Comparison of the north and south of Italy GI scheme policy impact in Veneto and Sicily at Nuts 3 Level.

To compare the impact of GI policy through price premium and GVA from the data collected from Istat data base and local regional consortia from the NUTS 3 regions of Rovigo and Ragusa which were selected on two common grounds which are the NUTS 2 Agricultural, forestry and fishing income data from 2023 and predominant rural area using total UAA% of the NUTS 3 regions. This was done as literature had highlighted the scant research of the GI policy scheme impact at micro levels (NUTS 3) due to the heterogeneity of macro regions hence, analysis of micro regions gives more accurate and precise results on the GI scheme rural development impact. The target unit of the GI scheme policy is rural NUTS 3 regions which are considered the smallest regions from which relevant statistical data is collected from the EU countries used for qualitative and or quantitative analysis. Results suggest that the GI scheme policy indicators for rural development (price premium and GVA/Ha) have visible significant evidence on rural development. GVA/Ha had the most significant conclusive results, but the price premium had a slight contradiction with the literature due to the indicator limitations of data collection. The results conclude that the two indicators are effective in detecting rural development but deepening the indicators can further give the precise extent of the GI scheme policy contribution to the target region which will improve the goal of GI policy with the assistance of policy makers not being neglected. The research was limited by the representative sample used for price premium hence it could have contributed to inconclusive results. However, for future research application of DD approach might be done to validate findings at NUTS 3 level.