Teaching code

4S001120

Academic staff

Roberta Capitello, Katia Laura Sidali

Coordinator

Roberta Capitello

Credits

6

Language

Italian

Scientific Disciplinary Sector (SSD)

AGR/01 - AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS AND RURAL APPRAISAL

Period

II semestre dal Mar 2, 2020 al Jun 12, 2020.

Lessons timetable Moodle Seminars 0

Learning outcomes

The course provides the basic theoretical tools of economics which will be applied to the wine system analysis. The course aims to study the main microeconomic theories of demand analysis, production analysis, market equilibrium and market structures. The student will critically examine the main evolutions of wine production and consumption in the world, the competition approaches and the market positioning of wine productions. The empirical part of the course aims at giving practical evidence to the principles of wine economics and to the study of wine supply chains through exercises and cases of study.

Program

Module: Theory
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Introduction to economic theory, agribusiness approach and wine economics.
The characteristics of the wine supply chains. The global wine market. Wine production and consumption. The international wine trade.
The main macro-economic indicators.
The demand theory. The demand of wine. Wine consumption. The wine market segmentation.
The production theory and the cost theory. Short-time and long-time period. The production function. The cost function of wine businesses. Returns to scale and economies of scale.
Profit maximisation.
The types of market structures. The structures of wine markets. Types of wine businesses. Competition analysis in the wine market.
Asymmetric information in the wine supply chain.



Module: Exercises
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Analysis of the main macro-economic indicators.
Representation of wine demand function, production function and cost function for a wine firm. Profit maximisation in the different market structures.
Analysis of cases of study.

Examination Methods

Learning assessment will be performed through a written exam. The written exam will consist of open-ended questions. The exam will propose from a minimum of three questions to a maximum of six questions. They aim to verify depth and breadth of knowledge, communication skills in economics, ability in critical analyisis and ability in linking the different topics proposed during the course. There could also be a question which proposes an exercise in place of an open-ended question. In this case, it will propose a type of exercise already studied during the lab activities. The available time for the written exam is one hour and thirty minutes. Each answer will be assessed using a score ranging from zero to ten. The exam mark will consist of the average score achieved in all written answers and it will be, expressed in a score scale of thirty. There will be no oral exam. There will be no intermediate evaluation. There will be no exam outside the official exam sessions. Only students regularly online registrered for the exam can take the written exam.

Bibliography
Students will have to study:

1) Castriota S. (2015), Economia del vino, Egea, Milano.
2) Sloman J., Garatt D. (2014), Microeconomia, Il Mulino, Bologna.
3) Market reports which will be available on the e-learning platform of the teaching.
4) The text "Marks D. (2015) Wine and Economics: Transacting the Elixir of life, Edward Elgar Publishing" is also recommended for non-attending students.