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Europe accounts for around 20% of the global cereal production and is a net exporter of ca. 15% of that production. Increasing global demand for cereals justifies questions as to where and by how much Europe's production can be increased to meet future global market demands, and how much additional nitrogen (N) crops would require. The latter is important as environmental concern and legislation are equally important as production aims in Europe. Here, we used a country-by-country, bottom-up approach to establish statistical estimates of actual grain yield, and compare these to modelled estimates of potential yields for either irrigated or rainfed conditions. In this way, we identified the yield gaps and the opportunities for increased cereal production for wheat, barley and maize, which represent 90% of the cereals grown in Europe. The combined mean annual yield gap of wheat, barley, maize was 239 Mt, or 42% of the yield potential. The national yield gaps ranged between 10 and 70%, with small gaps in many north-western European countries, and large gaps in eastern and south-western Europe. Yield gaps for rainfed and irrigated maize were consistently lower than those of wheat and barley. If the yield gaps of maize, wheat and barley would be reduced from 42% to 20% of potential yields, this would increase annual cereal production by 128 Mt (39%). Potential for higher cereal production exists predominantly in Eastern Europe, and half of Europe's potential increase is located in Ukraine, Romania and Poland. Unlocking the identified potential for production growth requires a substantial increase of the crop N uptake of 4.8 Mt. Across Europe, the average N uptake gaps, to achieve 80% of the yield potential, were 87, 77 and 43 kg N ha −1 for wheat, barley and maize, respectively. Emphasis on increasing the N use efficiency is necessary to minimize the need for additional N inputs. Whether yield gap reduction is desirable and feasible is a matter of balancing Europe's role in global food security, farm economic objectives and environmental targets.

Europe accounts for around 20% of the global cereal production and is a net exporter of ca. 15% of that production. Increasing global demand for cereals justifies questions as to where and by how much Europe's production can be increased to meet future global market demands, and how much additional nitrogen (N) crops would require. The latter is important as environmental concern and legislation are equally important as production aims in Europe. Here, we used a country-by-country, bottom-up approach to establish statistical estimates of actual grain yield, and compare these to modelled estimates of potential yields for either irrigated or rainfed conditions. In this way, we identified the yield gaps and the opportunities for increased cereal production for wheat, barley and maize, which represent 90% of the cereals grown in Europe. The combined mean annual yield gap of wheat, barley, maize was 239 Mt, or 42% of the yield potential. The national yield gaps ranged between 10 and 70%, with small gaps in many north-western European countries, and large gaps in eastern and south-western Europe. Yield gaps for rainfed and irrigated maize were consistently lower than those of wheat and barley. If the yield gaps of maize, wheat and barley would be reduced from 42% to 20% of potential yields, this would increase annual cereal production by 128 Mt (39%). Potential for higher cereal production exists predominantly in Eastern Europe, and half of Europe's potential increase is located in Ukraine, Romania and Poland. Unlocking the identified potential for production growth requires a substantial increase of the crop N uptake of 4.8 Mt. Across Europe, the average N uptake gaps, to achieve 80% of the yield potential, were 87, 77 and 43 kg N ha −1 for wheat, barley and maize, respectively. Emphasis on increasing the N use efficiency is necessary to minimize the need for additional N inputs. Whether yield gap reduction is desirable and feasible is a matter of balancing Europe's role in global food security, farm economic objectives and environmental targets.

Europe accounts for around 20% of the global cereal production and is a net exporter of ca. 15% of that production. Increasing global demand for cereals justifies questions as to where and by how much Europe's production can be increased to meet future global market demands, and how much additional nitrogen (N) crops would require. The latter is important as environmental concern and legislation are equally important as production aims in Europe. Here, we used a country-by-country, bottom-up approach to establish statistical estimates of actual grain yield, and compare these to modelled estimates of potential yields for either irrigated or rainfed conditions. In this way, we identified the yield gaps and the opportunities for increased cereal production for wheat, barley and maize, which represent 90% of the cereals grown in Europe. The combined mean annual yield gap of wheat, barley, maize was 239 Mt, or 42% of the yield potential. The national yield gaps ranged between 10 and 70%, with small gaps in many north-western European countries, and large gaps in eastern and south-western Europe. Yield gaps for rainfed and irrigated maize were consistently lower than those of wheat and barley. If the yield gaps of maize, wheat and barley would be reduced from 42% to 20% of potential yields, this would increase annual cereal production by 128 Mt (39%). Potential for higher cereal production exists predominantly in Eastern Europe, and half of Europe's potential increase is located in Ukraine, Romania and Poland. Unlocking the identified potential for production growth requires a substantial increase of the crop N uptake of 4.8 Mt. Across Europe, the average N uptake gaps, to achieve 80% of the yield potential, were 87, 77 and 43 kg N ha(-1) for wheat, barley and maize, respectively. Emphasis on increasing the N use efficiency is necessary to minimize the need for additional N inputs. Whether yield gap reduction is desirable and feasible is a matter of balancing Europe's role in global food security, farm economic objectives and environmental targets.

