79245 - FARM ECONOMICS AND ADMINISTRATION

Academic Year 2021/2022

  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
  • Campus: Bologna
  • Corso: Second cycle degree programme (LM) in Agricultural Sciences and Technologies (cod. 9235)

Learning outcomes

After completing the course , student acquires the basic elements to interpret the behaviour of the entrepreneur and to support his economic choices . The student also acquires a general knowledge of the administrative commitments that affect the management of agricultural enterprises.

Course contents

Prerequisites

The student who accesses this course should have an elementary knowledge of microeconomics and rural appraisal. S/he should understand the logic underlying the behaviour of operators, both for the demand and supply sides, and the functioning of markets, according to the most common modelling. S/he should also have acquired a fair confidence in translating some economic concepts in operational tools and a basic knowledge in financial mathematics techniques. The student must also have a fair knowledge of the spreadsheet software and the functions' use.

Content of classroom activities

  • Introduction: presentation of the contents and materials
  • The agricultural enterprise
    • Definition of farmer
    • Definition of professional farmer and relevance of the concept for business management
  • The budget for agricultural enterprise
    • The budget as a tool for knowledge and administrative requirements
    • The structure of the financial statements
    • The balance sheet
    • The income statement
    • The cash flow statement
    • The budget-related documents
  • Strategic decisions: investment
    • The concept of investment
    • The tools for investment decisions
    • The discounted cash flow analysis
    • The main indicators
    • Sensitivity analysis
  • Operational decisions and management control
    • Costs analysis and contribution margin
    • Production costs: the technical and economic approach and the enterprises' approach
    • Types of cost and cost configurations
    • The contribution margin and the definition of the level of production
    • The business cost structure: flexibility and rigidity
  • The agricultural enterprise
    • Administrative obligations for the entrepreneur: registration, variation and cancellation from the Business Register;
    • Administrative fiscal obligations for the entrepreneur: value added tax and related obligations;
    • Administrative obligations for the entrepreneur: the mechanisms of taxation: taxation on cadastral basis and taxation on financial statements;
    • Administrative obligations for the entrepreneur: other taxes;
    • Regulation about sales of agricultural products

Contents of laboratory activities

The laboratory activities are an integral part of teaching, aimed at enhancing the understanding of the topics discussed in the classroom and to facilitate the alignment of prior knowledge . Students will also be called to build independently, albeit with the assistance of the teacher, spreadsheets useful for business analysis .

Laboratory activities planning will be available on IOL platform.

Readings/Bibliography

Antoldi F. (2003) Conoscere l'impresa, McGaw-Hill, capp. 1.

Antoldi F. (2012) Economia e organizzazione aziendale - Introduzione al governo delle imprese 2/ed, McGaw-Hill, capp. 2-4.

Frascarelli M. (2021) L'azienda agricola, Edizioni Fag, Milano, capp. 1-5.

Teaching methods

The course consists of classroom activities and activities in the computer lab. The classroom activities are traditional lectures, with exercises. The activities in the computer lab are designed to translate the theoretical concepts in management tools by the students themselves.

Assessment methods

The acquisition of knowledge and skills expected is certified through a final oral exam. The exam deals with all the topics discussed in the theoretical part of the course and tests the knowledge of investment evaluation techniques, developed during computer lab activities. Usually the examiner asks three general questions. The evaluation of the final outcome will consider the knowledge, the skills achieved, the argumentative capacities and the proper technical language usage. The duration of the oral examination is on average 30 minutes.

Teaching tools

Computer Lab

Office hours

See the website of Aldo Bertazzoli

SDGs

Decent work and economic growth Industry, innovation and infrastructure Responsible consumption and production Peace, justice and strong institutions

This teaching activity contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda.