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The aim of this paper is to analyze how “mini-bonds,” an innovative financial tool for Italian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), can contribute to the development and sustainability of the agri-food sector and its local products, such as Pecorino Cheese.

The study was conducted as a qualitative case study applying the CAOS (“characteristics, ambience, organization, start-up”) model. This model makes it possible to describe all variables that affect a company in a given economic context.

In Sardinia, a small island to the southwest of Italy, there are more than 60,000 agricultural enterprises, 60 percent of which are shepherding operations. Obtaining financial resources is a constant challenge, often related to the uncertainties inherent in seasonal activities. This paper explores how a mini-bond was implemented to promote the development and sustainability of Pecorino Cheese.

Limitations are chiefly related to the short observation period—the bond was first issued in 2018—and to the narrow geographical base of observation.

This research contributes to the expanding body of literature on innovative financial tools for the promotion and development of the local agri-food heritage. It may be useful to practitioners currently researching and developing growth strategies for companies. Existing barriers to credit access are among the most important causes of the lack of development of SMEs, especially in Italy where SMEs represent the principal type of new businesses in the agri-food sector, and their economic success is so dependent on seasonality. In February 2019, the Pecorino case played a role in the Italian government stepping in to avoid the collapse of the price of milk. Future research will focus on the analysis of specific economic results of the financial operations described herein, and will further focus on possibly similar cases of local products making use of innovative financial tools.

The paper examines the factors that influence the production of cash flows in a sample of Italian farm accountancy data network (FADN) farms to generate information useful for calibrating policies to support farmers' investments.

An econometric analysis on the sample estimates the influence of structural, economic, commercial and financial variables on CAFFE, i.e. the cash flow that includes the payments to the farmer's resources and the free cash flow on equity (FCFE). The econometric problem of endogeneity is treated by adopting the Hausman test to choose between fixed and random effects models. The results for Italian agriculture and its types of farming (TFs) are examined based on the FCFE/capital depreciation ratio, where FCFE subtracts from CAFFE the opportunity cost payments to the farmer's resources. This ratio identifies TFs with problems of sustainability of the production system.

The results show that increasing the productive dimension, in particular the endowment of farmland and working capital, is still essential to stimulate the production of cash flows of Italian agriculture. Without this growth, increasing the depreciable capital base is ineffective. FCFE does not compensate for depreciation in several TFs, which in various cases could also improve by improving economic efficiency and commercial position.

Assessing the factors that most influence cash flows can help to better calibrate rural development measures to the territories and farming types that most need public support. Our analysis procedure can be applied to all production systems equipped with farm accounting networks; however, the criteria for rewarding farmer resources and calculating the replacement value of agricultural capital need to be better discussed.

The specification of rural development policies rarely takes into account the financial sustainability conditions of farms, as well as the factors that determine them, in defining the support parameters and the selection criteria for funding. Our approach, based on the analysis of FADN data, considers these aspects and provides ideas for better calibrating public support for investments among agricultural territories, sectors and types of farms.

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are a consolidated reality. While consumers are opposed to the introduction of GMOs in Italy, little or nothing is known about the companies’ attitude. For this reason, this work is focused on companies. This research aims to understand the problems, the possible solutions and the opinions of farms on the role of GMOs to arrive at a judgement based on the representation of various positions.

This paper was made possible thanks to a direct survey on the field. In particular, the work provides a significant number of interviews directed to livestock farms; a logical sequence of questions that allow you to understand the attitude and the willingness of companies and if there is a future propensity to transgenic cultivation; and the creation of an ad hoc analysis on the behaviour of farmers.

Thematic analysis revealed that GMOs are the only valid research to the advancement of agriculture, able to guarantee our companies productivity improvements. This technique could solve many problems related to agriculture, such as the possibility of future saving on crops.

There is a lot of research on GMOs. The research behind this paper is different, because it is a research carried out throughout all the country, from the point of view of businesses.

The purpose of this paper is to provide empirical evidence on the relationship between capital structure and technical efficiency (TE) for Italian cereal farms during the 2008–2014 period. Emphasis is given in the understanding of the relationship between the level of financial leverage for cereal farms and their production performance.

The methods employed in this research article are based on non-parametric techniques in order to derive TE estimates for a sample of Italian cereal farms based on available Farm Accountancy Data Network data to explore in depth the relationship amongst the financial exposure of the sector and the capacity to utilise an efficient and effective production technology. Furthermore, subsidies are considered in the model as a non-discretionary variable and therefore, as an input that farmers cannot directly influence within the production function. Hence, the non-discretionary Data Envelopment Analysis model is a more appropriate framework since it is not penalising farms at a lower level of Pillar I payments when benchmarked with farms that receive a higher level of payments.

The results show that significant improvements could be achieved for most of the farms in the sample by improving production and management practices. Furthermore, results provide an empirical support of the adjustment theory by showing a negative impact of debt to asset ratio to TE.

This research article provides a first insight on the evolution of the Italian cereal farms debt-TE relationship in periods where high price instability has been observed.

In Italy, worker cooperatives (WCs), whose workers hold major control rights over collectively-owned assets, are the leading vehicle for the promotion and development of employee ownership. Worker cooperatives are present in all regions and in most economic sectors, employing about 506,000 workers and generating a turnover of about €22 bn. Despite their history and diffusion, the high prevalence of WCs in Italy is under-researched and -thematised and requires new research.

The paper leverages unpublished primary and secondary data from Centro Studi Legacoop databank, the Aida-Bureau Van Dijk databank and the Cooperative Registry of the Ministry of Economic Development (CRMED) to explain the spread of WCs in Italy.