Purpose– Whilst the real estate development appraisal practices of large national and international real estate companies are well understood, relatively little is known about how development appraisals are conducted by indigenous appraisers and valuers in developing countries. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how development appraisal is conducted in Brazil, compared to the UK, focusing primarily on the methods employed by small- and medium-sized real estate practices and their appraisers to appraise the viability of commercial real estate developments in the State of Sao Paulo.Design/methodology/approach– The study employs a two phase Delphi Method to capture and analyse empirical data from small- and medium-sized real estate appraisers in Brazil. Using the long established and relatively transparent UK Residual Method of development appraisal as a template against which to compare Brazilian appraisal methods, guidance and practice. To understand how indigenous development appraisers operate the Brazilian development appraisal methods, the research was conducted in Portuguese by a bi-lingual real estate expert who was familiar with both UK and Brazilian practice.Findings– The research establishes that appraisers working for small- and medium -sized real estate practices in Brazil rarely use the Residual Method. Instead, they employ a range of methods, the choice of which is heavily influenced by the availability of comparable market data, with Direct Comparison of market data and the Capitalisation of Income being the methods of choice. Appraisers rarely employ the Residual Method as the principal development appraisal technique, using instead the Comparative Method and Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) analysis. Land prices are usually agreed or already known and developer's profit is usually determined using DCF analysis and is highly sensitive to fluctuations in construction costs.Research limitations/implications– The research engaged with a small number of appraisers and valuers in small- and medium-sized practices in the State of Sao Paulo using a two-phase Delphi Method. The long established UK Residual Method of development appraisal was used as a template against which to compare practice in Sao Paulo State. There is potential therefore to replicate the research in other Brazilian States and transfer the methodology to other developing countries.Practical implications– In Brazil, when development land in urban areas is acquired on the basis of plot exchange, land is often sold at less than market value and the original landowner retains an equity stake in the development and shares in the development overage. The practice of "permuta física", giving landowners the freehold of part of the development, or "permuta financeira", whereby the landowner receives an enhanced land price, indexed against development value, is of potential relevance to the UK and other developed countries that need help in urban unlocking land markets.Originality/value– The research is a unique comparative study of development appraisal methods employed by small- and medium-sized practices in Brazil. It contributes to the limited literature that has so far been published in English on Brazilian development appraisal methods and reveals the similarities and differences with the Residual Method of development appraisal that is widely used in the UK and other developed countries.

Agro-investment in the fourth industrial revolution will be an imperative driving factor and a sacrosanct enabler for small farm business entrepreneurs to participate holistically in the agricultural economic value chain. Investing in advanced technology and entrepreneurship has the potential to promote business modernization and improve the productivity and profitability of farm businesses. This study assessed agro-investments in small farm business entrepreneurs in the era of the fourth industrial revolution in Mpumalanga province, South Africa. The study objectives were precisely to determine the perception of small farm business entrepreneurs on agro-investment and examine the impact of agro-investment for small farm business entrepreneurs in the fourth industrial revolution. The questionnaire used in this study employed structured and semi-structured questions for data collection, and an aggregate of 235 participants were randomly selected. The results on perception indicate that small farm business entrepreneurs mostly perceive agro-investment in the fourth industrial revolution as not suitable for small farm business conditions; this may be attributed to modern agricultural implements being predominantly manufactured in accordance with commercial sector specifications. The results from the binary logistic regression analysis on the perception of small farm business entrepreneurs in the fourth industrial revolution revealed that gender (P-value = 0.031), level of education (P-value = 0.04), farm size (P-value = 0.048), farming skills and knowledge (P-value = 0.027), farm productivity (P-value = 0.059) and investment opportunities (P-value = 0.057) were significant and influence the perception of small farm business entrepreneurs. The mean and standard deviation were used to assess the degree of severity of impact. From the results, sources of investment, technology, market participation, economic benefits, and government interventions were discovered to be impactful on agro-investment for small farm business entrepreneurs. The key contributions of agro-investments among small farm business entrepreneurs in the technological era embody catalyzed rural development, a diversified inclusive rural economy, and competitive participation in the agricultural food value chain. Another crucial contribution of the study is unlocking and accentuating the potential and opportunities that investors, technology designers, and manufacturers can exploit in small farm business agro-investments. This paper identifies and recommends that the South African government ought to create enabling environments for agricultural investment activities to thrive, especially among small farm business entrepreneurs, thereby providing grant funding and training, and enabling public-private stakeholder linkages.

