Search results

The paper constructs an annual price series for English net agricultural output in the years 1209–1914 using 26 component series: wheat, barley, oats, rye, peas, beans, potatoes, hops, straw, mustard seed, saffron, hay, beef, mutton, pork, bacon, tallow, eggs, milk, cheese, butter, wool, firewood, timber, cider, and honey. I also construct sub-series for arable, pasture and wood products. The main innovation is in using a consistent method to form series from existing published sources. But fresh archival data is also incorporated. The implications of the movements of these series for agrarian history are explored.

This paper compares grain prices between Cairo and Europe during medieval times. Prices were higher and more volatile in Cairo than in Europe. Over time, price levels declined in large parts of Europe but not in Cairo.

No price integration can be seen between the European Mediterranean region and Cairo. In north-western Europe, a cluster of urban centers showing similar price movements had emerged in the fourteenth century, at the latest. The Mediterranean area was not integrated into this network. Price integration in north-western Europe may have contributed to the economic advancement of this region in late medieval and early modern times.

Climatic fluctuations (in temperature as well as in the water level of the Nile) affected Cairo grain prices. In Europe, on the other hand, short-term temperature variation did not have an appreciable impact on prices. Western European price integration cannot, it seems, be explained by the existence of a common climatic factor. Early European economic development was facilitated by a robust environment.

This chapter is an examination of what is meant by the term ‘Good Farmer’ and whether or not this is compatible with being a good businessperson. The term ‘Feckless Farmer’ is introduced to describe someone who is the opposite of a Good Farmer. And all of this is considered with reference to the farmers of the village of Ambridge in the West Midlands, with special emphasis on the practices of Brian Aldridge and his recent issues with contamination of his land and neighbouring watercourses. This work starts by defining key terms before moving on to consider the similarities and differences between farms and other types of businesses. The different philosophical paradigms that can underlie different definitions and practices of a Good Farmer are also explored. The ways that the economies of farms differ from most businesses will also be discussed. With some conclusions being drawn as to whether Mr Aldridge is a Good Farmer or a Feckless one, and if he deserved to be lauded as an award-winning businessperson.

In every industry there are resources. Some are moving, others more fixed; some are technical, others social. People working with the resources, for example, as buyers or sellers, or users or producers, may not make much notice of them. A product sells. A facility functions. The business relationship in which we make our money has “always” been there. However, some times this picture of order is disturbed. A user having purchased a product for decades may “suddenly” say to the producer that s/he does not appreciate the product. And a producer having received an order of a product that s/he thought was well known, may find it impossible to sell it. Such disturbances may be ignored. Or they can be used as a platform for development. In this study we investigate the latter option, theoretically and through real world data. Concerning theory we draw on the industrial network approach. We see industrial actors as part of (industrial) networks. In their activities actors use and produce resources. Moreover, the actors interact − bilaterally and multilaterally. This leads to development of resources and networks. Through “thick” descriptions of two cases we illustrate and try to understand the interactive character of resource development and how actors do business on features of resources. The cases are about a certain type of resource, a product − goat milk. The main message to industrial actors is that they should pay attention to that products can be co-created. Successful co-creation of products, moreover, may require development also of business relationships and their connections (“networking”).

The objective of this research work is to study the artificial intelligence (AI)-based product benefits and problems of the agritech industry. The research variables were developed from the existing review of literature connecting to AI-based benefits and problems, and 90 samples of primary data from agritech industry managers were gathered using a survey of a well-structured research questionnaire. The statistical package of IBM-SPSS 21 was utilized to analyze the data using the statistical techniques of descriptive and inferential statistical analysis. Results show that better information for faster decision-making has been ranked as the topmost AI benefit. This implies that the executives of agritech units have a concern about the quality of decisions they make and resistance to change from employees and internal culture has been ranked as the topmost AI problem.

The 1896 presidential election between William Jennings Bryan and William McKinley has new salience in the wake of the 2016 presidential contest. We provide the first systematic analysis of presidential voting in 1896, combining county-level returns with economic, financial, and demographic data. We show that Bryan did well where interest rates were high, railroad penetration was low, and crop prices had declined. We show that further declines in crop prices or increases in interest rates would have been enough to tip the Electoral College in Bryan’s favor. But to change the outcome, the additional changes would have had to be large.

