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Open research questions in Agricultural Economics and Policy

140 gap statements mined from Agricultural Economics and Policy papers in our 7.9M-paper local library, which holds 1,879 papers on the topic — drawn mostly from each paper's own stated research gap, future-work, challenge and limitation notes, and its abstract. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one.

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What the literature leaves open

  • It highlights the difficulty of balancing CSV goals with the need for scale-based organizational capacity. The study notes the challenge of facilitating comprehensive land governance transitions.

    The Structural Dilemma of CSV-Oriented Corporate Farms and the Role of Financial Institutions: An Empirical Study on the Determinants of M&A Execution in Japan · 2026 · DOI

  • The CAFAMORE project will address many of the open questions identified in this brief by developing and testing MRV tools, registries and market infrastructure for CRCF carbon farming activities, alongside analysis of the market, economic and policy conditions needed for carbon farming to work in practice.

    The Do's and Don'ts of a Buyers' Club: Recommendations for an EU Buyers' Club for Carbon Farming · 2026 · DOI

  • Lack of data on EAS in Canada. Limited evidence on EAS economic impacts in Canada. Inability to present a clear economic case for extension services.

    EAS for Economic Development—What is Missing in Canada and How Can CAREE Help? · 2026 · DOI

  • There is a need to examine the progressivity of NTP and its impact on poverty reduction. Prior studies have shown that rising Farmers' Terms of Trade do not always translate into lower farmer poverty.

    The Progressivity of Farmers’ Terms of Trade in Accelerating Fiscal Policy for Poverty Alleviation Programs in Gorontalo Province · 2026 · DOI

  • Yet, as the final section shows, prevailing norms of good financial practice meant even a bespoke system of federal intermediate credit banks was insufficient to shake off the “crop-lien crown of thorns” that farmers still bore despite the Fed’s foundation, because it focused narrowly on trade finance rather than working capital in a broader sense.

    Accommodating Agriculture within US Capitalism: Cotton, Cooperatives, and Intermediate Credit in the Early Twentieth Century · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research should seek to disentangle whether farm-level innovation is being driven primarily by external policy incentives or by endogenous, entrepreneurial motivations. The study highlights the need for further research on the impact of climate change adaptation and ESG requirements on agricultural investment.

    Investing in agriculture: structural and financial determinants of farminvestment activity in Poland · 2026 · DOI

  • Future studies can investigate the impact of climate-smart technologies on agricultural productivity. Research can focus on developing strategies for transitioning the sector from subsistence to commercially oriented production. Studies can examine the effects of regional trade agreements on agricultural growth and economic development.

    Effect of Agriculture Sector Performance on Economic Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa: Application of Panel CS-ARDL · 2026 · DOI

  • Prior studies have not fully addressed the structural challenges facing the agriculture sector in SSA.

    Effect of Agriculture Sector Performance on Economic Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa: Application of Panel CS-ARDL · 2026 · DOI

  • Prior research has provided sufficient evidence on the effects of single-policy instruments, but rarely examines the interactions among instruments. The study identifies a gap in the analysis of policy mixes and their impact on agricultural productivity. The study aims to fill this gap by examining the effects of conservation tillage policy mixes on agricultural green total factor productivity.

    Effects of Policy Mixes for Conservation Tillage on Agricultural Green Total Factor Productivity: Evidence from Heilongjiang Province, China · 2026 · DOI

  • The need to explore the impact of ecological compensation reform on sustainable agricultural development in China.

    Does Ecological Compensation Reform Enhance the Efficiency of Agricultural Eco-Product Value Realization? Evidence from China · 2026 · DOI

  • The proposed farm-level approach will be extended to other EU member states to test the robustness and consistency of the findings. Avenues for future research are discussed, including the potential to investigate the impact of CAP payments on farm structural change and agricultural labour levels in other EU member states.

    Ex-post impact of first- and second-pillar CAP payments on farm structural change · 2026 · DOI

  • The academic literature on ex-post analysis of farm structural change has drawn on a variety of econometric and modelling frameworks, but there is a need for a non-stationary Markov chain model approach. There is a lack of studies investigating the impact of CAP payments on farm structure and employment in France over the 2004-2021 period.

    Ex-post impact of first- and second-pillar CAP payments on farm structural change · 2026 · DOI

  • The potential of technological adoption to correct inefficiencies in agriculture has received limited attention. There is a need to examine the causal impact of agronomic technology adoption on factor misallocation and aggregate agricultural productivity.

    Beyond Productivity: Technology Adoption and Factor Allocation in Agriculture · 2026 · DOI

  • The literature has predominantly focused on the macroeconomic consequences of capital flight, with limited attention to its impact on agricultural productivity. There is a need to understand the transmission mechanisms of capital flight to agricultural productivity. The paper identifies a gap in the literature on the determinants of agricultural productivity in Africa.