En matière de semences végétales, le cadre réglementaire européen général, également étendu à d'autres pays, dont le Brésil, impose une norme de standardisation DHS « Distinction Homogénéité Stabilité » pour l'inscription au catalogue autorisant la mise sur le marché. Peu de praticiens de la « biodiversité cultivée » y enregistrent leurs variétés, malgré l'instauration d'un régime dérogatoire. A partir de quatre cas d'étude, BioNatur (Brésil), Semailles (Belgique), Kokopelli (France), et Kaol Kozh (Bretagne - France), je montre que ces praticiens développent des stratégies variées voire parfois opposées – ambiguïté, essaimage, désobéissance, contournement - qui visent à tenir un double mouvement de mise en circulation de leur semence et de mise en visibilité de leurs revendications face à l'injustice que génère la DHS. Derrière ce travail de publicisation hétérogène, j'identifie la construction d'une demande de justice écologique. Partant des composantes de la justice écologique que la littérature identifie : de distribution, reconnaissance, participation, je propose à travers mon travail empirique, au regard de la notion de public, d' ajouter la dimension d'expérimentation. Par manque d'ouverture à la participation, les différentes stratégies ne déverrouillent pas le système semencier conventionnel, par contre je soutiens qu'elles l'effritent. ; Via the « Distinction Uniformity Stability – DUS » criteria, the legislative framework of the European Union (extended to other countries including Brazil) imposes a norm of standardization for the registration of plant varieties in the catalogue allowing to put them on the market. Only a few practionners of crop biodiversity register their crop varieties despite the existing derogation system. Starting from a set of 4 case studies – BioNatur (Brazil), Semailles (Belgium), Kokopelli (France) and Kaol Kozh (France – Brittany), I demonstrate that these crop diversity farmers develop numerous, even contradictory strategies – ambiguity, spreading, disobedience, circumventing- to enable the circulation of their seeds, but at the same time, to make visible their claims in order to face the unjust system generated by DUS. Behind these heterogeneous strategies, I identify a claim for ecological justice. Through the dimensions of distribution, recognition and participation, I propose an empirical study with a specific attention on the notion of public and I add the experimentation dimension of ecological justice. At it is hard for practionners to participate at the debate about DUS, the different strategies aren't unlocking the conventional seed system, nevertheless I support that they are crumbing it away (effritement).

peer-reviewed ; Europe accounts for around 20% of the global cereal production and is a net exporter of ca. 15% of that production. Increasing global demand for cereals justifies questions as to where and by how much Europe's production can be increased to meet future global market demands, and how much additional nitrogen (N) crops would require. The latter is important as environmental concern and legislation are equally important as production aims in Europe. Here, we used a country-by-country, bottom-up approach to establish statistical estimates of actual grain yield, and compare these to modelled estimates of potential yields for either irrigated or rainfed conditions. In this way, we identified the yield gaps and the opportunities for increased cereal production for wheat, barley and maize, which represent 90% of the cereals grown in Europe. The combined mean annual yield gap of wheat, barley, maize was 239 Mt, or 42% of the yield potential. The national yield gaps ranged between 10 and 70%, with small gaps in many north-western European countries, and large gaps in eastern and south-western Europe. Yield gaps for rainfed and irrigated maize were consistently lower than those of wheat and barley. If the yield gaps of maize, wheat and barley would be reduced from 42% to 20% of potential yields, this would increase annual cereal production by 128 Mt (39%). Potential for higher cereal production exists predominantly in Eastern Europe, and half of Europe's potential increase is located in Ukraine, Romania and Poland. Unlocking the identified potential for production growth requires a substantial increase of the crop N uptake of 4.8 Mt. Across Europe, the average N uptake gaps, to achieve 80% of the yield potential, were 87, 77 and 43 kg N ha−1 for wheat, barley and maize, respectively. Emphasis on increasing the N use efficiency is necessary to minimize the need for additional N inputs. Whether yield gap reduction is desirable and feasible is a matter of balancing Europe's role in global food security, farm economic objectives and environmental targets. ; We received financial contributions from the strategic investment funds (IPOP) of Wageningen University & Research, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, MACSUR under EU FACCE-JPI which was funded through several national contributions, and TempAg (http://tempag.net/).

Backyard shacks prevalent in new government-sponsored housing developments is a distinctly South African phenomenon (Lemanski, 2009). Conventional housing finance and government housing delivery systems have consistently failed to meet the housing needs of lower income South Africans (Sisulu, 2005); however the informal market has responded to the housing need. The rate at which new households create informal housing now exceeds the rate of government housing - and infrastructure provision (Durand-Lasserve et al, 2002). Backyard shacks in formalized areas create a number of problems relating to urban management and public health; however backyard shacks have enormous potential as a means of achieving high-level government policy objectives such as densifying existing serviced neighbourhoods. South Africa's policy environment has not been successful in unlocking the potential that backyard shack formalization holds. Government interventions such as the provision of grants and subsidies have resulted in sub-optimal allocation of resources and unintended negative consequences. Housing Microfinance (HMF) is increasingly viewed as an important tool that can facilitate access to affordable, appropriate shelter for lower-income households (Daphnis and Ferguson, 2004); however the industry's potential remains untapped (Kihato, 2013). Whilst there are ranges of potential players in the HMF field that may be better positioned to intervene in the formalization of backyard shacks by means of providing financing products, they are not incentivized to achieve the high-level government policy objectives that have driven the unsuccessful government intervention thus far. This study tests the appetite of potential players in the HMF sector to develop a niche loan targeted at beneficiaries of government-sponsored houses, which can be used to finance the formalization of backyard shacks. Concerns around - and prerequisites for involvement in such an initiative were identified by means of conducting in-depth interviews with potential players in the HMF sector. The major concerns around involvement in the development of a niche loan related to using a RDP house as collateral for a loan and to social justice concerns in terms of assisting RDP recipients and not backyard tenants. Prerequisites for involvement related to partnering with other potential players and the community and to educate potential clients on personal finance and encourage investment in their own properties.

