Akademisk avhandling--Historiska institutionen--Stockholm, 1993. / Bibliogr. p. 334-352.

In recent years, concerns have been raised over the effects of the overuse of agricultural pesticides on the environment and human health. Biocontrol agents (BCAs) can serve as an alternative to chemicals in integrated pest management (IPM) systems. Although the adoption of BCAs is strongly affected by the socioeconomic environment in which they are to be applied and by farmersâ€TM attitudes, these factors have been poorly investigated in BCA research and development programs. This thesis empirically investigates the farmersâ€TM attitude to an IPM that employs BCAs extensively to understand which are the factors that may prevent the adoption on large scale for this strategy and which may represent the key for its success. Moreover, it aims to provide some insight about the role of different source of information and of government in spreading information about BCAs. Simultaneously with the evaluation of the agro-systems (farms) in which there is the highest probability for successful BCA implementation, it is also important to understand whether there would be a market for products obtained with BCAs. This thesis focuses on identifying the attributes that have been shown to be relevant and determinant in purchasing and willingness to pay (WTP) for sustainable grown fruits and vegetables and on evaluating the consumersâ€TM preferences and their willingness to pay for fruit obtained with BCAs. Moreover, it aims to discover whether the consumers choice is influenced by threshold values (cut-offs).

This dissertation which consists of three essays investigates the influence of subjective probabilities on decision making processes under conditions of risk. In particular, it examines whether subjects adjust new risk information on their prior subjective estimates, and, to what extent this adjustment affects their choices. In the first essay, by using an artefactual field experiment, I examine the potential correlation between incentive compatibility and validity of subjective probabilities elicited via the Exchangeability Method, an innovative elicitation mechanism which consists of several chained questions. Here, validity is investigated using de Finetti’s notion of coherence under which subjective probabilities are coherent if and only if they obey all axioms and theorems of probability theory. Experimental results suggest that subjects provided with monetary incentives and randomized questions more likely express valid subjective probabilities than others because they are not aware of the chaining which undermines the incentive compatibility of the Exchangeability Method. In the second essay, by using the same experimental data, I show that valid subjective probabilities do not significantly diverge from invalid ones, indicative of little effect of internal validity on the actual magnitude of subjective probabilities. In the third essay, by using a field Choice Experiment, I investigate to what extent subjects adjust risk information given in the status quo alternative on their subjective probability estimates. An innovative two-stage approach that incorporates subjective probabilities into Choice Experiments’ design is developed to investigate this phenomenon, known as the scenario adjustment. In the first stage, subjective probabilities that given outcomes will occur are elicited using the Exchangeability Method. In the second stage, two treatment groups are designed: in the first group, each subject is presented with a status quo alternative which incorporates her/his subjective probabilities, and, hence, no adjustment is required; in the second group, each subject faces a status quo alternative where the presented risk is not consistent with her/his probability estimates, and, hence, a mental adjustment to the scenario might take place. By comparing willingness to pay across the treatment groups, my results suggest that, when subjects are provided with SQ alternatives in which the risk is lower than the perceived one, the mental adjustment takes place, but, when subjects are provided with SQ alternatives in which the risk is higher than their own estimates, these subjects appear to make irrational choices.

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

À l'instar de plusieurs pays occidentaux, le Québec enregistre depuis quelques années un accroissement de sa population rurale supérieur à celui observé en milieu urbain. Alors que plusieurs territoires ruraux québécois sont au prise avec une diminution de la population, d'autres connaissent un regain démographique. De nouveaux arrivants d'origine urbaine sont attirés par les possibilités qu'offre la campagne et viennent gonfler les rangs de ceux que l'on nomme les néoruraux. L'objectif de cette recherche est d'aborder les transformations induites par l'arrivée de néoruraux dans les collectivités rurales du Québec en nous inspirant des travaux sur l'économie présentielle. L'hypothèse découlant de ce cadre de référence postule que le développement des territoires dépend moins de la capacité productive locale que de la capacité à attirer une population disposant de revenus générés à l'extérieur du territoire. Nous cherchons à examiner, à l'aide de trois études de cas, dans quelle mesure la présence de néoruraux dynamise l'économie des communautés rurales et à déterminer la durabilité de la stratégie présentielle pour le développement des territoires. Il résulte de notre recherche que le développement socioterritorial par la mise en place de systèmes productifs locaux ne devrait pas être rejeté trop rapidement. En effet, il semble que l'accroissement des revenus au sein des territoires ne va pas nécessairement de pair avec le développement territorial considéré de façon globale. Une prise en compte des coûts sociaux et environnementaux dans les décisions de développement est essentielle, puisque cette stratégie n'amène pas que des revenus dans les territoires, mais aussi des coûts dus à la présence humaine et à son empreinte écologique dans des territoires encore non urbanisés. Une attention particulière doit d'ailleurs être portée afin que les effets négatifs de la stratégie présentielle ne nuisent à l'attractivité des territoires. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : néoruralité, néoruraux, ruralité, économie présentielle, développement territorial

No description available.

No description available.

