Increasing input self-sufficiency is often viewed as a target to improve sustainability of dairy farms. However, few studies have specifically analysed input self-sufficiency, by including several technical inputs and without only focussing on animal feeding, in order to explore its impact on farm sustainability. To address this gap, our work has three objectives as follows: (1) identifying the...

A large literature has been concerned with the impacts of recent welfare reforms on income, earnings, transfers, and labor-force attachment. While one strand of this literature relies on observational studies conducted with large survey-sample data sets, a second makes use of data generated by experimental evaluations of changes to means-tested programs. Much of the overall literature has focus...

Tritium is the main fuel ingredient in the plasma of MFE and IFE systems based on the D-T fuel cycle. Since tritium is not a naturally existing isotope, attaining tritium selfsufficiency is necessary for self-sustaining fusion plants operating on the D-T fuel cycle. Tritium is bred in a lithium-containing blanket surrounding the plasma. Once tritium is generated, it needs to be collected, proce...

We aimed at quantifying the extent to which agricultural management practices linked to animal production and land use affect environmental outcomes at a larger scale. Two practices closely linked to farm environmental performance at a larger scale are farming intensity, often resulting in greater off-farm environmental impacts (land, non-renewable energy use etc.) associated with the productio...

This empirical study which is based in Malta seeks to characterize the personality/psychological profile of Maltese entrepreneurs (business owners and self-employed persons) and employed managers. The characteristics investigated in this study are the need for achievement, locus of control, tolerance towards ambiguity, self-confidence, creativity/innovativeness, risk-taking propensity and self-...

In the wake of the 2007-08 food crisis that brought higher and more volatile food prices, many countries expressed increased interest in pursuing policies to bolster their levels of food self-sufficiency. At the same time, there has also been widespread critique of policies designed to support food self-sufficiency, on the grounds that they are inefficient and can disrupt trade. This debate has...

Companies, industries, and nations often consume resources supplied by unstable producers. Perturbations that affect the supplier propagate downstream to create volatility in resource prices. Consumers can invest to reduce this insecurity in two ways; invest in and impose security on the suppliers, or can invest in self-sufficiency so that shocks no longer present devastating consequences. We u...