Spatial patterns of change in agriculture and the role of the Common Agricultural Policy

The objective of this paper is to identify and analyse the role of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in affecting the spatial location of agricultural activities in an area of Northern Italy. The analysis is based on survey information (300 observations) regarding stated intentions of farm-households in two CAP scenarios, treated through statistical analysis intended to identify the potential determinants of different farm reactions, and using explicit spatial information (altitude, LFA, agrarian regions). Altogether, the study demonstrates the relevance of explicitly addressing the differentiated spatial effect of the CAP on different dimensions of agricultural activities. However, the work also highlights the limitations of the location-based representation of the spatial dimension compared with both non-spatial variables and more “functional” spatial variables.