Production Economics Group
The Production Economics Group strives to identify pathways towards more sustainable and resilient agricultural and food production systems – and to quantify the potential impacts and trade-offs of such transformations. In our research, we combine cutting-edge quantitative methods for the analysis of human behavior and decision-making with a profound understanding of the economic, agronomic and ecological processes in agri-food systems. We work for and with farmers, food-value-chain actors, policymakers and other societal actors to support their decision-making with evidence-based information. We work together with researchers from different disciplines and countries.
Prof. Dr. Niklas Möhring
+49 228 73-2758
06.11.2024
Niklas Möhring holds a presentation at the German Environmental Agency on the topic of “Pesticide-free as a “third path” for agriculture – Emerging initiatives in Europe”.
04.11.2024
Niklas Möhring holds an invited presentation at ETH Zurich on the topic of “Farmers’ adoption of organic agriculture - a systematic global literature review”.
06.11.2024
Niklas Möhring holds a presentation at the German Environmental Agency on the topic of “Pesticide-free as a “third path” for agriculture – Emerging initiatives in Europe”.
04.11.2024
Niklas Möhring holds an invited presentation at ETH Zurich on the topic of “Farmers’ adoption of organic agriculture - a systematic global literature review”.
25.10.2024
This week during our Production Economics Group retreat we had the possibility to visit the research station at Campus Klein-Altendorf and discover new solutions for the bioeconomy and modern research infrastructure (thanks to Ralf Pude), hear about the potential of Agri-PV in fruit production (thanks to Johannes Nachtwey) and discuss about farm diversification in German agriculture (thanks to Familie Schröder).
Thanks to all for their warm welcome - it was really inspiring.
01.10.2024
Niklas Möhring was named Vice-Dean for Research and Young Scientists of the Faculty of Agricultural, Nutritional and Engineering Sciences of the University of Bonn
10.09.2024
The Production Economics group welcomes the “AK1” and Dr. Dirk Köckler from Agravis at the Cereal Day 2024 for interesting exchanges and discussions.
09.09.2024
New paper in Ecological Economics by the Production Economics Group (lead by Xiaojie Wen):
"Assessing the regime-switching role of risk mitigation measures on agricultural vulnerability: A threshold analysis."
Find the paper here (open access): https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108360
29.08.2024
Niklas Möhring holds a keynote presentation on the topic of „Pathways for future plant protection“ at the agricultural research day of the state North-Rhine-Westphalia 2024.
19.08.2024
New paper in Resources, Conservation and Recycling by the Production Economics Group (lead by Xiaojie Wen):
"Geographic networks matter for pro-environmental waste disposal behavior in rural China: Bayesian estimation of a spatial probit model."
Find the paper here (open access): https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2024.107854
26.07.2024
New paper in Agricultural Systems by the Production Economics Group (lead by Robert Finger, ETHZ):
"Towards sustainable crop protection in agriculture: A framework for research and policy"
Find the paper here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104037
Also find a blog article (in German) on the paper here:
https://mohringlab.com/nachhaltiger-pflanzenschutz-in-der-landwirtschaft-grundlagen-fur-politik-und-forschung/
24.07.2024
New paper in Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy by the Production Economics Group (lead by Eileen Ziehmann, ETHZ):
"Economics of herbicide-free crop production"
Find the paper here: https://doi.org/10.1002/aepp.13461
Also find a blog article (in German) on the paper here:
https://mohringlab.com/okonomische-implikationen-herbizidfreier-weizenproduktion/
14.06.2024
Andreia Arbenz, external PhD student in the Production Economics group, was awarded the Young Researcher Award of the Swiss Society for Agricultural Economics and Sociology (SGA) for her master thesis "Consumer Acceptance of policy instruments to increase sustainability in food consumption".
Congratulations to Andreia!
22.04.2024
New paper in Food Policy by the Production Economics Group (lead by Robert Finger, ETHZ):
"Europe needs better pesticide policies to reduce impacts on biodiversity"
Find the paper here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2024.102632
Also find a blog article (in German) on the paper here: https://mohringlab.com/europa-braucht-eine-bessere-pflanzenschutzmittelpolitik-um-die-auswirkungen-auf-die-biodiversitat-zu-verringern/
06.02.2024
Niklas Möhring was invited to hold a presentation on “Pathways for advancing pesticide policies” in the Global Change Colloquium of the University Kaiserslautern-Landau.
