Joint Research Centre - JRC
The IPTS is one of the seven institutes making up the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. Its mission is to provide customer-driven support to the EU policy-making process by researching science-based responses to policy challenges that have both a socioeconomic and scientific or technological dimension. The Agriculture and Life Sciences in the Economy (AgriLife) unit deals with the three closely related areas from its name. The research refers to the challenges brought about by rapid advances in science and technology in the context of changing social and economic pressures. The unit is further divided into the following actions: SUSTAG (agriculture and rural development), AGRITRADE (international agri-trade) and AGRITECH (biotechnologies).
Description of the principal personnel
involved with their relevant experience
Dr. Sergio Gomez y Paloma is senior researcher and scientific officer at JRC-IPTS, European Commission, Sevilla. He holds a degree in Agricultural Sciences, a Master's degree in Agricultural economics, and a PhD in Agricultural Economics and Policy. His main research interests include: agricultural policy evaluation, production economics, and development economics. He is currently leader of the IPTS Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development (SUSTAG) action. He is responsible for a number of projects, mostly engaging in the field of sustainable farming systems and rural development analysis, e.g. Policy impact analyses via farm/regional modelling - within/outside EU - via FSSIM-DEV, CAPRI-FARM, CGE (IFPRI-based). Food Security analysis in the Euro-Asian Cereal Belt (Ukraine, Russia), and West Africa (Sierra Leone).
Dr. MarÃa Espinosa is a researcher at the EC-JRC-IPTS. She is an agricultural engineer, holding a PhD from the Polytechnic University in Madrid, Spain. Her expertise includes: farm modelling, Social Accounting Matrix analysis, economics of agri-environmental schemes and choice modelling. She is currently involved on the following project in IPTS: evaluation of Public Goods by EU-society, use of the Farm Accountancy Data Network for CAP analysis, CAPRI-FARM modelling, and analysis of the state of the art of the "short supply chain" and the "mountain products" in the EU and their impacts on the rural economies.
Dr. Marianne Lefebvre is a researcher at the EC-JRC-IPTS. She is an economist, holding a PhD from Montpellier I University, France. Her expertise includes: economics of water management, risk and uncertainty, experimental and behavioral economics and microeconomics of farming systems. She is currently involved on diverse projects at IPTS: survey on farmers' investments, Cost Benefit Analysis of Integrated Pest Management, and the analysis of the impacts of the Common Agricultural Policy on landscapes.