Esta dissertação visa analisar o Direito à Portabilidade de Dados recentemente positivado no RGPD e como este pode alterar a dinâmica da concorrência em especial nas plataformas digitais. Começo assim por fazer um enquadramento sobre o contexto da privacidade de dados, demonstrando a sua evolução e crescente relevância no quadro nacional e internacional. O terceiro capítulo foca-se na evolução da portabilidade de dados que, embora recente, foi desenvolvida desde 2012 pela Comissão Europeia e pelo Parlamento Europeu1 até à versão que temos hoje no Regulamento europeu e que foi transposta para a lei nacional2. Após este enquadramento, é necessário analisar a estrutura da norma e como se aplica, sendo seguida pelo capítulo que versa sobre a concorrência nas plataformas online e como a portabilidade modifica os efeitos de rede e os custos de transação. Relativamente à concorrência e abuso de mercado, é apresentada uma solução baseada na doutrina sobre as infraestruturas essenciais, demonstrando que a nova economia digital deve passar pelas questões da portabilidade como forma de desbloquear os problemas atuais de concorrência e de controlo de dados pessoais, sendo que este trabalho estará mais focado nos primeiros, através da análise de jurisprudência internacional. Em forma de conclusão, será abordada a interoperabilidade como o futuro do artigo 20º que segundo os considerandos teria esta questão como verdadeiro objetivo final. ; This dissertation aims to analyze the recently Right to Data Portability in GDPR and how it can change the dynamics of competition especially in digital platforms. I begin with the context of data privacy, showing its evolution and increasing relevance in the national and international framework. The third chapter focuses on the evolution of data portability, which, although recent, has been developed since 2012 by the European Commission, and the European Parliament to the version we have today in the European Regulation and which has been transposed into national law. After this framework, it is necessary to analyze the structure and how it applies, followed by the chapter that deals with competition in online platforms and how portability modifies network effects and transaction costs. Regarding competition and market abuse, a solution based on the doctrine on essential facilities is presented, demonstrating that the new digital economy must go through portability issues as a way of unlocking the current problems of competition and control of personal data, according to the analysis of international case law. In conclusion, interoperability will be addressed as the future of Article 20, which according to the recitals would have this issue as the final goal.

The subject of research is the dynamic change in the regulatory and legal framework of the EU and its Member States in the field of energy, in particular, concerning the regulation of hydrogen projects.The purpose of the study is to propose a response from the Russian side to the measures taken by Europe.Methodology. The research methods include both theoretical (analysis, synthesis, deduction, induction, analogy) and special legal methods of cognition (formal legal and comparative legal).The main results and the scope of the study. The European Union initiated a comprehensive development of the energy sector within the framework of the European Green Deal: the emphasis on certain sectors is no longer placed. At the same time, there is a growing interest in hydrogen projects, which are facing the problem of absence of large-scale regulation and the difficulty of resolving financing issues. In contrast to neighboring countries, the German experience in hydrogen regulation has proved to be successful and closest to Russian interests. New energy (primarily hydrogen) markets in the EU are awaiting supranational regulation. Germany's technical readiness has allowed it to quickly form the rules of the game in the emerging hydrogen network market, which should suit the Russian side in terms of tariffs and access. The EU is effectively adopting new documents and acts aimed at greater integration of various energy sectors within the Union and "discarding" traditional energy and its actors. The rapid development of the law reduces the chances of successful implementation of projects with the participation of non-EU member states.Conclusions. In the near future, in particular, on the eve of the emergence of hydrogen regulation at the EU level, Russia should reconsider the approaches to organizing the national energy policy and pay more attention to integration development. The opposite will entail economic losses and deprive the Russian side of competitive advantages and leverage. The study of the material can affect the improvement of energy legislation and business processes with the participation of third countries (for example, Russia), as well as their companies, interacting with the EU: for example, "Gazprom" Group is already considering various options for realizing hydrogen projects in Europe. Moreover, the EU experience can be useful for unlocking the energy potential of the Eurasian Economic Union. Separately, countries should consider the quantitative criterion and the phenomenon of 27 EU "heads" (by the number of member states), comprehensively improving energy orders at various levels, despite sometimes arising internal contradictions. ; Энергетическая политика Европейского Союза (ЕС) исследуется в части поэтапного оформления низкоуглеродной политики, одной из составных элементов которой станет водородное топливо. Изучается новейшая инициатива ЕС – Стратегия ЕС по водороду, предвосхищающая энергетический переход и появление соответствующего регулирования, а также опыт реализации водородных проектов в Германии. Делаются выводы, что немецкий подход оказался передовым и наиболее отвечающим интересам России, что позволит успешно реализовывать совместные международные проекты; однако в ближайшее время ввиду отсутствия определенности относительно содержания будущего водородного регулирования на уровне ЕС (в частности, возможного перекрестного финансирования газовыми участниками водородного рынка) Россия должна пересмотреть подходы к организации национальной энергетической политики и уделить больше внимания интеграционному развитию на разных уровнях, в противном случае лишит себя конкурентных преимуществ и рычагов давления.