31.01.2024
New paper in the Q-Open by the Production Economics Group (lead by Esther Devilliers, INRAE):
"Estimation and comparison of the performance of low-input and conventional agricultural production systems"
Find the paper here: https://doi.org/10.1093/qopen/qoad032
Also find a blog article (in French) on the paper here: https://agrarpolitik-blog.com/2024/01/29/une-comparaison-des-performances-des-systemes-de-production-conventionnels-et-bas-intrants-le-cas-de-la-culture-de-ble-en-suisse/
16.01.2024
New paper in the Journal of Agricultural & Resource Economics by the Production Economics Group (lead by Viviana Garcia, ETHZ):
"Risk Perceptions, Preferences, and the Adoption Dynamics of Pesticide-Free Production"
Find the paper here: https://jareonline.org/articles/risk-perceptions-preferences-and-the-adoption-dynamics-of-pesticide-free-production/
Also find a blog article (in German) on the paper here: https://mohringlab.com/risikopraferenzen-und-wahrnehmungen-und-die-teilnahme-an-pestizidfreier-landwirtschaft/
06.12.2023
Niklas Möhring held his inaugural lecture on the topic: "Why we need to talk about Agriculture (and Agricultural Economics)".
23.11.2023
Niklas Möhring holds an invited presentation at the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Union in Seville on “Crop insurance and pesticide use in European agriculture”.
21.11.2023
New paper in Nature Plants by the Production Economics Group (lead by Tobias Dalhaus, WUR):
"Rapidly growing subsidization of crop insurance in Europe ignores potential environmental effects"
Find the paper here: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-023-01569-9
Also find a blog article (in German) on the paper here: https://mohringlab.com/europaische-subventionen-fur-ernteversicherungen-berucksichtigen-potentielle-umwelteffekte-nicht/
03.11.2023
Niklas Möhring is invited as keynote speaker at the “Azole Resistance International Meeting” at Wageningen University on Nomvember 3rd , 2023. He will speak on the topic of “Pathways for advancing pesticide policies”.
02.11.2023
Niklas Möhring is invited as keynote speaker at the “Fortbildung Pflanzenbau” of the “Landesbetrieb Landwirtschaft Hessen” on November 2nd , 2023.
Recent publications:
- Wen, X., Mennig, P., Li, H., & Sauer, J. (2024). Geographic networks matter for pro-environmental waste disposal behavior in rural China: Bayesian estimation of a spatial probit model. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 211, 107854. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2024.107854
- Dalhaus, T., Wu, J., & Möhring, N. (2023). Rapidly growing subsidization of crop insurance in Europe ignores potential environmental effects. Nature Plants, 1-2. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-023-01569-9
- Devilliers, E., Möhring, N., & Finger, R. (2023). Estimation and comparison of the performance of low-input and conventional agricultural production systems. Q Open, qoad032. https://doi.org/10.1093/qopen/qoad032
- Finger, R., Sok, J., Ahovi, E., Akter, S., Bremmer, J., Dachbrodt-Saaydeh, S., ... & Möhring, N. (2024). Towards sustainable crop protection in agriculture: A framework for research and policy. Agricultural Systems, 219, 104037. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104037
- Finger, R., Möhring, N., & Kudsk, P. (2023). Glyphosate ban will have economic impacts on European agriculture but effects are heterogenous and uncertain. Communications Earth & Environment, 4(1), 286. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-00951-x
- Finger, R., Schneider, K., Candel, J., & Möhring, N. (2024). Europe needs better pesticide policies to reduce impacts on biodiversity. Food Policy, 125, 102632. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2024.102632
- Garcia, V., Möhring, N., Wang, Y., & Finger, R. (2024). Risk Perceptions, Preferences, and the Adoption Dynamics of Pesticide-Free Production. Journal of Agricultural & Resource Economics, 49(1). https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000651437
- Möhring, N., Kanter, D., Aziz, T., Castro, I. B., Maggi, F., Schulte-Uebbing, L., ... & Leadley, P. (2023). Successful implementation of global targets to reduce nutrient and pesticide pollution requires suitable indicators. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 1-4. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-02120-x
- Möhring, N., Huber, R., & Finger, R. (2023). Combining ex-ante and ex-post assessments to support the sustainable transformation of agriculture: The case of Swiss pesticide-free wheat production. Q Open, 3(3), qoac022. https://doi.org/10.1093/qopen/qoac022
- Wang, Y., Möhring, N., & Finger, R. (2023). When my neighbors matter: Spillover effects in the adoption of large‐scale pesticide‐free wheat production. Agricultural Economics, 54(2), 256-273. https://doi.org/10.1111/agec.12766
- Ziehmann, E., Möhring, N., & Finger, R. (2024). Economics of herbicide‐free crop production. Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy. https://doi.org/10.1002/aepp.13461
Communication and Outreach:
- Science brief for the United Nations Global biodiversity framework (Lead on pesticide pollution): David Kanter, Niklas Möhring, Paul Leadley, Tariq Aziz, Italo Castro, Federico Maggi, Ralf Schulz, Lena Schulte-Uebbing, Fiona Tang, Xin Zhang. Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Science briefs on targets, goals and monitoring in support of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework negotiations. 2022. https://www.cbd.int/doc/c/6053/38a4/3710d6e83f5b006ef774607d/wg2020-04-inf-02-rev-01-en.pdf
- Blog on the Earth & Environmental Sciences Blog about our paper “Glyphosate ban will have economic impacts on European agriculture but effects are heterogeneous and uncertain”: https://earthenvironmentcommunity.nature.com/posts/economic-effects-of-a-glyphosate-ban-on-european-agriculture
We supervise bachelor theses in the following subject areas (in German):
- Ökonomische Entwicklung der deutschen/europäischen Agrarproduktion anhand von Kennzahlen.
- Nachhaltiger Pflanzenschutz: Bewertung von Politiken und Politikmassnahmen, Bewertung von innovativen Praktiken und Technologien, Bewertung von Entscheidungsverhalten.
- Ökonomische Auswirkungen von Umweltveränderungen auf die Agrarproduktion.
- Investitions- und Rentabilitätsbetrachtung von Anpassungen und Veränderungen in der Agrarproduktion.
Your own suggestions within these subject areas are welcome.
Bachelor theses in English are possible upon request.
Examples for bachelor theses topics (in German):
- Nachhaltige Anbaualternativen: Agronomische und ökonomische Auswirkungen des Miscanthus-Anbaus zur Pestizidreduktion im Vergleich zu Energiemais
- Investitionsbewertung eines Kartoffellagers anhand einer Fallstudie
- Wirtschaftlichkeit im Vergleich: Konventionelle und ökologische Landwirtschaft in Deutschland – Eine Analyse der Ertrags- und Kostenstrukturen
Master thesis proposal:
- Information and pesticide use reduction
- Analysis of the sales prices of calves and their determinants: the case of Rheinland Pfalz
- Evaluating environmental and farm-level economic outcomes of pesticide regulations: a comparative analysis
- Potential and barriers to the pollination insurance market
- Evaluating the impact of soil biodiversity loss on farming productivity: Empirical evidence from EU countries
- An overview of the transformation of European agricultural production systems
- Reducing Pesticide Treatments in Root Crop Production in Germany: Alternative Strategies and their Economic and Agronomic Impacts
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The Production Economics Group strives to identify pathways towards more sustainable and resilient agricultural and food production systems – and to quantify the potential impacts and trade-offs of such transformations. In our research, we combine cutting-edge quantitative methods for the analysis of human behavior and decision-making with a profound understanding of the economic, agronomic and ecological processes in agri-food systems. We work for and with farmers, food-value-chain actors, policymakers and other societal actors to support their decision-making with evidence-based information. We work together with researchers from different disciplines and countries.
Team
Head of Group
+49 228 73-2890
+49 228 73-2758
Jacqueline Fabula
Administration
+49 228 73-2890
+49 228 73-2758
Andreia Arbenz
External PhD candidate
Bignon William Toussou
PhD candidate
Laetitia Rücker
Student assistant
Tom Sailer
Student assistant
Emmanuel Tolani
Student assistant
Former Staff Members & Alumni
Prof. em. Dr. Ernst Berg
Professor emeritus of Environmental and Production Economics
Where to find us
Production Economics
University of Bonn
Institute for Food and Resource Economics
Meckenheimer Allee 174
D-53115