My research consists of a series of empirical investigations based upon conceptual frameworks of micro-economics of production (maximisation of the agricultural producer’s profit or of the farm household’s utility). The data I have employed are individual farm-level data, taken from surveys conducted specifically or on the basis of pre-existing databases. Amongst these existing sources, I draw greatly upon the accounting databases of the national Farm Accountancy Data Networks (FADN), which collect annual accounting data from a sample of farms in their respective countries.