εκδόσεις Ζήτη, Θεσσαλονίκη.
  4. Barkley, A., Barkley, P. (2016). Principles of Agricultural Economics, Routledge Textbooks in Environmental and Agricultural Economics, Second Edition, Routledge, Oxford.

Related Research Journals

  1. Agricultural Economics.
  2. American Journal of Agricultural Economic.
  3. Agricultural Research Journal.