Learning objectives
The course aims at achieving the following goals:
a. Knowledge and understanding skills. The course aims to provide the main interpretive and managerial keys for planning agricultural and agro-food corporate policy
b. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding. Students understand the characteristics of agricultural processes, organizational arrangements taking into account the constraints and policies to come to plan production organization and evaluate the economic effects of innovations.
c. Judgment autonomy. The main issues that students will be able to deal with will be the management of agricultural and agro-food production processes by providing economic and management judgments.
d. Communicative Skills. Development of communication and communication skills in stakeholder relations
e. Ability to learn. The study method provided includes lecture lessons, group work, individual analysis, discussion of topics addressed in class
Prerequisites
- Mathematical methods for economics
- Business Economics
- Micro Economic Aspects of Public policy
Course unit content
The contents of the Course concern the topics of the agricultural economy analyzed in a modern key that links the agri-food production to the bio-economy. To this end, theoretical contents are proposed linked to the bio-economy, the economy of production in agriculture, technical progress and more operative contents aimed at learning the structural and productive characteristics of the farms as well as the farm management techniques through mathematical models based on linear programming.
Full programme
The topics covered in the course concern the following aspects:
- Principles of bio-economy
- Economics of production processes in agriculture
- Production functions in agriculture
- The production plan in agriculture
- Risk and uncertainty
- technological progress
- the characters of the farm activity
- Linear programming (theory and practice)
Bibliography
Readings prepared by the teacher using articles and chapters in Italian and English
Quirino Paris (2016) An economic interpretation of linear programming, Palgrave Mc millian
Teaching methods
- Lectures;
- Computer exercises;
- Working group;
- Study visits (if possible)
Assessment methods and criteria
- Presentation of a Project Work (carried out in a group of up to 3 people), in the form of a poster that will be delivered to the teacher in pdf format by email before the oral exam. Students will have to deal with describe and compare the structural and / or economic characteristics of the agri-food system (evaluated 3/30 points).
- Written test: setting up a management problem of an agri-food company through the use of linear programming providing an economic interpretation. Passing the test allows access to the oral exam (the test is rated 13.5 / 30 points). If the written test will be delivered remotely, the TEAMS platform will be used providing the student with the text of the test. The student will return the paper via email.
- Oral exam. The oral question will be in free form on the theoretical part developed in the course (the test is rated 13.5 / 30 points). If organized remotely, the TEAMS platform will be used. The oral exam follows the written exam by two days.
- - Honors are awarded to those students who fully comply with the requirements. Furthermore, they must demonstrate a systematic knowledge of the subject, an excellent ability to apply the acquired knowledge, independent judgment and particular attention in the formal drafting of the document.
The final grade, communicated after the written test directly in Esse3, will correspond to the arithmetic average of the assessments obtained expressed out of thirty.
Other information
- The activities will take place in streaming through the use of the Teams and Elly platforms. Lessons will be recorded for any asynchronous use. Lessons will be held in both synchronous (via Teams) and asynchronous mode (uploaded on the Elly page of the course). During the lessons in synchronous mode (direct), mainly frontal moments will alternate with interactive moments with the students. To promote active participation in the course, various individual and small group activities will be proposed, through the use of the resources available in Elly, such as discussion forums and logbooks.
