Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance, K.U. Leuven (LICOS)

LICOS, Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance is an international research centre of the Catholic University of Leuven (K.U.Leuven),Belgium, studying the economics of institutions and institutional change, and its impact on economic performance and development. The Development and Food Policy Analysis Research Group of LICOS, K.U.Leuven studies institutions, policy reform and economic performance in developing and transition countries. A major focus of the Research Group is on the impact of trade, FDI and standards on development and poverty. Members of the Research Group have studied 1/ the increasing importance of standards and its implications for the structure of agri-food chains in developing countries; 2/ the emergence of modern supply chains and the implications for poverty in developing countries; 3/ vertical coordination in agri-food supply chains in transition and developing countries; 4/ the interaction between vertical coordination and competition; and 5/ the political economic of standards. Research included analytical work as well as empirical studies in a large number of transition countries and various developing countries.

International (EC) project experience, include:

• Structural Change in Agriculture and Rural Livelihoods, SCARLED - EC, 2005
• Dynamic land use change modeling for CAP impact assessment on the rural landscape, LUMOCAP - EC, 2005
• Supporting the international development of the NIS agricultural sector, INTAS - EC, 2005

Determinants of firm level production efficiency in Poland, Romania and Bulgaria: ownership, competition effects and implications for EU enlargement, EU-PHARE ACE Program, 2004.

Click here to view LICOS institutional presentation made during the KOM

Principal researchers