Challenges and opportunities for communicating corporate social responsibility through digital platforms -- Corporate social responsibility engagement via social media : in theory and practice / Sarah Glozer and Sally Hibbert -- Unlocking corporate social responsibility communication through digital media / Mark Anthony Camilleri -- Strategic imperatives of communicating corporate social responsibility through digital media : an emerging market perspective / Prashant Mishra and Madhupa Bakshi -- The devil's in the details : contested standards of corporate social responsibility in social media / Robert L. Heath, Adam J. Saffer, and Damion Waymer -- Moving toward symmetry and interactivity in digital corporate social responsibility communication -- Exploring corporate social responsibility communication patterns in social media : a review of current research / Ura Golob and Klement Podnar -- The death of transmission models of corporate social responsibility communication / Ralph Tench and Mavis Avo-Mensah -- Social media : from asymmetric to symmetric communication of corporate social responsibility / Swaleha Peeroo, Martin Samy, and Brian Jones -- Communicating corporate social responsibility in the digital media : interactivity is key / Zhifeng Chen and Haiming Hang -- Fostering stakeholder engagement in and through digital corporate social responsibility communication -- A critical reflection on the role of dialogue in communicating ethical corporate social responsibility through digital platforms / Keith Perks, Monica Recalde, Francisca Farache, and Jana Kollat -- The imperative needs of dialogue between corporate social responsibility departments and PR practitioners : empirical evidence from Spain / Isabel Ruiz-Mora and Jairo Lugo-Ocando -- Integrated corporate social responsibility communication : toward a model encompassing media agenda building with stakeholder dialogic engagement / Augustine Pang, Angela Mak, and Shin Wonsun -- Hedonic stakeholder engagement : bridging the online participation gap through gamification / Christian Fieseler, Christian Pieter Hoffman, and Kateryna Maltseva -- Leveraging effective digital corporate social responsibility communication -- Social media concepts for effective corporate social responsibility online communication / Lina Gomez -- Effectiveness and accountability of digital corporate social responsibility communication : a contingency model / Shuili Du and Kun Yu -- The role of social media in communicating corporate social responsibility within fashion micro organisations / Claudia E. Henninger and Caroline J. Oates -- Corporate social responsibility and word of mouth : a systematic review and synthesis of literatures / Ezgi Akpinar -- Digital activism and corporate social responsibility -- Digital activism : NGOs leveraging social media to influence/challenge corporate social responsibility / Vidhi Chaudri and Asha Kaul -- Catastrophe, transparency, and social responsibility on online platforms : contesting cold shutdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant / Majia Nadesan -- Plotting corporate social responsibility narratives : corporate social responsibility stories by global fashion brands after the collapse of Rana Plaza in Bangladesh / Angela Mak and Suwichit Chaidaroon -- Digital methodologies and corporate social responsibility -- A new content analysis methodology appropriate for corporate social responsibility communication / Edward T. Vieira, Jr. and Susan Grantham -- #CSR on Twitter : a hashtag over-simplifying a complex practice / Ana Adi -- Index

Due to the prevailing economic crisis, Argentina has been facing a growing number of informal workers, many of them urban recyclers. Following the Covid-19 pandemic and the associated decline in formal employment, this number can be expected to rise even further. Increased recycling activity is, in principle, a positive development. However, the working conditions of urban recyclers often do not correspond to the ILO definition of "decent work".It is therefore important to ask how the recycling system in Argentina can be shaped to be socially sustainable, as well as environmentally and economically sustainable. Based on qualitative stakeholder interviews, our research aimed to collect and synthesise the ideas and expectations of a diverse set of actors in the recycling sector of Buenos Aires City and selected municipalities of Buenos Aires Province. This enabled us to identify four key areas of dispute and potential action.First, work in urban recycling is a form of social safety net in Argentina, as in many countries with persistent poverty. This can lead to a trade-off between maintaining the social function of the sector and subjecting it to the kinds of efficiency requirements placed on other sectors. Given the inherent power asymmetries between large companies and individual urban recyclers, the latter may be crowded out once the sector becomes profitable. Second, it is important to avoid viewing urban recyclers as recipients of charity. By re-introducing materials into the resource cycle and reducing pressure on landfills, they create positive externalities and offer a valuable service to society. Paying urban recyclers for the service component of their work in addition to the value of the raw materials collected would constitute a significant step towards ensuring both decent incomes and broad social recognition of the workers' value.Third, the knowledge and experience gathered by urban recyclers holds great potential for grassroots innovations, such as making productive use of materials that do not currently have a market. With the cooperation of other actors, such as universities, and the provision of resources and support via the removal of red tape, these innovators could more easily employ their ideas to the benefit of society.Fourth, as a cross-cutting issue, all solutions aimed at unlocking the potential of urban recycling for a transition of the waste sector towards economic, ecological and social sustainability require a careful navigation of the political economy dimension. Constellations of interests have led to incentives that are, in many cases, not conducive to economic efficiency and bind resources that could otherwise be used to improve recycling schemes. Reform of these incentives requires a careful analysis of power constellations and potential change coalitions.

