Master of Science / Department of Agricultural Economics / Michael A. Boland / The purpose of this research was to analyze the impact of supply control variables such as market share; DO/PGI cheese hedonic quality attributes such as country of origin, type of milk, and age; and the price of a substitute artesian or farmstead cheese on the price of imported cheeses. The literature review found that the EU has been a leader in developing a process for verifying foods produced in a local geographic area. It also revealed that the ability to control supply of a differentiated product transferred consumer surplus to producer surplus. The economic theory suggests that PDO/PGI certification results in the ability of the group of producers and / or processor to control supply by effectively causing a vertical kink in the supply curve and sufficiently differentiated products have a relatively inelastic demand curve. Data was collected on 83 PDO cheeses manufactured in the EU and sold in the US. This data included market share defined as the total tons of that PDO cheese produced in that geographic region divided by the total hectares of land. Hedonic variables characterize the PDO cheeses based on aging time, type of input and country of production. The price of a competing artisan cheese similar to the PDO cheese was identified. All of these variables were used in an ordinary least squares regression model to explain the variation in the price of the imported cheese. The regression results founded that market share, country of origin (Italy and Spain), and the price of a substitute were significant in explaining the variability in imported PDO cheese prices. Market share had a greater magnitude of change suggesting that, at the margin, a small change in supply can cause a larger change in supply which was not surprising given an inelastic demand curve and a fixed supply curve. Substitutes were actually complements which at first glance appears surprising. Finally, as one might suspect, a cheese that is more mature, like wine, has a greater value.

In 1992 the European geographical indication system was established. Through the years more than thousand of foodstuffs were registered to the system. Czech Republic joined the system through access to EU in 2004. In this paper the consumer's willingness to pay for selected product that carries geographical indication is analysed. For analysis the panel data from brewing industry are used. The results of the work are that the presence of a protected geographical indication in the interaction with other features of the product may affect the willingness of consumers to pay for the product. For example, was shown that the interaction of the protected geographical indications and bottled draft beer can influence the consumer's willingness to pay for GI product.

The aim of this diploma thesis is protected designation of "Czech beer" and its position on the domestic market through a questionnaire survey, awareness of the Czech population on the identification of products brand "Czech beer". In this thesis discussed the individual protected designation indicating the legislative rules that protected these markings define and put into effect. They included specific requirements for granting a protected geographical indication (CHZO) "Czech beer", specifying the requirements for the individual raw materials, production technology and inspection of products bearing this mark. In the practical part of the work was carried out a questionnaire survey which aims to map the awareness of the Czech population CHZO "Czech beer". The questionnaire survey showed that about half of the respondents are aware of the use of the "protected geographical indication". More than half marking "Czech beer" does not know, and only 10 % of respondents knew that the name "Czech beer is protected geographical indications of the European Union, whose purpose is to preserve the good name and quality of the beer produced in the Czech Republic. In particular, the importance of this label, why is introducing some breweries and why do you ask for, it seems to be a distinct people known. But itself idea of the product specifications marked "Czech beer" had only half of the respondents. The questionnaire survey shows that citizens of the Czech Republic should be more informed about the nature of implementation of protected designations in general, but also should be more familiar with the specifics of each label used. It is our aim not only food producers but also merchants that consumers are aware of the importance and promotion of products that are made in the Czech Republic, from local materials and traditional techniques. The positive impulse not only the questionnaire survey, but also as a stimulus for food manufacturers, retailers and other subjects can be perceived "consumer behaviour" of the majority , the majority of respondents - 82% would prefer when buying products labeled "Czech beer".

