scholarly journals The Agri-Foodstuffs Market and the Value Chain: Proposals for an Integrated System of Multifunction Logistic Centres in the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 402-409
Author(s):  
Maurizio Malaspina

The study investigates the agri-foodstuffs market, highlighting the developments of the last decades that have seen the large-scale retail trade to exert an action more and more invasive in the distribution value along the line characterizing the production chain.

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (22) ◽  
pp. 9418
Author(s):  
Germano Glufke Reis ◽  
Marina Sucha Heidemann ◽  
Katherine Helena Oliveira de Matos ◽  
Carla Forte Maiolino Molento

Higher demand for meat production and limited inputs, as well as environmental and animal ethics issues, are bringing alternative protein sources to the market, such as cell-based meat (CBM), i.e., meat produced through cell culturing, without involving animal raising and killing. Although the potential social and environmental benefits of the technology have been recently addressed in the blossoming CBM literature, little has been discussed about the possible implications for the environmental strategies of firms that are entering the new cell-based production chain. Thus, drawing on the theoretical framework of competitive environmental strategies and a systematic review of the literature, we discuss prospects for cell-based meat regarding the possible adoption of environmental strategies by firms that are entering the CBM chain. The technology may be considered a potential means for mitigating most of the environmental impacts of large-scale meat production, e.g., extensive land use and greenhouse gas emissions. We discuss how such benefits and consumer attitudes towards cultivated meat could encourage the adoption of environmental strategies by firms, and the roles that value chain firms are likely to play in those strategies in the future.


2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 95 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Baviera-Puig ◽  
J. Buitrago-Vera ◽  
C. Escriba-Perez ◽  
L. Montero-Vicente

<p>The aim of this research was to study the cuniculture industry in Spain, according to the Food Value Chain model, and analyse what its main operators are. Four components were identified in the rabbit meat production chain: input suppliers, producers, abattoirs and cutting plants and distribution. Distribution can follow 2 paths, the traditional channel and the modern or large-scale distribution channel. Rabbit feed, which represents the main input for producers, is a minority product, especially when compared to feeds formulated for other livestock species, as its manufacture calls for specialist companies. Rabbit production is linked to the rural environment and constitutes a significant economic option, not only for farms but also for the industry around it, such as feed producers and distributors, technicians, slaughterhouses or leather processors, among others. Rabbit farms are generally independent and not usually integrated, as found in other types of livestock. Slaughterhouses currently represent one of the main axes of the rabbit meat production chain and are either focused on traditional or large-scale distribution. The main strategic changes are apparent in slaughterhouses focused on large-scale distribution by seeking cooperative ways of working, using slaughterhouse groupings and vertical integration processes. This way, they manage to adjust margins by working with economies of scale and, ultimately, lower prices. Slaughterhouses whose strategies are based on traditional distribution may achieve higher margins than those focusing their efforts on large-scale distribution, but their growth is limited. In traditional retail premises, the majority of sales consist of whole carcasses in bulk, which are prepared and quartered as per consumer tastes. Large-scale retail distribution outlets sell both cut produce from the meat counters located in their own premises and pre-packaged products, more suited to self-service formulae. Brand presence is minimal, as is that of processed or semiprocessed products. This current situation requires support from the entire sector in order to provide rabbit<br />meat with new features better adapted to consumers’ needs, above and beyond price and with greater added value.</p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 298-319 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kostas Fragkiadakis ◽  
Ioannis Charalampidis ◽  
Panagiotis Fragkos ◽  
Leonidas Paroussos

The decarbonization of the energy system requires the adoption of a mix of zero or low carbon intensive technological options, which depends on their cost-effectiveness, their potential to reduce emissions and on social acceptance issues. Transport electrification combined with renewable energy sources (RES) deployment in power generation is a key decarbonization option assessed in many recent studies that focus on national or international climate policies. The penetration of electric vehicles (EVs) together with a gradual retirement of conventional oil-fuelled vehicles implies that a new ‘trade ecosystem’ will be created characterized by different features (move from OPEX to CAPEX) and supply chains. A key component of the EVs are the Lithium-Ion batteries, the manufacturing of which is employment intensive and constitutes an essential element of the EVs that can act as a driver for establishing comparative advantages and increasing EV market shares. Our study focuses on the size of the EV market that can be established within ambitious global and EU decarbonization scenarios and investigates the economic, trade and employment implications considering the production chain of EVs (i.e., the regional production of batteries and vehicles). We use the large-scale global GEM-E3-FIT model to capture the trade dynamics of decarbonization scenarios. We find that under ambitious climate policies, the global size of the clean energy technologies will be US$44 trillion cumulatively over the 2020–2050 period. 44per cent of the market relates to EVs, which will mostly be produced outside EU. For the EU to capture a significant segment of the EV value chain, it needs to increase clean energy R&D and associated supportive policies so as to boost the domestic capacity to produce competitively batteries. JEL: F11, F13, F16, F18, F62, F68


Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 1902
Author(s):  
Martin Oberascher ◽  
Aun Dastgir ◽  
Jiada Li ◽  
Sina Hesarkazzazi ◽  
Mohsen Hajibabaei ◽  
...  

