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ABSTRACT The paper proposes a brief analysis of the main elements that, on a theoretical, normative and situational basis, affect the value of properties placed as collateral for loans, with particular reference to the value they assume in the event that they are affected by an enforced procedure instead of being subject to normal sale, in free market conditions. Starting from the classic analytical estimate of the fair market value of a real estate asset in free market conditions, the paper will quantify the value that the asset should have when the appraiser has to indicate the value from which to start the judicial auction. Considering the regulatory mechanisms in place in Italy, the paper will put in evidence how a value calculated for an execution sale of a property occurring in a foreclosure process is considerably far from its fair market value and even more from its final judicial value, considered as the amount that will be recovered at the end of the sale of the property by judicial auction. For both debtors and creditors, the significant differences between fair market, execution and judicial values become an increasingly topical issue in the face of the growing number of default and distress of loans.

Using spatial econometric techniques and local spatial statistics, this study explores the relationships between the real estate values in Tuscany with the individual perception of satisfaction by landscape types. The analysis includes the usual territorial variables such as proximity to urban centres and roads. The landscape values are measured through a sample of respondents who expressed their aesthetic-visual perceptions of different types of land use. Results from a multivariate local Geary highlight that house prices are not spatial independent and that between the variables included in the analysis there is mainly a positive correlation. Specifically, the findings demonstrate a significant spatial dependence in real estate prices. The aesthetic values influence the real estate price throughout more a spatial indirect effect rather than the direct effect. Practically, house prices in specific areas are more influenced by aspects such as proximity to essential services. The results seem to show to live close to highly aesthetic environments not in these environments. The results relating to the distance from the main roads, however, seem counterintuitive. This result probably depends on the evidence that these areas suffer from greater traffic jam or pollution or they are preferred for alternative uses such as for locating industrial plants or big shopping centres rather than residential use. Therefore, these effects decrease house prices.

This article presents a quantitative review of non-wood forest products (NWFPs) at the regional scale in Europe. A text mining approach was applied to titles, abstracts, and keywords extracted from articles in the Scopus database. Different investigations, such as concept mapping and specificity analyses of textual corpus, were performed. Our search yielded a massive number of NWFP-related papers. Specifically, research was distributed in different countries, being more prevalent in the Mediterranean and Scandinavian contexts. Several NWFPs were analyzed, with mushrooms, resin, cork, and other forest fruit being the most common ones. Local socioeconomic improvement was one of the major aspects investigated in scientific literature. The proposed methodology applies specific scripts that can be updated, and the output of the present research can be compared with that of the future works. For instance, interest trends of products and methods can be investigated, and gap analyses performed. Finally, the potential implications of this review for researchers and stakeholders are discussed.

This study presents a decision support system for the financial analysis of an acorn chain used in food production. The application of these fruits, in fact, shows potential in human nutrition and valorization of rural and marginal areas. A multi-step production process is hypothesised with a different potential organizational structure of each phase and products to be sold. The net present value, pay-back period, safety margins, and internal rate of return are computed for the implemented scenario. The research was grounded on Italian-based data but can be easily transferred to other case studies. The results highlight potential economic suitability of the chain, although subject to a minimal value of prices and productivity. Future improvements and further integration of this study, such as the analysis of fluctuation’s risk of annual production or the need to investigate sensorial properties of acorns, are suggested and discussed.

The importance of the valuation of public goods is growing. In fact, only by determining the economic value of these assets is possible to determine the efficiency of the investments and of the maintenance. The problems in estimating the total economic value relate to two fundamental aspects: the choice and implementation of the more accurate evaluation methodology and the identification of the universe of users. In literature, in fact, the issue of the universe is often resolved by considering the number of potential users (be they the inhabitants of a city, a neighborhood, a street, etc..) and not the actual visitors. This leads to an underestimation or an overestimation of the use value of public goods. The objective of this research is to focus on this issue by proposing a specific methodological approach to correctly estimate the universe of the actual users of different urban green areas of Florence.

In recent decades the growing interest in forested areas has led to a higher level of appreciation and consideration regarding the various benefits and services provided by forests. Despite this, when it comes to acknowledging their economic value and their capacity to produce income, the production of timber seems to be the main or even the only function that is considered. However, by adopting a sustainable forest management approach, the value related to non-market forest functions could also be considered. The present paper aims to quantify the potential income related to the recreational value of coppice forest by considering three different management systems: traditional coppice, active conversion to high forest and the natural evolution of forest. In order to do so, a contingent valuation method was used, and 248 forest users were surveyed in the region of Tuscany, Italy. The surveys included a revised price-list method, and the results obtained showed the existence of willingness to pay (WTP) for the maintenance of forests. Users showed a strong preference for conversion to high forest, while natural evolution was the least preferred management option. People’s perception on this matter was also assessed based on their specific location, by georeferencing all of the respondents’ answers: considering this, it was observed that belonging to a municipality located in or close to the mountains (i.e., mountain and natural municipalities) influenced the users’ WTP to maintain natural evolution.

The study of changes in land use has been included lately in territorial processes in order to optimize future management decisions. The different functions that the territory plays (production, aesthetic, and natural functions, etc.) make planning choices more difficult. This work focuses on the selection and combination of a set of indicators to analyze the variables through which the changes occur in the land used in viticulture for wine production. The proposed approach makes use of the Geographic Information System (GIS) in the development of a map of land use scenario. It is applied to a case study through a model involving cellular automata (CA) implemented with maps of suitability for viticulture and Markov chains. The use in this case of the CA is aimed at validating the scenario map in order to deduce the variables and the orientations of the farmers in the field of wine production.

The Tuscan Region (Central Italy) spends about 12 million euros every year in the prevention and suppression of forest fires. In this context, this study aims to analyse the economic and environmental benefits derived from fire suppression activities. Starting from a case study of a real fire event in Tuscany, we simulated three hypothetical scenarios (with different fire durations) without fire extinction activities planned by using the open source software FARSITE. Benefits derived from fire extinction activities can be quantified as the avoided damage, which has been calculated through the estimation of the total economic value of forests not destroyed by fire thanks to the extinction action. The avoided damage is represented by the difference between values of forest areas burned by the real fire event and those burned by simulated fire. By providing an economic estimation of avoided damages, our results confirm that forest fire services and forest management have a high impact on both the economy and the environment.

Agricultural water management has been a focus of interest for the academic and institutional world for a long time. In the European context, the EU Water Framework Directive (Directive 2000/60/EC) requires EU Member States to carry out policies for the sustainable use of water resources. This paper will analyze an interesting case study concerning water use in agriculture, specifically, plant nursery activity in the Pistoia area (Italy). We will present the results of analysis of water used especially for irrigation of plants in the province of Pistoia. In this regard we will introduce an economic analysis of water management, stating the possible tools for a sustainable water management plan for the nurseries of Pistoia. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

The importance of the valuation of public goods is growing. In fact, only by determining the economic value of these assets is possible to determine the efficiency of the investments and of the maintenance. The problems in estimating the total economic value relate to two fundamental aspects: the choice and implementation of the more accurate evaluation methodology and the identification of the universe of users. In literature, in fact, the issue of the universe is often resolved by considering the number of potential users (be they the inhabitants of a city, a neighborhood, a street, etc..) and not the actual visitors. This leads to an underestimation or an overestimation of the use value of public goods. The objective of this research is to focus on this issue by proposing a specific methodological approach to correctly estimate the universe of the actual users of different urban green areas of Florence. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]