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We are looking for

PhD student Total Factor Productivity (TFP) indexing of sustainability. Job description
In recent years, there has been a growing concern on the increasing scarcity of natural resources due to a growing world population and increasing prosperity. People have realised that our planet is not inexhaustible and a higher usage of resources has an impact on climate and biodiversity. As a result, sustainable production methods are promoted and a proliferation of certification schemes certifying “sustainable performance” appeared; there are different certifications for different feedstocks, for different criteria, and for different regions. Many of these certifications are competing with each other and there are concerns about wasting resources through duplication of efforts on the part of certification bodies. In addition, the multiplicity of certification regimes is costly for producers. In order to avoid wasting resources and creating prohibitive barriers from transaction costs, many stakeholders have expressed the need for integration and coordination across different roundtables, initiatives and regulations. TFP (Total Factor Productivity) is characterized as a measure of aggregate productivity depicting the rate of transformation of total input into total output. Sustainability externalities can be brought into this measure leading to a simple indicator of sustainability in production. Aspects to be studied include:

- developing a conceptual framework for measuring sustainability of commodities;

- determining a list of sustainability criteria to be included;

- estimating shadow values of sustainability criteria; and

- apply TFP indexing of sustainability in 2 case studies (protein from soy and beef).

The project is regarded as an important step towards international harmonization of certification of sustainability.
This PhD project is a collaboration between the Business Economic Group of Wageningen University, the Agrosystems Research group of Plant Research International (PRI) of Wageningen UR, and the Ministry of EL&I.




We ask

Candidates should have a Master's degree or equivalent in (agricultural) economics. The candidate needs to have a sound knowledge of feed and food supply chains and needs to be proficient in problem solving as part of a team. Excellent research skills and analytical abilities are required. Excellent communication skills and proficiency in English (both oral and written) are prerequisite.




We offer

We offer a PhD position for a period of 18 months, extended with another 30 months upon favorable evaluation. Gross salary will increase from € 2042 in the first year up to € 2612 per month in the last year based on a full-time appointment (38 hours a week).
 

Wageningen UR (University & Research centre)

Delivering a substantial contribution to the quality of life. That's our focus each and every day. Within our domain, healthy food and living environment, we search for answers to issues affecting society such as sustainable food production, climate change and alternative energy. Of course, we don’t do this alone. Every day, 6,500 people work on ‘the quality of life’, turning ideas into reality, on a global scale. 

Could you be one of these people? We give you the space you need.

For further information about working at Wageningen UR, take a look at www.jobsat.wur.nl.