Ph.D. Course

Empirical Applications of Economic Organization

and Institutions in Agri-Food Value Chains

with Johan F.M. Swinnen

22–26 August 2014

University of Primorska, Faculty of Management

Koper, Slovenia, www.fm-kp.si/en

Host University of Primorska, Faculty of Management

Dates Welcome: Friday 22 August 8h30

Lectures: Friday 22 August – Sunday 24 August

Pre-EAAE-Conference workshop: Tuesday 26 August (in Ljubljana)

Teachers J.F.M. Swinnen, K.U.Leuven, Belgium

K. Karantininis, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences - SLU, Sweden

G. Martino, University of Perugia, Italy

S. Pascucci, University of Wageningen, Netherlands

J.-M. Codron, INRA, Montpellier Supagro, France

L. Dries, University of Wageningen, Netherlands (Course coordinator)

S. Bojnec, University of Primorska, Slovenia (Local organiser)

Course Description

The course has two main objectives. First, to familiarize participants with the main concepts

of New Institutional Economics and specifically Transaction Cost Economics that are relevant

for the study of economic organization and coordination problems. Second, the course

focuses on empirical applications of this theoretical background in agri-food value chains.

The first part of the course – three days – will focus on the theoretical framework and

econometric applications. Students will be challenged to look at value chains from the

transaction costs perspective, to identify the transaction, to distinguish different governance

structures and types of organization, and to understand the role of institutions in explaining

governance and organizations. The practical sessions will introduce students to using the

analytical tools available in their research. Examples will come from the lecturers’ experience

and research activities. Furthermore, these practical sessions will also be open to discuss

participants’ own research.

In the second part of the course – one day – students are invited to participate in the pre-

conference workshop “It’s a jungle out there: The strange animals of economic organization

in agri-food value chains” which is endorsed by the European Association of Agricultural

Economists and precedes the tri-annual EAAE Congress in Ljubljana. Invited speakers, Claude

Ménard (Université de Paris, Panthéon-Sorbonne) and A. Grandori (Bocconi University), will

kick-off the pre-conference workshop by presenting the challenging task: to explore the

diversity in organizational forms that exist in the agri-food sector and to identify an

appropriate theoretical framework that allows analyzing and explaining this diversity. Next,

various scholars will present analyses and case-studies of a variety of economic

organizations in the agri-food sector. For more information on the pre-conference

workshop, please visit the congress website:

http://www.eaae2014.si/congress/pre-congress-workshop/workshop-1

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course students will be able to: Recognize the function of and distinction among organizational arrangements

Apply the transaction cost theory to analyze the choice and structure of contracts

and organizational forms

Evaluate empirically the determinants of alternative organizational arrangements

Apply the above skills in problems related to agri-food value chains

Pre- Requisites Intermediate Microeconomics

Elementary Econometrics

Experience with SPSS or other econometrics software program is an asset.

Materials and preparation

A Literature List will be prepared by the lecturers

Students will have to submit a one page proposal of a research paper based on the pre-assigned literature prior to the start of the course

This proposal will be discussed and elaborated during the course and will form the basis for the students’ papers to be submitted after the end of the course

Credits

To receive course credits, participants have to submit a research paper within 2 months after the completion of the course. Guidelines for writing the research paper will be provided by the lecturers.

Selected research papers may be considered for publication in the journal Management (http://www.fm-kp.si/zalozba/ISSN/1854-4231.htm)

After successful completion of the course, students will be awarded with 4 ECTS course credits

Course schedule

Date Time Activity Lecturers

Friday 22 August

8.30-9.00 Welcome and introduction participants S. Bojnec / L. Dries Representative FM

9.00-10.30 Transactions and Governance in agri-food value chains: Theory

K. Karantininis

Coffee break

11.00-12.30 Transactions and Governance in agri-food value chains: Theory

K. Karantininis

Lunch

13.30-15.30 Student research proposals: Small group discussions

All

Coffee break

16.00-18.00 Empirical applications in SPSS: Introduction L. Dries

Saturday 23 August

8.30-10.00 Power relations and contract enforcement in agri-food chains: empirical evidence

L. Dries

Coffee break

10.30-12.00 Analysing participation in agri-food chains: a TCE perspective

S. Pascucci

Lunch

13.30-15.30 Empirical applications in SPSS: Transactions, Governance, Institutions

L. Dries / S. Pascucci

Coffee break

16.00-18.00 Empirical applications in SPSS: Organization and Innovation

L. Dries / S. Pascucci

Sunday 24 August

8.30-10.00 Incomplete contracts with allocation of control/decision rights: theory and evidence

J.-M. Codron

Coffee break

10.30-12.00 Food and people: how constitutional processes sustain the co-production of health and environmental values

G. Martino

Lunch

13.30-15.00 Economic Organization and Institutions in Agri-Food Chains: Empirical evidence

J.F.M. Swinnen

Coffee break

15.30-17.00 Economic Organization and Institutions in Agri-Food Chains: Empirical evidence (ctd.)

J.F.M. Swinnen

17.00-17.30 Close of Lectures K. Karantininis

Tuesday 26 August

Pre-conference EAAE workshop with C. Ménard and A. Grandori To be held in Ljubljana

Participation Fee

The Course fees are Euro 365,00. The fees cover: access to online course materials (Dropbox), 3-day lectures and practical sessions, coffee breaks, lunches and participation in the one-day pre-EAAE-conference workshop (in Ljubljana). Remark: The fee only covers participation in the pre-conference workshop but not the participation fee for the full EAAE congress in Ljubljana (26-29 August 2014). Students that want to attend the EAAE congress should register through the congress website: http://www.eaae2014.si/congress/register/ Furthermore, the fee does not cover travel to and from Koper, and cost of accommodation. However, block bookings have been made at a preferential fee in the following accommodations: Hostel Museum in Koper (see: http://www.hostel-museum.com) - Price is 20 EUR per person / per night, breakfast is included - 3 double bedrooms and 1 single bedroom are available for summer school students Hostel Koper - bed and breakfast (see: http://www.ddkoper.si) - Price is about 22 EUR per person / per night - 20 single rooms are available for summer school students Hotel Pristan - bed and breakfast (see: http://www.pristan-koper.si) - Price is about 50 EUR per person / per night - 6 double rooms are available for summer school students

If you want to benefit from the preferential fee, reservations have to be made before the end of May 2014. When booking your accommodation, please indicate that you are participating in the Faculty of Management Summer School. The preferential room rate cannot be guaranteed for reservations that are made after May 31st 2014.

Registration

To register for the course, please fill in the registration form on the next page and return it to liesbeth.dries@wur.nl

Important Date: June 27th 2014 Deadline for Course registration and full payment of the course fee

Your registration will only be final after full payment of the course fee. Payments should be made to the following bank account:

Account holder: Bank: ABN-AMRO Wageningen UR Account number: 53 95 09 426 Social Sciences Group IBAN: NL05ABNA0539509426 Finance&Control BIC/Swift: ABNANL2A Postbus 8130 6700 EW Wageningen PLEASE MENTION WITH PAYMENT: NAME OF PARTICIPANT/ 945600/320

Further information

For further information, please contact the course coordinator: Liesbeth Dries

(liesbeth.dries@wur.nl)

Ph.D. Course Empirical Applications of Economic Organization and Institutions in Agri-Food Value Chains

22-26 August 2014, Koper / Ljubljana, Slovenia

REGISTRATION FORM

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Course participation fee: 365,00 Euro

Please send the completed registration form before 27-06-2014 by email to: liesbeth.dries@wur.nl