    Is capital flight undermining agricultural productivity in Africa? · 2026 · DOI

  • The need to account for time-invariant unobserved heterogeneity and cross-sectional dependence. The challenge of identifying structural and institutional drivers of different integration modes.

    Forward and Backward GVC Participation in Agriculture and Food Manufacturing: Comparative Developments in the EU and RCEP · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research can apply the proposed framework to other ecosystems and services. It can explore the use of the framework in different contexts and applications. The paper suggests that future research can build on the proposed framework to improve the reliability and transparency of monetary ecosystem service valuations.

    Valuation Boundaries in Monetary Ecosystem Service Assessment: A Logic-Chain-Based Reporting Framework with a Vineyard Application · 2026 · DOI

  • The impact of the LFA on local employment is not well understood. The effects of the LFA on non-farm sectors are not well studied.

    How agricultural subsidies shape local employment: evidence from the French support policies for mountain areas · 2026 · DOI

  • The need to account for labor-market frictions in the model. The challenge of estimating structural parameters using agricultural machinery purchase data and listed-company recruitment records.

    Mechanisms of Government Intervention in Promoting Structural Transformation in Agricultural Production Through the Adoption of Embodied Intelligent Agricultural Machinery · 2026 · DOI

  • The lack of understanding of the mechanisms of government intervention in promoting structural transformation in agricultural production. The need to examine the impact of labor-market frictions on the adoption of embodied intelligent agricultural machinery.

    Mechanisms of Government Intervention in Promoting Structural Transformation in Agricultural Production Through the Adoption of Embodied Intelligent Agricultural Machinery · 2026 · DOI

  • One challenge is the need to assess how crop-allocation patterns are associated with area-based land-allocation efficiency and diversification-based structural resilience potential. Another challenge is the limitation of using data from the 2019 Agricultural Census. The study also faces the challenge of dealing with influential observations in the dataset.

    Associations between crop diversification, area-based land-allocation efficiency, and structural resilience potential in Madeira Island: a parish-level DEA and machine learning assessment · 2026 · DOI

  • Identifying which EAS models are most economically effective within Canadian agricultural contexts.

    EAS for Economic Development—What is Missing in Canada and How Can CAREE Help? · 2026 · DOI

  • This empirical research provides quasi-experimental evidence that the official ASS pilot scheme effectively lifts grain output across Chinese provinces.

    Does market-oriented agricultural servitization enhance grain security? Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China · 2026 · DOI

  • The study does not account for other factors that may influence GVC participation, such as institutional and structural factors. The data only covers the period 2001-2022, which may not be representative of future trends. The study focuses on the EU and RCEP, which may not be generalizable to other regions.

    Forward and Backward GVC Participation in Agriculture and Food Manufacturing: Comparative Developments in the EU and RCEP · 2026 · DOI

  • Regional disparities in investment activity, - Differences in investment patterns among farm types, - The need for strategic planning in investment…

    Investing in agriculture: structural and financial determinants of farminvestment activity in Poland · 2026 · DOI

  • Further research could investigate the impact of diversification on agricultural resilience, - The use of longitudinal data could provide more insight into the relationships between specialisation, diversification…

    Associations between crop diversification, area-based land-allocation efficiency, and structural resilience potential in Madeira Island: a parish-level DEA and machine learning assessment · 2026 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Agricultural Economics and Policy

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Open questions raised by papers listed on this page include: (1) There is a need to examine the progressivity of NTP and its impact on poverty reduction (“The Progressivity of Farmers’ Terms of Trade in Accelerating Fiscal Policy for…”, 2026); (2) Future research should seek to disentangle whether farm-level innovation is being driven primarily by external policy incentives or by endogenous, entrepreneurial motivations (“Investing in agriculture: structural and financial determinants of…”, 2026); (3) Future studies can investigate the impact of climate-smart technologies on agricultural productivity (“Effect of Agriculture Sector Performance on Economic Growth in Sub-Saharan…”, 2026); (4) The academic literature on ex-post analysis of farm structural change has drawn on a variety of econometric and modelling frameworks, but there is a need for a non-stationary Markov chain model approach (“Ex-post impact of first- and second-pillar CAP payments on farm structural…”, 2026); (5) There is a need to examine the causal impact of agronomic technology adoption on factor misallocation and aggregate agricultural productivity (“Beyond Productivity: Technology Adoption and Factor Allocation in Agriculture”, 2026). 140 gap statements have been mined from Agricultural Economics and Policy papers in our 7.9M-paper local library, which holds 1,879 papers on the topic; the gaps come from whichever of those papers state one. They are mostly the research gaps the authors state and the papers' abstracts, plus future-work, limitations and challenges passages. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one, so you can read the original claim in context.

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