The present historical moment may seem a particularly inopportune time to review Bowling Alone, Robert Putnam's latest exploration of civic decline in America. After all, the outpouring of volunteerism, solidarity, patriotism, and self-sacrifice displayed by Americans in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks appears to fly in the face of Putnam's central argument: that \"social capital\" -defined as \"social networks and the norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness that arise from them\" (p. 19)'has declined to dangerously low levels in America over the last three decades. However, Putnam is not fazed in the least by the recent effusion of solidarity. Quite the contrary, he sees in it the potential to \"reverse what has been a 30to 40-year steady decline in most measures of connectedness or community.\"' As an example of how the current \"war on terrorism\" could generate a durable civic renewal, Putnam points to the burst in civic practices that occurred during and after World War II, which he says \"permanently marked\" the generation that lived through it and had a \"terrific effect on American public life over the last half-century.\" 3 If Americans can follow this example and channel their current civic

Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American community

Policy drivers of farm succession and inheritance

Agricultural Research Policy

The postsocialist transition resulted in widespread structural change in Polish agriculture, but fine-scale assessments of how these changes affected farming and rural landscapes are scarce. This article examines changes in farm sizes and land use patterns after the breakdown of socialism in Poland using micro-census data and satellite images. Our study area is Pyrzyce County. The analysis indicates a polarization of the farm size distribution (e.g., medium-sized farms disappeared) as well as marked changes in land use patterns (e.g., increasing field sizes and field aggregation). Interviews with farmers and stakeholders suggest that this shift can be explained by decreasing competitiveness of medium-sized farms in the emerging new agricultural value chain, which forced farmers to increase and intensify production or to downsize their farms, especially when the preference was for other occupations.

Farm Size and Land Use Pattern Changes in Postsocialist Poland

The Welfare Economics of Public Policy: A Practical Approach to Project and Policy Evaluation

This volume of proceedings, available both as hard copy and pdf , is an edited compilation of selected contributions to the IAMO Forum 2004, which will be held in Halle (Saale), Germany, at the Institute of Agricultural Development in Central and Eastern Europe from 4 to 6 November 2004. CONTENTS: The role of agriculture in Central and Eastern European rural development: an overview; Martin Petrick, Peter Weingarten. Subsistence Farming and Rural Unemployment - the Case of Slovakia; Gejza Blaas. Rural Development in Albania and the Role of Agriculture: a Case Study in the Prefecture of Elbasan; Vittorio Gallerani, Nada Krypa, Meri Raggi, Antonella Samoggia, Davide Viaggi. Agricultural Problems in Georgia and Strategic Policy Responses; Zurab Revishvili, Henry W. Kinnucan. The Role of Private Household Plots in Russian Rural Development; Galina Rodionova. Agriculture in Southeastern Poland - Main Problems of The Systemic Transformation Process; Janusz Zmija, Ewa Tyran. Factor Market Imperfections and Polarization of Agrarian Structures in Central and Eastern Europe; Alexander Sarris, Sara Savastano, Christian Tritten. Agricultural Credit Market in Poland - Experiences in the Market Economy; Alina Danilowska. Social Aspects of Agricultural Employment in the Czech Republic; Hana Horska, Daniela Spěsna, Jan Drlik, Radomir Koutný, Tomas Ratinger. Lease as a Form of Land Consolidation in Moldavian Agriculture; Dragos Cimpoies, Grigore Baltag. Analysing Variation in Russian Dairy Farms, 1990-2001; Irina Bezlepkina, Ruud Huirne, Alfons Oude Lansink, Arie Oskam. The Role of Agriculture for Rural Development in a less favoured Rural Area: The Experience of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (Germany); Theodor Fock. Wine, Sand and Socialism: Some enduring Effects of Hungary's 'Flexible' Model of Collectivization; Chris Hann. Off-Farm Activities and Subsistence Farming in CEE Countries - A Statistical Approach; Franz Greif. Agricultural Productivity Growth: a Vehicle For Rural Poverty Reduction in Ukraine? Viktoriya Galushko, Stephan von Cramon-Taubadel. Institutional Factors Influencing Agricultural Sales of the Individual Farmers in Romania; Borbala Balint. Social Capital in Rural Areas of Latvia within the Context of Public Organisations; Modrite Pelse. The Effects of Social Capital on the Organization of Agricultural Enterprises and Rural Communities in Transition: the Case of Ukraine; Vladislav Valentinov, Tetyana Matsibora, Mykola Malik. Farm Tourism: Myth or Reality? Stefan Bojnec. Biomass Production as a Future Agricultural Development Factor in West Pomerania (Poland); Jaroslaw Senczyszyn, Agnieszka Brelik. Rural Implications of Foreign Direct Investments in the Food Industry of the Visegrad Countries; Csaba Jansik. The Impact of Information Society on Agriculture and Rural Areas Development; Anton Nedyalkov, Victoria Borisova. Agricultural Policy and Rural Development: Theoretical and Empirical Aspects; Heinz Ahrens. A Tailor-Made Common Agricultural Policy for the Accession Countries: Help or Harm for Agriculture in Eastern Europe? David Sedik. Evaluation of the Effects of Pre-Accession and Accession Instruments on the Development of the Northeast Region in Bulgaria; Plamen Mishev, Antoaneta Golemanova. Measures of Rural Development Policy in Russia; Alexander Petrikov. Priority Setting for Rural Development: an Interactive PC-Based Programming Approach; Dieter Kirschke, Astrid Hager, Kurt Jechlitschka, Stefan Wegener

