Twenty Years of Common Agricultural Policy in Europe: A Bibliometric Analysis

Giulio Fusco

doi:10.3390/su131910650

Abstract

The last few years have been marked by the increasing attention paid by policymakers to agricultural policies. Within this scenario, the Common Agricultural Policy represents one of the main initiatives developed by the European Commission to enhance the agricultural sector. Academics have actively contributed to the debate through empirical studies in order to evaluate the main strengths and weakness related to the public investments made by the European Commission. However, despite the relevance of the topic, the scientific debate is characterized by a high degree of fragmentation caused by the involvement of academics with different scientific backgrounds. Building on this evidence, this paper aims to contribute to the scientific debate on Common Agricultural Policy through a bibliometric analysis. The findings reveal the existence of three independent and complementary research clusters.

Highlights

The agricultural sector covers a central role within society
Building on prior bibliometric studies [8,9], this paper aims to identify the main contributions provided by academics to the debate about CAPs through a multidimensional approach based on the integration of different indicators such as co-citation, citation analysis, and co-occurrences [10]
Commission to sustain the development of the agricultural sector, which represents a critical sector within the European context

Summary

Introduction

The agricultural sector covers a central role within society. The agricultural sector can support the achievement of ambitious goals such as the mitigation of risks related to biodiversity losses and food security [1]. The agricultural sector impacts many environmental issues, such as climate change, cycles of nitrogen and phosphorus, water contamination, and soil degradation. It could represent an enabler of the mitigation of the risks related to the lack of controls and monitoring by governments [2,3]. The Eurozone is characterized by a high degree of attention paid by regulators and policymakers to the agricultural sector.

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Conclusion