• Energy Research

The present paper attempts to investigate whether the Sub-Measure 6.1 “Start-Up Aid for Young Farmers” payments of the 2014–2020 Rural Development Programme have a role to play in explaining Greek farms’ export orientation and export performance through a statistical analysis of farm-level data. The results demonstrate considerable differences in farm structures between beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries and provide support for the contention that beneficiaries are more likely to operate more productive and economically efficient farms. However, the results also provide a sobering assessment of the role of the young-farmer-related subsidies in stimulating export orientation and export performance.

Generation renewal in farming is an urgent matter for European policy institutions that strive to maintain social cohesion and improve economic development in rural areas. Aids to young Europeans to enter the agricultural business sector have been available since 2000 to counter the negative effect of an aging rural population. This study examines for the first time the impact of the Pillar II policy measure for generation renewal on regional economic growth. The well-established input–output method was selected to estimate the income and employment effects of the policy measure, and it served as a concrete impact analysis tool. Within the AGRICORE project study for the Young Farmers Scheme in Greece, two input–output models were constructed for Thessaly and Central Macedonia, the two most agriculturally oriented regions (NUTS-2 level), to estimate multipliers and elasticities for an ex-post impact analysis of the payments of Measure 6.1 "Start-Up Aid for Young Farmers" for the CAP 2014–2020 period. Results indicate that regional output and employment are significantly benefited from the generation renewal policies while income generation is positive but at a lesser extent. Furthermore, indirect jobs created in rural areas equal to 20% of the direct employment expressed as the number of new entrants. Consequently, the Measure proves to stimulate regional output, refresh the agricultural population and enhance rural employment, and it can be a useful tool for policy makers to support rural welfare and maintain social and economic cohesion.

According to the national and European Community legislation and the quality control regulations for wine, a series of analyses are carried out by government agencies on locally produced wines in Greece. The present study examines the analyses of dry white wines produced in the regions of Ioannina in the Epirus region and the Ionian Islands, correlating them with the climatic conditions of each region. The purpose of this correlation is to evaluate the effect of the local climate on the wines’ individual characteristics, as identified by the analyses. Another crucial objective of this study is the evaluation of the effects caused by the continual changes in climate on these characteristics, as determined by the analyses. Results indicate that the prevailing climatic conditions, in conjunction with climate change, can affect all the parameters evaluated in the analyses for the wines produced in the two regions under this study.