New Theories and Methods in Agricultural Economics and Social Sciences Report on the 54th Annual Conference of the German Society of Economic and Social Sciences in Agriculture from September 17 to 19, 2014

Abstract

In 2014, the annual conference of the German Society of Economic and Social Sciences in Agriculture was jointly organized by the University of Gottingen and the University of Kas-sel. Against the background of various challenges faced by agriculture, the conference ad-dressed the question of recent theories and methods available and how they may benefit agricultural economics and social sciences research. The present article provides an overview of the conference program and summarizes the most important results and discussions. The conference started with two pre-conference activities which dealt with animal welfare and gravity models in international agricultural trade. The plenary session addressed the overall topic of the conference, i.e., new methods and challenges relevant for economic and social sciences in agriculture. During the conference, 36 submitted papers and 28 poster presentations provided insight into the overall topic from different perspectives. Also, state-of-the-art and future perspectives of evolutionary approaches in agricultural economics and social sciences as well as the most recent Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform were discussed in two self-organized sessions. Finally, a panel discussion at the end of the conference gave representatives from politics and science the opportunity to discuss the situation of agricultural research situated between methodological excellence and public perceptions. Most of the contributions summarized in this article are published in the conference proceedings ("Schriften der Gesellschaft fur Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften des Landbaues e.V.", Volume 50). We conclude that, in 2014, the Annual Conference of the German Society of Economic and Social Sciences in Agriculture again attracted much attention and provided convincing results and discussions. It impressively illustrated the extent to which new theories and methods are already being applied in agricultural economics and social sciences research today. The numerous discussions also revealed that this is a very dynamic field and that interesting developments can be expected in the future. Emphasis shall be put on understanding the many challenges which agriculture faces and on pointing out potential solutions or future perspectives. After all, a core objective of the economic and social sciences of agriculture is to not only do methodologically excellent work but to also address the manifold expectations of society.