Conçue comme une enquête sur les élites rurales, cette thèse vise à restituer les étapes permettant au notable rural, un idéal-type social, de s'imposer dans un territoire donné. Le contado florentin est un cas paradigmatique. Les mobilités sociales et I'inurbamento des ruraux aisés sont vus comme les facteurs d'affaiblissement de communautés rurales livrées aux appétits citadins. La recherche mobilise le fonds de trois abbayes vallombrosaines, Montescalari, la Vallombreuse (Coltibuono, en se concentrant sur le quart Sud-Est du contado florentin (fonds Diplomatico de l'Archivio di Stato d Flo rence). La reconstitution de trajectoires familiale s'oblige à replacer ces trajectoires dans l' évolution plus large de logiques de la distinction sociale . Les éléments qui fondent la sociabilité rurale se transforment radicalement. Une société organisée à l'échelle locale, et très hiérarchisée dans le cadre seigneurial, fonctionne, jusqu'aux premières décennies du XIIIè siècle, sur l' exploitation de la terre et des hommes et sur la redistribution des bénéfices de la rente foncière entre un grand nombre de familles. Ce sont moins les profits du commerce et de l'artisanat rural qui font évoluer cette situation que l' intégration des patrimoines seigneuriaux aux dynamiques économiques de la ville. Le crédit fonctionne alors au dépens des anciennes solidarités pour devenir un facteur de différenciation sociale. Au même moment, on observe un transformation des cercles à l ' intérieur desquels se conservent et se transmettent les capitaux symboliques et matériels : la famille et ses prolongements; les seigneuries rurales ; les communes rurales et les clientèles de la haute aristocratie. / This thesis is an investigation into rural elites. It aims to evidence the process by which rural notables, considered here as a social type, establish their ascendency over a given territory. The Florentine contado is a case in point. Social mobility and the move of the wealthiest inhabitants of the country to the city are shown as primarily responsible for undermining the social cohesion of rural communities, increasingly preyed upon by townsmen. This research is based on three monastic archives, Montescalari, Vallombrosa and Coltibuono, and focuses on the Upper Valdarno valley and the Chianti hills (the archives are held by the Archivio di Stato of Florence, in the Diplomatico). Reconstructing the history and careers of the local notability provides a wider understanding of the way in which social distinction works and evolves over time, transforming rural communities and traditional rural sociability. From the early 12th century up to the first decades of the 13th century, rural communities in the contado were organized on a local and feudal basis, around a significant number of landowning families who exploited the land and the men who worked it, and organized the redistribution of the rent. That pattern changed, not so much because of the rise of city merchants and artisans, but because landlords started to use their lands and feudal power as a means to gain ground in the new urban economy. They neglected older rural solidarities to become providers of credit, which soon worked as an important factor of social differenciation. The social structures (the extended family, fiefdoms, rural towns and the nobility's clientele) which had been the traditional framework for keeping and transmitting capital (both economic and symbolic), were radically transformed in the process.

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Because of the multiple values and services that trees deliver to society, agroforestry is increasingly interpreted as an agricultural innovation that can help to address challenges in modern agriculture. Despite its potential opportunities in Flanders, many farmers remain skeptical though, resulting in adoption rates that are lagging behind. Therefore the objective of this thesis is to gain a better understanding of the unfavorable environment for agroforestry adoption and development making use of a farming systems research approach (FSR). In Chapter 2 we explain FSR as our general research approach, which implies the consideration of three key characteristics, i.e. systems thinking, interdisciplinarity and a participatory approach. Taking into account the general FSR characteristics, Chapter 3, 4 and 5 “diagnose” the agroforestry implementation gap more in detail. In chapter 3, we gain some first insights by assessing farmers’ intentions to engage in agroforestry and by giving an overview of the current agroforestry acreage in Flanders. In Chapter 4, we use the Agricultural Innovation Systems concept as general framework to identify the different stakeholders and their respective roles, and to give an overview of the different merits and failures with respect to agroforestry development. Afterwards Chapter 5 elucidates the different perspectives that exist on agroforestry systems among Flemish stakeholders, and links them with general discourses on agriculture in Flanders. Diagnostic analyses were followed up by design exercises in Chapter 6, which looks into different instruments that may give economic incentives to farmers to adopt agroforestry. Taking into account the gathered insights, we present in the main discussion chapter five development pathways to further stimulate agroforestry adoption and development: (1) the science and technology pathway, which stands for investing in research, especially targeting the productivity and compatibility of agroforestry systems, and this in active collaboration with farmers; (2) the market and financial pathway, which implies the creation of market mechanisms in which landscape and biodiversity aspects are valued, while stimulating private investments and consumer demand; (3) the policy and institutional pathway, which aims for the creation of a fully-fledged legal landscape for agroforestry, which is clear and steadfast into the future, and which should be complemented with an attractive and effective subsidy program; (4) the educational and organizational pathway, which stimulates the use of multiple communication and education channels to inform the relevant actors and familiarize them with agroecological practices and their benefits for society; and (5) the social and behavioral pathway, which encourages strengthening the dialogue between influential groups to restore mutual confidence, build up common visions, and open up collaboration opportunities. Through further systemic, interdisciplinary and participatory research, the identified development pathways should be translated into concrete action plans to eliminate adoption barriers and close the agroforestry implementation gap in Flanders. / Doctorat en Sciences agronomiques et ingénierie biologique / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished