In other words, individuals are not unarmed vis-à-vis risks. Some of them possess capacities for
reaction which allow them to overcome the constraints generated by external crises. Douglas North
explains this interactive dynamics between the actors and the context in which they live by means of
institutional change (North, 1990). This considers the capacity of the actors to adapt to the changes
applied to the institutions (economic, financial, social rules) by means of strategic behaviour. The most
dynamic actors will succeed in transforming the probable changes into to fertile potentialities for their
well-being (they are resilient), while others will be incapable of confronting these changes (they are
vulnerable).
Other authors, following Sen, define the capacity of individuals to manage the risks generated by
unforeseen events to their own advantage by the term capabilities. The actors draw on their resources
(human, material and social), seize the opportunities offered by their environment and transform the set of
these resources into capabilities (Sen, 1985).
Management sciences have developed a theory called the Resource-Based View (RBV). This theory
states that, in an environment of increasing competitive intensity, the strategic advantages (and, a
contrario, the risks) of the organisations depend on 3 groups of factors: resources, competencies and
capabilities. The resources consist of specific assets such as natural resources, technology and equipment
and human resources. Competencies comprise the knowledge and know-how of company employees.
Capabilities result from the ability to organise and combine the resources and competencies that the
companies are in a position to mobilise (Wernerfelt, 1984).
If the actors possess a significant capabilities potential, their level of vulnerability is low. Vulnerability,
however, increases with the insufficiency of capability levels. The level of vulnerability is thus inversely
proportional to the capability level. The procedure aimed at assessing the capacity of actors or
organisations to confront future risks is in keeping with a preventive reasoning.
Euro-Mediterranean trade liberalisation in the agricultural sector undoubtedly causes disruption in the
existing equilibria. The impacts of this institutional change would be felt differently depending on the
country, region and product. To understand the complexity of the supply chains and the frailness of
certain fruit and vegetable-producing regions, we have developed a composite regional vulnerability
index (RVI).
Calculating the RVI
The RVI is composed of both qualitative and quantitative variables, but the unavailability of certain
information or the lack of quality caused us to limit their number. The variables retained have been
grouped into four components: agricultural production, wholesalers, territories and regional environment
(cf. table 3).
The benchmarking procedure is introduced here to provide a comparative evaluation of the vulnerability
of the European fruit and vegetable-producing regions. This involves calculating a score for each
component of the RVI according to the weighting of its constituent variables (each component is the
result of a sum of indicators weighted in relation to the average of the 5 countries studied) and then using
this to undertake inter-regional comparisons.
The interest of this type of approach is twofold: on the one hand, the RVI is a multiple indicator enabling
us to understand the agricultural and agri-business sector in its systemic environment, and on the other the
RVI provides a SWOT diagnostic6 with recommendations. It also allows us to develop a simulation of the
impact of liberalisation on European supply by combining it with scenarios for the development
exporters’ market share.
Finally, the RVI is an initial approach to the definition of regional and sector-based policies in the
European Union with a view to Euro-Mediterranean agricultural trade liberalisation.
In previous works (Ayadi et al, 2005, 2006), we calculated a RVI for fresh fruit (23 European regions
located in 5 Mediterranean countries in the EU), fresh vegetables (24 regions), fresh fruit and vegetables
(34 regions), processed fruit and vegetables (63 regions). The regions included in the RVI calculation are
those with the highest average annual turnover at the start of the new millennium.
6 SWOT: strenght, weaknesses, opportunities, threats