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Sustainability
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Agricultural Economics, Policies, and Rural Development for Sustainability
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Agricultural Economics, Policies, and Rural Development for Sustainability

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Economic and Business Aspects of Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 2668

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Andrei Jean Vasile

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Economic Sciences, Petroleum-Gas University of Ploiesti, 100680 Ploiesti, Romania
Interests: sustainable development; open economy macroeconomics; resource productivity; agricultural and energy economics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Andrea Feher

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Economy and Firm Financing, Faculty of Management and Rural Tourism, University of Life Sciences "King Miha I” from Timisoara, 300645 Timisoara, Romania
Interests: sustainable development; European agricultural and rural development policies; economy
Dr. Carmen Adriana Gheorghe

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
National Institute for Economic Research "Costin C. Kiritescu”, Bucharest, Romania
Interests: sustainable development; rural economy diversification; climate change

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The issue of agricultural economics and rural development is one of the most complex problems of our time, due to the fact that, in essence, it involves achieving a balance between the requirements to preserve rural space economically, ecologically and socio-culturally, in conjunction with the tendency to “modernize” rural life. At the same time, rural development is at the confluence of the tendency to expand urban areas, the “aggressive” development of industry at the expense of rural areas, and the requirement to maintain, as far as possible, rural areas at their current values ​​and dimensions.

Even though agriculture today represents only a small part of the economy of developed countries, including the European Union, public intervention has recently been strengthened through agro-rural policies oriented towards sustainable development, combating climate change, land and landscape planning, diversification and revitalization of the rural economy, public health, product quality, or the production of energy and biomaterials. These new functions of agricultural policies come in addition to their traditional function—that of supporting food production for consumption.

Therefore, the goals of this Special Issue, ‘Agricultural Economics, Policies, and Rural Development for Sustainability’, are oriented towards original, cutting-edge, and interdisciplinary research/studies that promote the understanding of problems and challenges in the broadly defined fields of agricultural economics and sustainable rural development policies. The audience of this Special Issue is global, and we welcome articles from a diverse range of theoretical perspectives, methodological approaches, and critical reviews which are committed to contributing to the development of the field of agrarian economy and sustainable rural development policies and strategies.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Andrei Jean Vasile
Dr. Andrea Feher
Dr. Carmen Adriana Gheorghe
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • sustainable development
  • agricultural economics and policy
  • common agricultural policy
  • rural development
  • sustainable rural development strategy
  • circular economy in agriculture
  • agricultural management and marketing
  • climate change
  • economics and environmental policy

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 989 KiB  
Article
Circular Economy as a Driver of Sustainable Growth: Quantitative Analysis of the Role of Recycling and Secondary Raw Materials in the EU
by Biljana Grujić Vučkovski, Nikola V. Ćurčić and Ileana Georgiana Gheorghe
Sustainability 2025, 17(11), 5181; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17115181 - 4 Jun 2025
Viewed by 498
Abstract
The aim of this research is to determine the significance of the impact of selected environmental protection indicators, with a focus on waste management, on the sustainability of economic growth in EU countries (21 member states) over the period 2013–2022. To conduct this [...] Read more.
The aim of this research is to determine the significance of the impact of selected environmental protection indicators, with a focus on waste management, on the sustainability of economic growth in EU countries (21 member states) over the period 2013–2022. To conduct this analysis, four independent variables were selected, belonging to the domains of waste management the (recycling rate of municipal waste and recycling rate of packaging waste by type of packaging) and secondary raw material management (the circular material use rate and trade in recyclable raw materials, imports from outside the EU27). Sustainable economic growth was measured by gross domestic product per capita (GDP per capita), which serves as the dependent variable in this study. The aforementioned independent variables can also be categorized as circular economy (CE) indicators, which have been gaining increasing relevance in the EU context. Using a panel regression analysis, the potential influence of CE indicators on sustainable economic growth was examined both over time and across entities, through the lens of waste management. The statistical analysis was conducted by applying four econometric models: pooled OLS (POLS), fixed effects (FEs), random effects (REs), and mixed effects (MEs). The results of the analysis confirmed several specific hypotheses (depending on the model used), which posit a statistically significant positive impact of CE variables on GDP per capita. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agricultural Economics, Policies, and Rural Development for Sustainability)
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19 pages, 696 KiB  
Article
From Attachment to Action: Consumer Identification and the Sustainable Buying of Rural Brand Products Like “Pită de Pecica”
by Anca Mihaela Dicu, Dana Rad, Florentina Barbu, Lavinia Denisia Cuc, Andrea Feher, Daniela Roman, Luminița Mazuru, Grigorie Sanda and Luminița Pîrvulescu
Sustainability 2025, 17(9), 4133; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17094133 - 2 May 2025
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Abstract
The current research examines the psychological and perceptual predictors of sustainable consumption behavior in a rural Romanian context, with specific reference to the traditional product Pită de Pecica. A sample of 485 consumers (n = 485) who were familiar with Pită de Pecica [...] Read more.
The current research examines the psychological and perceptual predictors of sustainable consumption behavior in a rural Romanian context, with specific reference to the traditional product Pită de Pecica. A sample of 485 consumers (n = 485) who were familiar with Pită de Pecica completed validated instruments measuring brand identification and brand attributes perceived. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was applied to find two dimensions on each scale—brand-based self-definition (α = 0.92) and emotional brand attachment (α = 0.86); and sensory-affective brand association (α = 0.87) and product functional-symbolic value (α = 0.84). Emotional brand attachment (EBA) refers to the emotional bond a consumer forms with a brand; sensory-affective brand association (SABA) captures affective and sensory connections; and decision tree regression is a machine learning technique that identifies non-linear predictors. In this study, sustainability is operationalized across cultural, economic, and environmental dimensions, reflecting both traditional product preservation and support for regional food systems. A decision tree regression model was then applied to predict the frequency of sustainable consumption behavior. Emotional brand attachment was the strongest predictor (relative importance = 26.13%), sensory-affective brand association was second most important (16.91%) and brand-based self-definition was third (13.99%). Demographic variables (e.g., income, age) were weak predictors. The model explained 43% of the behavior variance (R2 = 0.43) despite considerable behavioral unpredictability (MAPE = 236.85%). Findings show that emotional and identity-driven brand connections are central to leveraging sustainable consumption in rural contexts, which has important implications for future branding initiatives, agri-food policies, and local economic revitalization initiatives that promote sustainable development. Findings support adopting cultural, psychological, and economic dimensions of sustainable development across development paradigms. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agricultural Economics, Policies, and Rural Development for Sustainability)
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