This paper reveals descriptive statistics of WCs and investigates their distribution across economic sectors and regions, their economic and financial performance and gives an overview of the relevant legislation. The paper indicates that older small- and medium-sized cooperatives located in central and north-eastern Italy perform best economically. However, in recent years, an increasing number of young cooperatives has emerged in South Italy thanks to favourable legislation, cooperative finance and the diffusion of cooperative know-how. Limitations to such results are reported in the conclusions.

The paper sheds light on past and recent development trends of WCs in Italy, highlights their growth in South Italy and revitalises the debate on the drivers, structures and rationales of employee-owned enterprises in Italy. Findings generate implications for research and practice. Given the tendency of WCs to better protect jobs than investor-owned enterprises, the spread of these enterprises may help workers find better and more stable jobs, counter-cyclically mitigating the dangerous effects of macro- and meso-economic fluctuations and instability.

We can think of those with a cynical turn of mind who might consider not a little of the present output of the parliamentary machine as “harem scarem” law, but the indecent haste, the freak urgency of some politically inspired laws apart, it is only too obvious that law is being made under rush conditions, and the reasons are not far to seek. A hectic, over‐active party executive, feverishly pushing ahead with its policies produces impossible working conditions for the parliamentary draftsmen. Law, whether it is statute or regulation, has never been more complex than it is today; time allowed for parliamentary debate is completely inadequate; too many and varied interests have to be taken into account, to say nothing of the vast range of delegated legislation. The urgency of some legislation is doubtful; it is difficult to see the need for all the hurry; a little more time in proper debate would prevent some of the loopholes which subsequently appear and render the law more comprehensible; incomprehensibility and justice are rarely compatible. As Diplock L J., said in the Court of Appeal in Rex. v. Industrial Injuries Commissioner ex parte Cable (1968) 1 A.E.R., 9, a few months ago—“Judges have been at their wits' end to know what some of the provisions mean. It would be a good thing if time could be found to remedy the blemishes.”

The present research expands the debate on environmental sustainability in the wine industry. Since the literature on sustainability and wine is relatively recent, current results do not cover all the practices that can be implemented along the wine supply chain. Thus, the paper presents a classification of environmental practices specific for the wine industry, according to the increased attention that has been paid to this topic in recent years. Moreover, it investigates the adoption level of these practices with reference to Italian wine producers.

The research presents a systematic literature review including papers published in academic journals during the past 30 years and in Italian specialised magazines. This methodology is useful to provide a clear overview of sustainable practices that can be adopted along the wine supply chain. Therefore, an empirical study based on the results of an online survey shows how wineries approach environmental sustainability.

The literature review provides a definition and classification of environmental practices in the wine industry, as well as identification of those that require further attention in the literature, suggesting future research paths. The results of the online survey give an overview of the adoption level of environmental practices and highlight widespread attention to all the listed environmental practices, including those not adopted.

From a theoretical point of view, this paper fills a literature gap in terms of the definition and classification of environmental practices that cover all wine supply chain processes, also providing a useful instrument for wine companies' managers. Moreover, the results of the empirical research give an overview of the adoption level of environmental practices in one of the most relevant countries in terms of wine production and highlight widespread attention to all the listed environmental practices, including those not adopted.

This study explores the impact of institutions, policies, and regulations at the global, national, and sectoral levels on digitalisation within the Italian and Australian wine industries.

Drawing on qualitative research data collected from interviews with key personnel in the wine industry, this study shows that both jurisdictions are at a similar stage of emergent digital development despite very different settings.

Accordingly, the authors find that digitalisation is constrained by common policy and regulatory issues emanating at the global and national levels, such as a lack of data infrastructure and data governance, and the need for institutions at the local and regional levels to spur innovation, especially with SMEs.

This is the first study to analyse the role of policy, regulation, and institutional arrangements in digital diffusion using a cross-country comparison of the wine sector.

The purpose of the paper is to provide an analysis of the adoption of Rural Development Policies (Rdp) as the result of entrepreneurial behaviours carried out by family farms with a focus on the Lazio Region of Italy. Family farming is the backbone of the European model of agriculture. Rdp provide family farms with a set of opportunities which, if well exploited, could drum up farm’s development.

An empirical analysis of a data base provided by the Lazion region of Italy on the adoption of Rdp by family farms in the Lazio region for the period of 2007-2013. Cluster analysis is the main analytical tool used.

The results evidence significant differences in the adoption of rural policy on the basis of family life cycle and the composition of the family farm. The empirical analysis underlines the low degree of coherence by farms located in rural areas.

Farmers’ success in accessing funds requires them to be proactive and take a strategic perspective to convince funders that they have a coherent strategy which meets the requirements of the particular Rdp which they are trying to access.

In terms of policy, a more nuanced understanding of the entrepreneurial nature of some practices in a rural setting and how they require multi-agency investigation.

The paper is unique, in that it considers the consumption of policy by farmers who are entrepreneurial in their vision. By consumption of Rdp, we mean the farmer’s strategic capability to obtain funds from regional funding pots for rural development.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the attitude of pig farmers toward animal welfare in light of the state‐of‐the‐art legislation on animal welfare and production schemes in Italy.

The general framework regarding pig production, legislation and production schemes will be described by a literature review and personal communications from experts in the field. The results of farmers' attitudes toward animal welfare are based on a survey carried out among pig producers.

The main findings of the research are related to the survey results among pig producers. The paper presents a short description of the Italian pig sector and the results of the animal welfare legislation and production schemes.

The main limitation of the study is the relatively limited number of survey interviews. For this reason the sample cannot be considered statistically representative of the whole country.

The information collected in this article could represent a useful source for farmers, policy makers, and retailers, as well as consumers interested in animal welfare issues.

This is the first time that pig producers have been asked to express their opinion on animal welfare as defined by the legislation in force and the existing production schemes.