AGRICULTURAL FINANCIAL MARKETS

The course is part of the educational activities decided by individual student by the Master's Degree in Economics and Finance.
Its purpose is to outline the international market economy of agri-food commodities and to provide knowledge of specific instruments for managing futures markets, highlighting the competitive strategies of the farmers, processing and trading firms. The other aim is to provide concepts and tools to understand and evaluate the future markets that have agricultural and food products as their underlying.The instructional goals are the knowledge of the elements identifying the supply and demand of agricultural commodities, influencing the price formation and its volatility both in a short and long-run, the acquaintance of the rules of functioning of the futures markets for agricultural products, the skill of the hedging operations carried out, especially by agricultural producers, processors, traders, the cognition of the characteristics of contracts of specific kind of products, such as contracts on livestock, those on storable products, the comprehension of the management of price risk of the warehouse, highlighting the most suitable management strategies of the different categories of operators.

1. Knowledge and understanding
1.1 Detecting the determinants of the supply of agricultural commodities, especially in the different evolution of short and long-term price cycles.
1.2 Representing the functions and operational mechanisms of agricultural futures markets.
1.3 Identifying the market operators and the various hedging transactions that can be implemented.
1.4 Focusing on the management of specific contracts, such as those on livestock and the management of the warehouse price risk.
1.5 Hypothesizing the most suitable according to the operators and their economic objectives.
2. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding
2.1 Using the economic theory to identify the price cycles of the supply on short and long-run.
2.2 Representing the functioning mechanisms and basic rules of the futures market for agricultural products.
2.3 Choosing the operational strategies of the various economic subjects involved in the markets.
2.4 Discriminating the operational problems associated with temporal and spatial variables.
2.5 Building an efficient supplying strategy through the futures markets for agricultural processing firms.
2.6 Managing an operational position in agricultural futures markets.
3. Ability to judge
3.1 Interpreting the functioning of the futures markets in the light of the variables related to the supply and the various economic operators involved.
3.2 Selecting the opearative strategies according to the purposes of the different market operators.
3.3 Planning supplying operations through the futures markets of trading and processing companies far from the place of supply.
3.4 Conducting autonomously the study and the deepening of analysis through research projects, the elaboration of market reports.

Mandatory priority Exams: none.
Prerequisites: basic skills in economics of Economics (micro and macro) and Mathematics (first module). Basic skills in demand and supply models and market forms.

1. Agricultural supply economy, static and dynamic models.
2. The agricultural futures markets.
3. The hedging in the futures market
4. Livestock futures contracts and the elevators strategies.
5. Agricultural options.

De Pin A. (2011), Prodotti agricoli mercati globali, pag. 1-18; 169-233, IMPRIMITUR, Padova.(Available at the Cafoscarina Library)
Optional:
Serra S., Zuppiroli M. (2009), Il commercio dei cereali, cap. 4, 5, 6, Milano.
Carter C.A. (2007), Futures and Options Markets. An Introduction, cap. 1, 2, 3, 7, Waveland Press Inc., Long Grove, Illinois.

For attending students, the exam includes a test composed of ten questions: two open questions on the theoretical part and eight exercises on futures markets. Each question has a maximum score of three points. Honors are awarded to those with a score of over twenty-eight. Bonus points can be added to the test score, as agreed in class.
For not attending students the exam consists of open questions and exercises on the whole program.

The course is held with lectures, during which the issues related to the supply and demand of commodities will be explained, focused the operation of the agricultural futures markets, developed case studies for the different operators involved, highlighted the suitable strategies that can be implemented according to the market objective.
During the course, the teacher will present the meaning of the most common terms used in the agricultural future markets.
The course takes place in the presence, following a conventional teaching approach. The study can also be carried out through the Moodle platform in which it is implemented, as well as through the Teacher's Book, all these modalities follow the same approach of the lectures.

Italian

The course in Moodle version is at the following address. Registration to the platform is made in the first week of the course. For those not attending the enrollment is done through the teacher.
https://moodle.unive.it/course/view.php?id=165

If you have a disability (Law 17/1999) or a specific learning disorder (Law 170/2010) contact the Disability and DSA office: disabilita@unive.it.

written

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Natural capital and environmental quality" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development