PhD co-direction Economic evaluation of water footprint labelling in the food system

Interested by how our food choices impact the planetary boundary of the freshwater cycle?

Willing to contribute to scientific evidence on water footprint, using economic evaluation?

Curious to discover two research environments in two countries (FR, ES)?

RESEARCH TOPIC

Freshwater scarcity is a growing concern, placing considerable importance on the accuracy of indicators used to characterize and map water scarcity worldwide, and make the impacts of production systems and consumption patterns on global freshwater resources more transparent (Ridoutt and Pfister 2010). The water footprint (WF) is a concept that measures the total volume of freshwater used to produce a product, measured over the full supply chain (Mekonnen and Hoekstra 2011; Mekonnen and Hoekstra 2012).  About 85% of humanity’s water footprint is related to the consumption of agricultural products. WF of agricultural & food products is therefore important to consider and communicate.

WF labelling raises many questions interesting to be addressed from an economic perspective. Consumers increasingly demand information about the environmental impacts of their food (Deconinck, Jansen and Barisone 2023). Agricultural producers are committed reduce their water use. What could be the effect of water footprint labelling on such trends?

The PhD thesis will aim at evaluating the economic impacts of WF labelling, both on consumers’ choices and farmer’s willingness to invest in and adopt less-water intensive agricultural practices. To do so, it will rely on experiments to collect and analyse stakeholders’ points of view. In terms of impact, the research developed in the PhD will contribute to the identification of innovative pathways, through WF labelling, to facilitate an agro-ecological transition of food systems, with a particular focus on water management.

MISSIONS : In order to fulfil requirements for a PhD, the student will write at least 3 articles, and to do so will have to go through these different tasks within the 3 years of the contract

• Literature review
• Field data collection with farmers and consumers, and optionally other stakeholders
• Data analysis
• Writing and designing documents to share results with the scientific community, as well as relevant stakeholders
• Presenting results in national and European conferences
• Optionally, co-supervisions of interns

THE WORKING ENVIRONNEMENT

Angers and Badajoz are both medium-sized cities (around 150,000 inhabitants, many of them students). Crossed by two major rivers (the Maine and the Guadiana), they offer a very pleasant living environment, with a dynamic cultural life, historical heritage and authentic agricultural landscapes nearby. The towns also boast a large network of bicycle paths, making it easy to get around the city center and surrounding areas by bike.

At the University of Angers, the new recruit will benefit from GRANEM dynamic and welcoming scientific environment (60 teaching researchers in economics and management, 40 PhD and post-doctoral students, 4 administrative staff). The PhD student will also benefit from events organized by the SFR Confluences (which hosts multidisciplinary projects in the humanities, languages and social sciences) and the REECAP european Research Network on Economic Experiments for agricultural policy evaluation.

At University of Extremadura, the research will be conducted in the Research Institute of Agricultural Resources (INURA). The INURA is one of the most active research entities in the UEx, with more 50 researchers and 20 PhD students in different fields related to the agri-food ecosystem (agricultural economics, food technology, environmental science, sustainability assessment…).

Both universities are members of the EU GREEN Alliance (responsible GRowth, inclusive Education and Environment), which brings together 9 peripheral regionally-anchored but globally oriented mid-sized European universities. They aim at scaling up and promoting sustainability and address the major societal challenges identified in the Sustainable Development Goals. The person recruited will benefit from events organized by EU GREEN, including many networking opportunities at EU level.

DOCTORAL CONTRACT DETAILS

Duration: 36 months, including 2x12 months in Angers and 12 months in Badajoz. Start of contract in September and October 2024 (exact dates to be negotiated).

Status: PhD student, fixed-term contract

Salary: €2100 gross per month, increasing to €2200 from January 2025 (for a 35-hour contract). Possibility of complementary teaching assignment in 3rd year in Angers (+230€/month).

Budget for project needs (return trip between Angers and Badajoz, data collection expenses, conference participation, miscellaneous expenses): approx. 20000€.

The contract is financed by France 2030 in the framework of EUGREEN alliance.

Working conditions: Shared office at the Faculty of Law, Economics and Management of the University of Angers and at the Agricultural Engineering School of the University of Extremadura in Badajoz. Possibility of partial remote work, to be planned according to project needs.

Supervision: Marianne Lefebvre, Associate Professor of Economics, specialized in agricultural and environmental economics (including water economics) and experimental economics

Francisco Javier Mesias, Professor of Economics, specialized in agricultural economics and consumer survey methods.

The information above are available in French and Spanish in the "application form" tab. 

APPLICATION PROCEDURE

Candidates must provide a CV, a letter of motivation including a reformulation of the subject, their Master 2 report cards and an individually-written report/dissertation.

Phase I: Selection of candidates on the basis of their application file (suitability for the profile sought), motivation and reformulation of the project.

Phase II: Auditions with selected candidates by videoconference, with the 2 thesis supervisors.

Phase III: In-person audition in Angers

Deadline: April 20th, 2024

Applications to be sent toMarianne.lefebvre@univ-angers.fr