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RESEARCH PRODUCT
Climate variability and agriculture in Italy: a stochastic frontier analysis at the regional level
Donatella VignaniSabrina Aucisubject
Agricultural sector Climate change Climate variability Italian regions technical efficiency Stochastic frontier approachEconomics and EconometricsSociology and Political Sciencebusiness.industryYield (finance)Crop yieldEconomic sector05 social sciencesClimate change0506 political scienceStochastic frontier analysisWork (electrical)Agriculture0502 economics and business050602 political science & public administrationEnvironmental sciencePhysical geography050207 economicsInefficiencybusinessFinancedescription
In the next future, climate change effects will represent a challenge for Europe and the Mediterranean area. These will have to cope with a rapid increase in climate variability. Although many economic sectors may be affected, agriculture is the most susceptible as climate heavily affects crop production trends, yield variability and the availability of areas suitable for cultivation. Using the stochastic frontier approach, the aim of this work is to analyse the impacts of climate variability on Italian regional technical efficiency in the agricultural sector for a period spanning from 2000 to 2009. Considering that technical inefficiency could be influenced by two main annual meteorological variables—the deviation of rainfalls and minimum temperature from the 1971–2000 mean value—and by seasonal rainfalls and minimum temperature moving average values, we find that annual, as well as spring and autumn rainfalls, have significant and beneficial effects on efficiency and hence on regional crop yields. The minimum temperature is efficiency-increasing in summer and winter while is detrimental in autumn.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-01-20 | Economia Politica |