Resource use and productivity in agriculture across the European Union member states

Abstract

This paper aims to analyse the trends in resource use across the European Union (EU) Member States. The research relies on concept of decoupling between the resource use and economic activity. Indeed, the analysis focuses on the general trends in the energy, land, and water resource as well as material consumption. The cases of decoupling across the EU Member States are presented in the paper in order to disentangle the linkages between economic activity and resource use. The research relies on the WIOD data for 1995-2009. In general, it can be concluded that energy and land were those inputs (production factors) which have been used in the most sustainable way if opposed to the remaining inputs covered in this study.