An understanding of the social entrepreneurial behavior of key stakeholders in Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) is of vital importance to the socioeconomic growth of a country. The term social entrepreneurship or social enterprise is relatively new to Sri Lanka just as it is with many other developing countries. Social entrepreneurs are those who solve social and environmental problems that hinder social inclusion, economic integration, and sustainable development. Though many entrepreneurs are operating across the different agricultural sectors for many years, the exact nature of social entrepreneurial behavior among them is still unknown. As an agricultural economy-based country, PIM policy encompassing many strategies has been implemented in Sri Lanka to eradicate poverty and hunger in society. Therefore, this chapter aims to focus on the socioentrepreneurship of five key stakeholders in PIM and to provide empirical evidence of their activities in the area of the Bata-atha branch canal in the Walawe irrigation scheme, Sri Lanka, where PIM has been implemented. This chapter finds that the establishment of the Bata-atha farm by the Ministry of Agricultural Development and the irrigation management of Bata-atha tail-end branch canal under the organizational efforts of the Agunukolapelessa block office of Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka presents a good example of an innovative and supportive farm management system that contributes to significant improvements in the socioeconomic situation of the vulnerable farming community. Moreover, this chapter shows that the collective action of active farmer organizations and successful sole proprietors in the area constitute social entrepreneurial behavior that contributes to the social transformation. This chapter concludes with a discussion of the implications this has for the irrigated agricultural sector and the need for further research to identify the potential for continued development by fostering the practices of socioentrepreneurship in the country.

Continuously changing networked society chiefly takes more active role in ongoing transformations worldwide. Governments are dealing with numerous organized groups which arise from seemingly nowhere with particular set of requirements to make social change. In a globalized world quickly moving information flows, expanded physical mobility of people formed a new society with increased demand for better life, which cannot be emphasized without greater social responsibility of every actor in society. And this cannot be minded out, since modern society holds crucially powerful tools, such as media and internet, to fight for justice, values, and believes.

Territorial governments, even in most distanced regions, start facing similar challenges as those in crowded cities due to the call from society for greater social responsibility. Only set of stakeholders insignificantly vary in countryside compared to cities when calling for social change; however, the general body consists of variety actions to live better in a socially responsible way. Lately, farmers in countryside as well as local governments, even in post-soviet countries, are more frequently requested to mind the principles of social responsibility from the general public. Scientific literature proposes that it signalizes about the shift from industrial to postindustrial stage of development—knowledge and information age. However, any scientific evidence to disclose the factors that influence farmer's choice to act as a community citizen had not been provided yet. Authors presuppose that particular farmer's background characteristics, such as age, generation, education, or others, might be among the factors that highly shape the way farmers act with local communities as well as territorial governments from social responsibility perspective.

The main aim of this article is to disclose the factors that define social responsibility of agribusiness in their attitudes toward territorial government and local community.

Scientific literature analysis and generalization, survey, interview, and descriptive statistical analysis methods were applied. Data were collected in spring 2017 and autumn 2018 in Lithuanian farms. Research results helped disclose that age, generation, and education are among important factors in changing social responsibility attitudes of agribusiness. Significant dependency was observed among age and most of agribusiness representatives' social responsibility counterparts when dealing with territorial government and local community development.

This chapter contrasts the representation of Third World farmers in Fair Trade marketing campaigns with data drawn from long-term fieldwork involving cocoa producers in Ghana and evidence provided by older anthropological monographs on these communities. In doing so, it practically illustrates the disparity between global assumptions and local perspectives on production and consumption. The key contention underlying this chapter is that the representation of producers as needy, helpless, and disgruntled with multinational corporations is deeply problematic. Such a representation reveals a significant and somewhat concerning discrepancy between the lives of farmers and the narratives displayed in Western campaigns for trade justice. By using fieldwork data and earlier anthropological literature showing the determination, ingenuity, and far-sighted strategies of cocoa farmers in Ghana, this chapter demonstrates that producers in the Third World are not the passive and helpless individuals they are sometimes portrayed as.