Institute of Agricultural and Forestry Economics (AFO)
The Institute of Agricultural and Forestry Economics (AFO) is part of the Department of Economics and Social Sciences at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna. BOKU is committed to represent an education and research centre for natural and renewable resources, which are a necessity for human life. With its wide range of areas of expertise it is the task of BOKU to contribute significantly to the protection of life resources for future generations. With a connection between natural sciences, engineering and economics, BOKU is trying to deepen the knowledge of an ecologically and economic sustainable use of natural resources in a cultivated landscape. One characteristic of BOKU is its close cooperation with industry and economy, especially within cooperative partner projects. BOKU institute has participated (or participates) at the EU-projects RES, MOSEFA, FPS-COST, EUROFOREX, EU-AGRO-BIOGAS and FarmPath
Description of the principal personnel
involved with their relevant experience
Prof. Dr. Jochen Kantelhardt is the head of the Institute. He has 15 years' experience in agricultural and agri-environmental policy analysis. In his publications he has contributed to questions of benefits and costs of agricultural programs, the optimal combination of policy instruments and the political economy of the agricultural sector.
Dr. Martin Kapfer is a researcher at the Institute. His research focuses on agricultural economics with a special focus on agriculture-landscape relations, and the impact of policy measures to agriculture as well as to landscape (appearance) He has several years of experience in agent-based modelling, data base analyses and GIS applications. His main fields of research are concerned with modelling of structural change and landscape development.
DI Lena Schaller is research associate at the Institute. Her research focuses on agricultural economics with a special focus on ecosystem services. She has several years of experience in the valuation of socio-economic potentials and modeling of microeconomic effects of sustainable land use strategies