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

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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)

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Chiara Mazzocchi & Guido Sali, 2016. "Sustainability and Competitiveness of Agriculture in Mountain Areas: A Willingness to Pay (WTP) Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-13, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:8:y:2016:i:4:p:343-:d:67735
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Ionuț Săvulescu & Bogdan-Andrei Mihai & Marina Vîrghileanu & Constantin Nistor & Bogdan Olariu, 2019. "Mountain Arable Land Abandonment (1968–2018) in the Romanian Carpathians: Environmental Conflicts and Sustainability Issues," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-11, November.
    2. Elisa Giampietri & Dieter B. A. Koemle & Xiaohua Yu & Adele Finco, 2016. "Consumers’ Sense of Farmers’ Markets: Tasting Sustainability or Just Purchasing Food?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(11), pages 1-14, November.
    3. Seul-Ye Lim & Se-Jun Jin & Seung-Hoon Yoo, 2017. "The Economic Benefits of the Dokdo Seals Restoration Project in Korea: A Contingent Valuation Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(6), pages 1-15, June.
    4. Matthew M. Mars & Hope Jensen Schau & Tyler E. Thorp, 2023. "Narrative curation and stewardship in contested marketspaces," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 51(2), pages 418-443, March.
    5. Yang Yi & Yuanyuan Zhao & Guodong Ding & Guanglei Gao & Mingchang Shi & Yue Cao, 2016. "Effects of Urbanization on Landscape Patterns in a Mountainous Area: A Case Study in the Mentougou District, Beijing, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(11), pages 1-14, November.
    6. Chiara Mazzocchi & Guido Sali, 2022. "Tourists’ Perception of Ecosystem Services Provided by Mountain Agriculture," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-14, September.
    7. Huber, Robert, 2016. "Towards a cost-benefit assessment of farm structural change in European mountain regions," 149th Seminar, October 27-28, 2016, Rennes, France 244785, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    8. Gema Cárdenas Alonso & Ana Nieto Masot, 2017. "Towards Rural Sustainable Development? Contributions of the EAFRD 2007–2013 in Low Demographic Density Territories: The Case of Extremadura (SW Spain)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(7), pages 1-20, July.

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