Smart rainwater harvesting (RWH) systems can automatically release stormwater prior to rainfall events to increase detention capacity on a household level. However, impacts and benefits of a widespread implementation of these systems are often unknown. This works aims to investigate the effect of a large-scale implementation of smart RWH systems on urban resilience by hypothetically retrofitting an Alpine municipality with smart rain barrels. Smart RWH systems represent dynamic systems, and therefore, the interaction between the coupled systems RWH units, an urban drainage network (UDN) and digital infrastructure is critical for evaluating resilience against system failures. In particular, digital parameters (e.g., accuracy of weather forecasts, or reliability of data communication) can differ from an ideal performance. Therefore, different digital parameters are varied to determine the range of uncertainties associated with smart RWH systems. As the results demonstrate, smart RWH systems can further increase integrated system resilience but require a coordinated integration into the overall system. Additionally, sufficient consideration of digital uncertainties is of great importance for smart water systems, as uncertainties can reduce/eliminate gained performance improvements. Moreover, a long-term simulation should be applied to investigate resilience with digital applications to reduce dependence on boundary conditions and rainfall patterns.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 2225
Author(s):  
Ralf Peters ◽  
Janos Lucian Breuer ◽  
Maximilian Decker ◽  
Thomas Grube ◽  
Martin Robinius ◽  
...  

Achieving the CO2 reduction targets for 2050 requires extensive measures being undertaken in all sectors. In contrast to energy generation, the transport sector has not yet been able to achieve a substantive reduction in CO2 emissions. Measures for the ever more pressing reduction in CO2 emissions from transportation include the increased use of electric vehicles powered by batteries or fuel cells. The use of fuel cells requires the production of hydrogen and the establishment of a corresponding hydrogen production system and associated infrastructure. Synthetic fuels made using carbon dioxide and sustainably-produced hydrogen can be used in the existing infrastructure and will reach the extant vehicle fleet in the medium term. All three options require a major expansion of the generation capacities for renewable electricity. Moreover, various options for road freight transport with light duty vehicles (LDVs) and heavy duty vehicles (HDVs) are analyzed and compared. In addition to efficiency throughout the entire value chain, well-to-wheel efficiency and also other aspects play an important role in this comparison. These include: (a) the possibility of large-scale energy storage in the sense of so-called ‘sector coupling’, which is offered only by hydrogen and synthetic energy sources; (b) the use of the existing fueling station infrastructure and the applicability of the new technology on the existing fleet; (c) fulfilling the power and range requirements of the long-distance road transport.


2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 24-41
Author(s):  
L. A. Kitrar ◽  
T. M. Lipkind

The article proposes a new set of composite indicators-predictors in business tendency surveys, which allow identifying early information signals of a cyclical nature in the economic behavior of business agents. The main criterion for the efficiency of such indicators is their sensitivity to a cyclical pattern and changes in the dynamics of statistical referents. Property such as a statistically significant lead in time series or earlier publication allows them to be combined into indicators of early response. The composite Business Activity Indicator (BAI) in the basic sectors of the Russian economy is calculated by the authors for the first time based on the results of regular (monthly and quarterly) business surveys of Rosstat for 1998–2020 with a large-scale coverage of sampling units. In 2020, the number of survey respondents averaged about 20,000 organizations of all sizes. The index reflects the «common» profile in the dynamics of short-term fluctuations of the key parameters of the economic environment, which consists of the «balances of opinions» of respondents to the questions unified for all sectoral surveys and connected with the reference quantitative statistics with cross-correlation coefficients that are statistically significantly different from zero, with a lead at least one quarter. This is its main difference from the well-known indices of economic sentiment and entrepreneurial confidence. The main components of the BAI are the new composite indices of real demand, current output, real employment, total profits and economic situation. They aggregate the relevant «order» statistics for the basic sectors of the national economy, including the main kinds of industrial activities, retail trade, construction, and services.The article provides a methodological substantiation and an extended procedure for identifying the BAI components; their composition is formed for the entire set of retrospective results of business tendency monitoring in Russia. A new Aggregate Economic Vulnerability Indicator with a counterdirectional profile and varying degrees of symmetry of its dynamics relative to the short-term movement of the BAI is being introduced as the main limitation of business activity. Proactive monitoring of emerging vulnerabilities in the business environment is necessary to warn their large-scale accumulation, prevent the risks of economic downturns and ensure the highest possible macroeconomic stability. This integrated approach makes it possible to determine the novelty of the proposed measurements of short-term cyclical fluctuations in economic development.


2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (6) ◽  
pp. 749-767 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seppo Leminen ◽  
Mervi Rajahonka ◽  
Mika Westerlund ◽  
Robert Wendelin

Purpose This study aims to understand their emergence and types of business models in the Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystems. Design/methodology/approach The paper builds upon a systematic literature review of IoT ecosystems and business models to construct a conceptual framework on IoT business models, and uses qualitative research methods to analyze seven industry cases. Findings The study identifies four types of IoT business models: value chain efficiency, industry collaboration, horizontal market and platform. Moreover, it discusses three evolutionary paths of new business model emergence: opening up the ecosystem for industry collaboration, replicating the solution in multiple services and return to closed ecosystem as technology matures. Research limitations/implications Identifying business models in rapidly evolving fields such as the IoT based on a small number of case studies may result in biased findings compared to large-scale surveys and globally distributed samples. However, it provides more thorough interpretations. Practical implications The study provides a framework for analyzing the types and emergence of IoT business models, and forwards the concept of “value design” as an ecosystem business model. Originality/value This paper identifies four archetypical IoT business models based on a novel framework that is independent of any specific industry, and argues that IoT business models follow an evolutionary path from closed to open, and reversely to closed ecosystems, and the value created in the networks of organizations and things will be shareable value rather than exchange value.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document