Research Projects

Abstract

This project therefore aims to narrow the research gap and possibly go a step further in reducing the shortcomings of food price monitoring tools. A preliminary literature review has not shown any progress in this direction and this issue is therefore rightly identified as a research challenge.

The issue of agri-food price construction arises and reappears particularly at a time when the symmetries between stakeholders are breaking down and certain sudden and unplanned events are occurring, bringing with them uncertainty and questions about short-term and partly long-term pricing. The agricultural sector is not unique in this respect, but its complex structure and the multiplicity of stakeholders and factors involved make it all the more vulnerable to dramatic changes which, in the end, place the producer and the consumer in a most precarious position, and which, apart from individual reorganisation of behaviour and optimisation of costs, have little influence. In such cases, the intermediate links in the chain are no less vulnerable. It is therefore crucial that society addresses the problem as a complex one and does not look for a "culprit" within a particular sector. Certain studies and research have already addressed this type of problem in the past in terms of cost calculations, prices, margins, etc., but it turned out that the lack of precise data did not lead to concrete conclusions. In this targeted research project, we address the issue from a hitherto unexplored angle. In addition to the empirical research that is foreseen, we aim to address the problem from the point of view of conceptual understanding and to follow this in the procedures for addressing the research question. As the description of the individual work streams suggests, we will use the hitherto unused so-called impact factor mapping. We will combine this with empirical data to create a theoretical model of price construction, which we want to test on three cases (i.e. agri-food products). We will use scientifically relevant proven methods. In addition, some of the findings resulting from the research work of the existing CRP project V4-2010 will be used. The objectives can thus be summarised as follows and have already been reasonably evaluated in the call for tenders:

- Analysis of the importance of price construction of agricultural and food products in the food supply chain from primary producer to final consumer;

- a review of good price construction practices already in place in EU countries;

- Developing a theoretical model of price formation with applicative use;

- Testing the price construction model on the basis of available data for individual food supply chains;

- Presentation of the results in a quantitative and qualitative manner for each food supply chain

Researchers

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The phases of the project and their realization

The project will be implemented in 6 work packages:

WP 1: Review of good practices of price construction already in place in EU countries

WP 2: Mapping the drivers of price formation

WP 3: Data Work Package

WP 4: Database analysis

WP 5: Building a theoretical model for price construction

WP 6: Dissemination of results

Citations for bibliographic records

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