Moretto M., Valbonesi P. (2005).

Profit-sharing regulation in water service supply. In Defrancesco E., Luigi Galletto L. Thiene M. (a cura di), Food, Agriculture and the Environment: Economic Issues. Second part: Food and agriculture economic and policy, pp. 291-304. Franco Angeli.

Abstract:

This book contains contributions from an international group of researchers on the role of agricultural production within a global economy and on the emerging process of globalization for the related Italian agro-food sector open issues. These being the subjects of research done at the University of Padova Dipartimento Territorio e Sistemi Agro-forestali, funded by the Fondazione della Cassa di Risparmio di Padova e Rovigo.

The four main research topics are encompassed: agricultural policies from protectionism to liberalization, international trade in agro-food products with particular attention paid to Italy and the European Union, food security and globalization, and the need for governance of the global market.

The first part of the book mainly explores the critical issues related to the globalization of international markets and agriculture.

The second part contains papers investigating food, agriculture and policy economics. These include interesting and in-depth discussions on issues such as food quality and safety, consumer attitude and behaviour, producer strategies and the importance of some food characteristics, i.e. certified origin.

The natural resources and environmental economics and policy section, which forms the third part of the book, includes several studies, many dealing with the implementation of evaluation methods. Different methodologies have been applied in various scenarios to provide welfare estimates for the use of natural resources and public goods. Amongst these, particular attention is devoted to the issue of water assessment.