Die vorliegende IAB-Stellungnahme fasst die mündliche Stellungnahme des Instituts im Rahmen der Anhörung am 16. August 2017 im Hessischen Landtag zum dringlichen Antrag der Fraktion der FDP betreffend 'Hessen 4.0 - Agenda Digitales Hessen' (Drucksache 19/4111) und zur Großen Anfrage der Fraktion der SPD betreffend der Auswirkungen der Digitalisierung auf Arbeit und Wirtschaft in Hessen (Drucksache 19/4357 zu Drucksache 19/2896) zusammen. Das IAB stellt eigene Forschungsergebnisse zum Thema 'Digitalisierung der Arbeitswelt' vor und geht dabei, soweit möglich, auf die Situation in Hessen ein. Im Anschluss daran werden einige Punkte des Antrags der FDP-Fraktion kommentiert. Das IAB hat für das Bundesgebiet und die einzelnen Bundesländer den Anteil der in Berufen ausgeübten Kerntätigkeiten berechnet, die bereits heute theoretisch durch Maschinen ersetzbar wären. Demnach beträgt in Hessen der Anteil der sozialversicherungspflichtig Beschäftigten in Berufen mit einem hohen Substituierbarkeitspotenzial 13,1 Prozent. Er liegt damit unter dem bundesweiten Schnitt von 14,9 Prozent. Auch wenn die Realisierung der Substituierbarkeitspotenziale aus organisatorischen, wirtschaftlichen oder auch ethischen Gründen gehemmt oder verhindert werden kann, wird es in Zukunft Veränderungen in der Arbeitswelt geben. Wirtschaftliche Anpassungsprozesse können zudem dazu führen, dass es zu erhöhtem Bedarf in Tätigkeitsbereichen kommt, die nicht durch Maschinen ersetzt werden können. Für die Politik und die Arbeitsmarktakteure wird es darauf ankommen, diesen strukturellen Wandel aktiv zu begleiten. Damit Beschäftigte den durch die Digitalisierung geänderten Anforderungen gerecht werden können, bedarf es gezielter Qualifizierung und Weiterbildung. Auch die grundlegende inhaltliche Ausrichtung der Schul- und Berufsausbildung sollte den Trend zur Digitalisierung berücksichtigen. Daher sind generell politische Initiativen zu begrüßen, die die Bewältigung des durch die Digitalisierung hervorgerufenen Wandels durch Information, Koordinierung oder Vernetzung unterstützen. ; This IAB statement summarizes the institute's oral statement in the context of the consultation in the Hesse Landtag on 16 August 2017 regarding the urgent request of the FDP fraction concerning 'Hessen 4.0 - Agenda Digitales Hessen' (printed matter 19/4111) and regarding the major interpellation of the SPD fraction regarding the im-pact of digitisation on labour and economy in Hesse (printed matter 19/4357 regarding printed matter 19/2896). The IAB statement presents IAB research results on the topic of 'digitisation of the working environment', responds to the situation in Hesse where possible, and com-ments some items of the application of the FDP.To this end, the IAB calculated the proportion of core activities exercised in occupa-tions which could, in theory, already be substituted by machines. In Hesse, the pro-portion of employees, subject to social insurance contributions, in occupations with a high substitutability potential is 13.1 per cent. This proportion is smaller than the av-erage proportion of 14.9 per cent for Germany. Though the unlocking of the substitut-ability potential could be at least partly prevented for organizational, economic or eth-ical reasons, there will be changes in the world of work in future. Furthermore, eco-nomic adjustment processes can lead to an increased demand in occupations which cannot be replaced by machines. We come to the conclusion that politics and labour market actors should actively sup-port this structural change. Targeted qualification and further training can promote employee's ability to meet the requirements that change due to digitisation. Also, the curricula of the general education system and of the vocational training should take the trend towards digitisation into account. More generally, political initiatives are rec-ommended that support the change management of the public and the private sector by information, coordination or networking.