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The Role of Agriculture in Central and Eastern European Rural Development: Engine of Change or Social Buffer?

Using Microsoft Excel, the market leading spreadsheet package, this book combines theory with modelling aspects and spreadsheet analysis. Microeconomics Using Excel provides students with the tools with which to better understand microeconomic analysis.A new textbook, it focuses on solving microeconomic problems by integrating economic theory, policy analysis and spreadsheet modelling. This unique approach facilitates a more comprehensive understanding of the link between theory and problem solving.It is divided into four core parts:analysis of price policiesanalysis of structural policiesmulti-market modelsbudget policy and priority settings. The theory behind each problem is explained and each model is solved using excel. Each model is also available on the accompanying CD and can be used as a prototype for analysis and specific needs.Microeconomics using Excel will be of great interest to students studying economics as well as to professionals in economic and policy analysis.

Microeconomics using Exel: Integrating Economic Theory, Policy Analysis and Spreadsheet Modeling

This article focuses on the social rate of return to plant breeding investment in Germany between 1980-2000. Starting point of the analysis is the development of total factor productivity which is decomposed into the effects of factor input and research investment. Information on investment in plant breeding have been obtained via questionnaires sent to both private plant breeding companies and public research organizations. The empirical results suggest significant underinvestment in German plant breeding research, as the calculated social rate of return is in the range of 16 to 28%.

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Social rate of return to plant breeding research in Germany Die gesamtwirtschaftliche Verzinsung der Pflanzenzüchtungsforschung in Deutschland

Entscheidungsunterstützung bei der Gestaltung von Agrarumweltprogrammen

In diesem Beitrag möchten wir zeigen, wie Fragen der Preispolitik mit Excel modelliert und gelöst werden können. Durch diese Herangehensweise werden die theoretischen Grundlagen der Analyse von Preispolitiken geschärft und Modellierungstechniken vermittelt, die für eigene und weitergehende Fragestellungen genutzt werden können. Inhaltlich konzentriert sich der Beitrag auf die neoklassischen Grundlagen der Instrumentenund Politikanalyse und der Allokationspolitik; methodische Grundlage ist ein partielles Marktmodell.

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Kurt Jechlitschka

Papers

The Role of Agriculture in Central and Eastern European Rural Development: Engine of Change or Social Buffer?

Microeconomics using Exel: Integrating Economic Theory, Policy Analysis and Spreadsheet Modeling

Social rate of return to plant breeding research in Germany Die gesamtwirtschaftliche Verzinsung der Pflanzenzüchtungsforschung in Deutschland

Entscheidungsunterstützung bei der Gestaltung von Agrarumweltprogrammen

Analyse von Preispolitiken mit Excel