Agribusiness is an important sector to contribute the Brazilian trade surplus. The European Union and the United States are among the main destinations of agrofood products, taking part in 31.4% and 14.2% out of the exportations, respectively. The consumers, especially the Europeans, have presented themselves more demanding in what concerns farming products for human consumption, due to the nature of these products and the frequent food crisis. Thus, market segmentation based on information about the origin of the product and production process for differentiation and price attribution has become important, due to the fact that farming systems which are scale-based and linked to the production of commodities have become weakened beyond such markets. In this context, an alternative for development for certain regions is to consider regional/local specificities as factors that determine their identity, based on the concept of geographical indications. This scenario presents an opportunity for the farmers located in the APA of Ibirapuitã. Historically, the region is linked to animal production, due to the fact that the natural pastures there found provide a good support for this type of activity, which has marked the tradition, history and culture of the Gaúcho. The natural environment, therefore, characterises certain intrinsically specific attributes for the products that are originated from it, being that an important aspect in Geographical Indications. Thus, the geographical origin system, used in a Protected Designations of Origin or Protected Geographical Indications approach, is an alternative of development through the territorial perspective. This region is inserted in a conservation area legally known for its peculiar characteristics linked to the Pampa Bioma, which legitimizes extensive animal production. The development of a prototype of a system with a geo-referenced database occurred due to the need of obtaining the position of farmers in relation to the borders of the APA of Ibirapuitã. Finally the geographical indications can be used not only as tools to access other markets, but also for agricultural development, in the sense of valuing territories, mainly for small farmers that are strongly linked to their place of origin, history and culture. This space-time relation values the richness of natural, historical and cultural characteristics, i.e., the features which are fundamental for the differentiation of its production. This approach allows the origin of a product and/or its production processes to be valued, and to convert them into a differentiation and value aggregation factor, besides assuring the products identified according to pre-established parameters in what refers mainly to environmental, social and sanitary issues, as an alternative to the new barriers present in today s economical negotiations. / O agronegócio tem importante contribuição no superávit da balança comercial brasileira. A União Européia e os Estados Unidos estão entre os principais destinos dos produtos agrícolas, com uma participação de 31,4% e 14,2%, respectivamente. Os consumidores, principalmente europeus, têm se mostrado motivados em exigir maior transparência em relação aos produtos agroalimentares, devido à própria natureza destes produtos e às freqüentes crises alimentares. Assim, torna-se importante a segmentação de mercado baseado em informações sobre origem do produto e/ou processo de produção para diferenciação e agregação de valor, pois sistemas agropastoris baseados em escala e vinculados à produção de commodities se enfraqueceram frente a estes mercados. Dentro deste contexto, uma alternativa de desenvolvimento para certas regiões é considerar especificidades regionais/locais do território como determinantes de sua identidade, base do conceito de indicações geográficas. Este cenário possibilita uma oportunidade para os produtores localizados na APA do Ibirapuitã, historicamente a região está vinculada à pecuária, decorrente do suporte dos campos naturais ao desenvolvimento desta atividade, que marcou a tradição, história e cultura do gaúcho. O meio natural, portanto, caracteriza atributos intrínsecos específicos para produtos provenientes deste, sendo um aspecto importante nas Indicações Geográficas. Deste modo, o sistema de indicações geográficas, seja utilizando uma abordagem de Indicação de Procedência ou Denominação de Origem, é uma alternativa de desenvolvimento pela perspectiva territorial da região. A mesma está inserida numa unidade de conservação reconhecida legalmente por suas características pecualiares vinculadas à localização no Bioma Pampa, o que legitima a atividade de produção animal extensiva. O desenvolvimento do protótipo de um sistema com uma base de dados georreferenciada ocorreu pela necessidade de obtenção, neste primeiro momento, da localização dos produtores em relação aos limites APA do Ibirapuitã e de dados sobre recursos sócio-econômicos, objetivando obter um conhecimento prévio da área em estudo. A extensão geográfica - característica da área - associada à complexidade e diversidade de características dos sistemas agrários requer, sempre que possível, o uso de instrumentos e tecnologias disponíveis ao levantamento e análise de informações, processo que pode ser facilitado com a utilização de imagens de satélites, aplicação de fichas de levantamento adequadas à região e pelo uso de técnicas estatísticas para o tratamento dos dados. Analisando sobre estes aspectos, os resultados preliminares do protótipo desenvolvido foram adequados aos objetivos propostos, pois possibilitou a facilidade de armazenamento e obtenção de resultados baseados na análise dos dados, além da facilidade de localização destes produtores em relação aos limites desta unidade de conservação. Finalmente, as indicações geográficas podem ser utilizadas, não apenas como instrumentos para acesso a mercados, mas também como uma ferramenta de desenvolvimento rural, no sentido da valorização dos territórios, principalmente para os pequenos produtores que possuem forte vinculação com o local de origem, história e cultura. Esta relação espaço-tempo oferece a riqueza de seu patrimônio natural e histórico-cultural, ou seja, sua tipicidade fundamental à diferenciação de sua produção. Esta abordagem permite proteger e valorizar a origem de um produto e/ou processos de produção, e convertê-las em fator de diferenciação e agregação de valor, além de garantir produtos identificados de acordo com parâmetros pré-estabelecidos no que se refere principalmente a questões ambientais, sociais e sanitárias, alternativa às novas barreiras presentes nas atuais negociações econômicas.

Geographical indications (GIs) are one form of protective labelling used to indicate the origin of food and alcohol products. The role of protected geographical indicators as a promising sustainable rural development tool is the basis for this research. The protection of geographical indications is a rather controversial subject and much research is still required for both sides of the debate. The research method employed for this study is qualitative critical social science. Two Case studies are used to investigate the benefits brought to rural areas through the protection of GIs. The case studies include the GIs Jersey Royal and Welsh Lamb both from the United Kingdom a member of the European Union (the EU is in favour of extended protection of GIs for all agro-food products under the 1994 WTO/TRIPS agreement on geographical indications). Twenty-five indepth interviews were conducted for this study the duration of the interviews was approximately one hour. The study identifies predominantly indirect links between GIs and sustainable rural development, through economic and social benefits bought to rural areas by the GIs investigated - less of a connection was found to ecological elements. No considerable cost for GI protection was discovered. This finding suggests that GIs are worthwhile for implementation in New Zealand as a rural development tool.