Buildings are at the centre of our social and economic activity. Not only do we spend most of our lives in buildings, we also spend most of our money on buildings. The built environment is not only the largest industrial sector in economic terms, it is also the largest in terms of resource flow1. The rising energy costs, the growing concern about environmental issues and the approaching exhaustion of world energy resources are urging the entire European Community and the several national governments to improve energy management. Special attention is usually paid to public administrations, as European and national legislations often point out that these bodies must provide energy efficiency measures, as well as for the reasons mentioned above, also in order to represent an example for the entire community and for citizens as well. But it is also very important to find out how to foster and encourage energy efficiency improvements and saving measures in private dwellings to achieve the double advantage of reducing the global energy consumption level within the private sector and increasing investments, favoring the creation of additional cash flows as well. The possible combination of such multiple benefits makes the building sector a crucial field for policy makers at EU and national levels. Hence a policy framework that supports national markets in unlocking these potentials is strongly needed. With overall European policy aimed at significantly decarbonizing its economy by 80% to 95% by 2050, the building sector must undoubtedly play a key role. And any strategy to tackle the challenge in this field will clearly require both a significant amount of financial investments and long-term political commitments. The main goal of the present research is to propose an optimized methodology and cost effective decision-making process - based on the main facts emerging from the adoption of the key energy policies and financial instruments currently in force at European level (particularly in Italy and Denmark) - also to outline the next policy steps in improving the energy performance of buildings. After a global overview of the policies adopted at European level, the analysis focuses on the two different regulations implemented at the national level by Italy and Denmark. Furthermore, to define the best mixture of energy retrofit measures for the different geographical areas of Italy - applying a methodology based on simple and available data to improve residential buildings' energy efficiency - the work started with the analysis of the several reports produced by ENEA (the Italian Research Agency for Energy Efficiency) since year 2007. These were based on the data collection performed in order to assess the effectiveness of the Italian government's financial policies established to support energy saving actions in private dwellings. The first steps of such a top-down analysis are then carried out both through manual cost/benefit spreadsheets, as well as with the implementation of a linear programming analysis tool. The study defines different linear programming models, depicting different optimization problems (e.g. energy saving maximization vs. retrofit cost minimization), along with the respective different background scenarios. Such investigations are therefore carried out through the implementation and development of Dantzig's simplex algorithm. Moreover, to carry out a global comparison between the overall Italian and Danish situations, also achieving a deeper single-dwelling-focused analysis, further studies are developed through a Building Energy Optimization tool, implementing the EnergyPlus dynamic energy simulation software. Thence, the research moves on to a more specific analysis, shifting to a bottom-up approach and involving in the enquiry a comparison between the different assessment settings (climatic, political, economic, cultural) depicted both by Italy and Denmark. Two different dwelling models are defined for the above countries, focusing the analysis on those building typologies most representative of such European nations and thence different retrofit solutions are depicted and analyzed. The results obtained by means of this dynamic assessment are then used to group the respective energy savings vs. retrofit cost considerations within a global cost-effectiveness assessment. Finally, some "guidelines" are outlined to address the challenge of renovating the existing building stock, also in order to keep pace with the aims of both the nations and the European Union.

This piece was written by Alex Reep (CEGA Agriculture Intern) and Emily Sylvia (J-PAL Policy Manager) and was originally posted on the J-PAL blog.Farmer working in a field in Kenya | Neil PalmerAs farms become more productive, grow in size, or diversify into more lucrative crops, farmers require more labor hours and, often, more skilled labor. Labor needs may change with agricultural production practices, as commercial crops often require more labor than staples (e.g. horticulture requires additional weeding and regular harvesting in comparison to seasonal staple cultivation) and as farming practices change (e.g. regular irrigation requires consistent labor, and mechanization may displace labor at some stages of production). Despite being crucial to profitable farming systems, we know less about land and labor market failures than other constraints to agricultural technology adoption and productivity. Further evidence is required to understand important gaps in our knowledge of how farmers can best utilize household and hired labor, in addition to agricultural technologies.Evidence from randomized evaluations on labor and agricultural productivityThe Agricultural Technology Adoption Initiative (ATAI), a collaboration between the Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA) and the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), was launched in 2009 to rigorously test programs that aim to increase farmers' welfare through the broader use of technologies that help increase farmers' productivity in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Since then, ATAI has funded randomized evaluations to answer critical questions around labor decisions and constraints to farmers' growth. This research has focused on how labor affects and is affected by gender and household dynamics, mechanization, and income diversification. But, there are a number of open questions yet to be rigorously tested.Household labor and gender dynamicsResearch has shown that there is a gender gap in agricultural productivity. Women, who make up nearly half of the agricultural labor force in Africa, produce less per hectare on average than men. This may be because women often have more limited access to productivity-enhancing resources and knowledge of improved practices. They also tend to have less agency in allocating their own time and labor. Gender equity among agricultural laborers and household members is therefore an essential piece in unlocking broader productivity and growth in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly.Households often allocate labor along gendered lines — women may be more involved in planting, food processing, and ensuring dietary diversity, while men may be involved in field preparation, sales, managing non-household workers, or harvest. One ATAI-funded pilot study in Zambia looked at intra-household dynamics related to agricultural technology adoption and broader decision-making. Survey results suggested that a wife's bargaining power in the household explained the most variation in yields between the plots cultivated by herself and her husband, even more so than the practices they used. More evidence is needed to understand these intra-household