Security-differentiated Water Pricing as a Mechanism for Mitigating Drought Impacts. Insights from a Case Study in the Mediterranean Basin.

Water is becoming an increasingly scarce resource due to growing multi-sector demand and the effects of climate change. During droughts, the proportional rule is the most widespread water allocation method applied in irrigation systems. However, this method fails to guarantee efficient water allocation or to provide a fair method of water allocation. This paper aims to verify whether by replacing the water allocation methods based on a proportional rule with methods based on a priority rule could improve the allocation of water resources and minimize the negative economic impacts of water shortages. The ultimate objective of this research is to design a water pricing scheme capable of guaranteeing efficient water reallocation during drought conditions. Therefore, an experiment was carried out for the largest irrigated area in southern Italy, covered by the Capitanata Reclamation and Irrigation board (CBC). A positive mathematical programming model was implemented in order to simulate the effects of the proposed mechanism. The findings show that priority mechanisms have the potential to improve overall economic efficiency in the event of water shortages. However, results also point to the need for optimal design of a differentiated water pricing scheme.

Do consumers understand health claims on extra-virgin olive oil?

Health claims have been introduced in food labelling to support consumers' awareness of healthy food choices and to enhance a healthy diet. Even though many countries around the world have developed legislation and guidelines to regulate the introduction of health claims on food labels, there is the evidence that many consumers do not understand the meaning of these claims. This study analyses whether Italian consumers really understand authorized health claims on extra-virgin olive oil and what are the drivers of such understanding. An Olive Oil Health Claims Understanding index was constructed and embedded in a structured questionnaire, which was then administered to a representative sample of Italian household members who are responsible for food shopping (N = 1,030). Results from the survey showed that only 36% of the respondents understood the meaning of the authorized health claims on extra-virgin olive oil. Moreover, the findings confirmed that the understanding of health claims is related to socio-demographic, personal and psychographic characteristics of consumers, as well as to their attitudes toward using food as medicine. Outcomes also proved the central role of nutrition knowledge in affecting understanding of health claims.

Survey data of stated farmer׳s preferences and willingness to supply straw.

This data article provides a data description on article entitled "Assessing farmers׳ willingness to supply biomass as energy feedstock: Cereal straw in Apulia (Italy)" (G. Giannoccaro, C.B. de Gennaro, E. DeMeo, M. Prosperi, 2017). This DiB consists of data obtained through a survey to farmers in Foggia Province, Italy. The survey was carried out by means of a structured questionnaire administrated to about 200 local wheat producers. Face to face interviews were carried out by professionals. From the hard copy of questionnaire, data were firstly transferred into an excel sheet, than exported to STATA.14 software. The file contains text, dummy and metric variables with reference to a number of variables such as on-farm structural features (land size, crops, livestock units, grain and straw yields, etc.), socio-economic (straw price, willingness to accept, off-farm job, income, membership of farm union, etc.) and personal (farmer׳s age, family members, educational level, etc.). Data has not been uploaded to a public repository.