Monday, December 06, 2021, at 10 am Maurice Allais building – room G614B.

Thesis director :
Cécile Couharde, University Professor

Members of the Jury :
Jean Bernard CHATELAIN, University Professor
Jean Louis COMBES, University Professor
Cécile COUHARDE, University Professor
Christophe GOUEL, Director of Research – HDR (INRAE)
Valérie MIGNON, University Professor

Summary of the thesis :
This thesis aims at studying some effects induced by the dynamics of agricultural prices under the prism of the following three issues. First, we study the effects of agricultural price dynamics via the transmission of prices along the French agri-food chain. The second chapter examines the role played by the context of rising agrarian prices on the land-use practices of European farmers. Finally, a third and last chapter analyzes the effectiveness of the direct aids of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in stabilizing agricultural incomes within the regions of the European Union (EU). The first chapter shows that, although asymmetric price transmission is effective throughout the French agri-food chain, it is more pronounced at the downstream level, suggesting that agri-food firms are the main losers in the recent price war in the food sector. The results of the second chapter indicate that in the context of rising agricultural prices, European farms are expanding their agricultural land at the expense of wooded areas. Finally, the last chapter highlights the role of asymmetric shocks in explaining the regressive nature of CAP direct payments. In particular, direct costs do not correct the effects following asymmetric income shocks in the poorest regions of the EU, which are mainly exposed to adverse weather shocks.

Keywords : Asymmetric shocks; Agri-food chain; Agricultural prices; Price transmission; Income stabilization; Agricultural land use