Klaus Mittenzwei is an agricultural economist at the Norwegian Agricultural Economics Research Institute in Oslo, Norway. He completed his doctorate at the University of Life Sciences, Norway in 2001. His dissertation focused on the role of political institutions as a significant source for explaining agricultural policies. In a current follow-up research project funded by the Norwegian Research Council, he will analyze these findings in greater detail. Other areas of research include modeling the effects of agricultural policies on the economic, environmental and societal objectives of society. In particular, the CAPRI modeling system (covering world agricultural trade and the details of the agricultural policies in the EU-25, Norway and Turkey) is used to understand how agricultural policy reforms affect the often conflicting agricultural policy objectives like farmers’ income, productivity and public goods provided by the agricultural sector.