dynamics, as well as the broader market dynamics related to demand for male versus female labor, differences in wages and work conditions, and productivity based on levels of cooperation for both women and men.Family labor versus hired workersBoosting agricultural productivity calls for an increased focus on changing farming systems toward higher-value crops that make more extensive use of labor throughout the year. Approximately 75 percent of farms worldwide rely on household labor to remain viable. Whether laborers come from the household or are hired externally affects costs and demand for work in local markets.Research has suggested that farmer profits can be improved by valuing work on agricultural activities done by household members the same as wages paid to hired labor. Intensive tasks require greater supervision, so households can cut costs by reallocating intensive activities to household members who may have an intrinsic motivation to do the job well, rather than seasonally hired workers. Similarly, supervision may be more difficult to allocate to hired labor so that farmers may need to prioritize family workers for certain tasks.Researchers have conducted evaluations in Ghana, Mali, Niger, and Zambia using different interventions and policy levers to assess households' decision making and pricing of family labor versus hired laborers.For example, the ATAI-funded evaluation in Niger tested the impact of providing training for the construction of an environmental technology (demi-lunes or water collection pits) on household labor allocation among other outcomes. Constructing demi-lunes is labor-intensive, and adhering to certain technical norms increases their effectiveness. Therefore, increased adoption of and investment in demi-lunes led households to reallocate household labor in the short-term to facilitate the construction of demi-lunes. Specifically, farmers moved household members to lead the more skilled yet cumbersome work of building the demi-lunes and hired outside laborers to cover seasonal agricultural tasks, such as sowing and weeding.Social norms and pressures additionally affect labor costs and patterns by influencing peoples' willingness to accept various jobs and salaries. An ATAI-funded study in India found that workers may take jobs with wage cuts in private, but reject them in public due to fear of social stigma. Understanding the balance between household labor and hired labor is essential to accurately value labor force participation and estimate labor productivity, particularly among small-scale farms in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia where household members play a larger role in smooth farm operations.Agriculture mechanization: Labor-demanding and labor-saving technologiesMechanizing farm operations can allow laborers to work on other important tasks rather than time-consuming or high-skill tasks, like tilling, reaping, and sowing seeds. Some technologies and practices are labor-saving (tractors and irrigation systems), while others are labor-demanding (transplanting seedlings to fields to improve germination rather than broadcasting seeds into a tilled field). Adopting innovations may allow households to reallocate their time spent on manual labor to higher-skilled roles, supervising hired labor, overseeing mechanized processes, and for non-agricultural economic activities. In an ATAI-funded evaluation in India, researchers found that vouchers and cash grants for machine rentals increased mechanization during land preparation, freeing up hired labor in other stages of production and freeing up household time, particularly from members engaged in farm supervision activities. They also found evidence of higher time engagement in off-farm activities from farmers that already participated in those markets. However following the successful introduction of new technologies, complementary investments in labor may be required to ensure that technology is working the way it was intended. More research is needed to better understand the effect of introducing technologies at different stages of agricultural production.Promoting local economic diversification among agricultural householdsBroader planning against the agricultural calendar is a critical step in households' decisions to hire workers or seek off-farm employment for family members. Agricultural activities are seasonal, and demand and supply of labor for production and harvest ebb and flow depending on the time of year and skill of the worker. In many contexts, there is a lull in demand for labor after planting, often called a "lean season," where households have less disposable income. Therefore, there is a need to generate economic opportunities or activities for farming households outside of agriculture in their local market or in nearby urban centers.A randomized evaluation in Bangladesh looked at grants delivered to households who opted to migrate to urban areas for work during the lean season. Researchers found that the grants improved migrants' income and made it less competitive to get work within the village, increasing wages and the number of work hours available in the market.Future research could build on this and assess other ways to increase productive, local, and lucrative employment opportunities between peak planting and harvesting periods to ensure work is available throughout the year.Open questions for new research on agricultural laborAs some of the evaluations cited here suggest, results may not always translate to other contexts. Therefore, researchers often call for more research to test the aforementioned interventions and relevant questions in different agricultural labor markets.In addition to those highlighted above, there are a number of open questions at the nexus of labor and agriculture to develop a deeper understanding of wage setting, skill-building, and how households allocate labor to agricultural activities. Areas for further research include:assessing interventions that allow households to hire workers and take jobs in other sectors or allow them to more extensively use family labor throughout the year (through crop diversification, mechanization, role specialization, etc.)evaluating the effects of farm size, health of workers, contracting, and trust in the local labor marketshifting from subsistence cultivation of staple crops to intensive cultivation of commercial crops through a process of agricultural transformation, where the former heavily utilizes female labor while the latter is traditionally a domain of male labor in many contexts; and understanding what complementary interventions can improve outcomes for women when labor demands and activities favor menimproving access to productive assets, like machine rentalstesting interventions designed to engage women and other vulnerable or marginalized groups, such as landless laborers, in more lucrative, appealing, or empowering work.On February 21, ATAI released its newest call for proposals, and encourages more research that expands the body of evidence related to labor and agricultural systems. For information on eligibility, please review the ATAI call for proposals.If you are a researcher or implementing organization interested in partnering with ATAI to evaluate a related program, please reach out to atai [at] povertyactionlab [dot] org. In addition to the general RPF, the initiative also specifically invites proposals that investigate approaches designed to benefit or empower women. Applicants with a gender-focused approach should choose the gender-focused application on the online portal.Agricultural productivity and labor: Evidence and open questions for researchers was originally published in CEGA on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.