|
on Environmental Economics |
| By: | van Kooten, G.C. |
| Abstract: | Under Kyoto, biological activities that sequester carbon can be used to create CO2 offset credits that could obviate the need for lifestyle-changing reductions in fossil fuel use. Credits are earned by storing carbon in terrestrial ecosystems and wood products, although CO2 emissions are also mitigated by delaying deforestation, which accounts for one-quarter of anthropogenic CO2 emissions. However, nonpermanent carbon offsets from biological activities are difficult to compare with each other and with emissions reduction because they differ in how long they prevent CO2 from entering the atmosphere. This is the duration problem; it results in uncertainty and makes it difficult to determine the legitimacy of biological activities in mitigating climate change. While there is not doubt that biological sink activities help mitigate climate change and should not be neglected, in this paper we demonstrate that these activities cannot be included in carbon trading schemes. |
| Keywords: | carbon offset credits, climate change, duration of carbon sinks, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:44262&r=env |
| By: | Hubert, Marie-Helene; Chakravorty, Ujjayant; van Kooten, G. Cornelis |
| Abstract: | In the context of ever-increasing petroleum prices combined with concerns about climate change, timing of adoption and rate of diffusion of land-based fuels and backstop technologies for transportation use are examined in this paper. A global model of land allocation joined with a Hotelling model has been developed. Using this framework, effects of climate and energy policies on world agricultural and energy markets have been explored. Further, their regional impacts are also analyzed. Whereas mandatory blending bio-fuels have substantial effects on world food prices and do not succeed in curbing down carbon emissions fluxes, carbon targets are expected to speed up date of adoption of backstop technologies. Then, sensitivity scenarios with regards to technological parameters reveal that higher is the rate of technological change, earlier backstop technologies are adopted and lower is the stock of carbon accumulated into the atmosphere. Finally, interplay between land-based fuels and deforestation has been studied. Results show that land-based fuels production speeds up world deforestation and causes substantial carbon emissions due to conversion of forests into agricultural lands. |
| Keywords: | Ricardian rents, land use, biofuels, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:44259&r=env |
| By: | Chebbi, H.E.; Boujelbene, Y. |
| Abstract: | The aim of this country specific study is to understand long and short-run linkages between economic growth, energy consumption and CO2 emission using Tunisian data over the period 1971-2004. Statistical findings indicate that economic growth, energy consumption and CO2 emission are related in the long-run and provide some evidence of inefficient use of energy in Tunisia, since environmental pressure tends to rise faster than economic growth. In the short run, results support the argument that economic growth exerts a positive €ܣausalÂ€Ý influence on energy consumption growth. In addition, results from impulse response do not confirm the hypothesis that an increase in pollution level induces economic expansion. Although Tunisia has no commitment to reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions, energy efficiency investments and emission reduction policies will not hurt economic activities and can be a feasible policy tool for Tunisia. |
| Keywords: | CO2 emissions, Energy Consumption, Economic Growth, Tunisia, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:44016&r=env |
| By: | Canton, Joan; David, Maia; Sinclair-Desgagne, Bernard |
| Abstract: | This paper considers the environmental policy and welfare implications of a merger be- tween environment ¯rms (i.e., ¯rms managing environmental resources or supplying pollution abatement goods and services). The traditional analysis of mergers in Cournot oligopolies is extended in two ways. First, we show how environmental policy a®ects the incentives of environment ¯rms to merge. Second, we stress that mergers in the eco-industry impact wel- fare beyond what is observed in other sectors, due to an extra e®ect on pollution abatement e®orts; this might lead to disagreements between an anti-trust agency seeking to limit market concentration which can be detrimental to consumer surplus and a benevolent regulator who maximizes total welfare. |
| Keywords: | Eco-industry, environmental policy, horizontal mergers, Environmental Economics and Policy, Industrial Organization, D62, H23, L11, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:44456&r=env |
| By: | Romanenko, Irina |
| Abstract: | The methodology of construction of the alternative agricultural production scenarios at regional level includes profitability and feasibility analysis based on assessment the effect of global climate change on productivity parameters for the main agricultural crops, cost efficiency of crop growing and cattle breeding. To propose links between economic adaptation to climate change and carbon (organic C) stock management in agricultural ecosystems for use in developing long-term adoption strategies at regional level, the regional economic-mathematical model was elaborated. It allows us to unify soil C driving variables and human environment factors. |
| Keywords: | Regional Economic-Mathematical Model, Regional Alternative Management Scenarios, Climate change, Linear Programming Task, Model of humus balance, European Russia, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Livestock Production/Industries, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa107:6669&r=env |
| By: | Lennox, J.A.; Andrew, R.; Forgie, V. |
| Abstract: | Implementation of a New Zealand Emission Trading Scheme (NZ ETS) will begin in 2008, beginning with forestry, subsequently including energy and industrial emissions, and finally, agricultural GHGs from 2013. Reducing agricultural emissions is a major challenge for New Zealand as they account for over half its total GHG emissions. On the other hand, agriculture is critical to the economy, with its basic and processed products accounting for a third of exports. We use an environmental input-output model to analyse direct and indirect cost impacts of emissions pricing on food and fibre sectors. At NZ $25/t CO‚eq, costs of energy-related emissions on the food and fibre sectors are very small; however, costs of agricultural emissions post 2013 would substantially impact on sheep, beef and dairy farming. Costeffective mitigation measures and land use changes should help reduce micro- and macroeconomic impacts, but the latter may also risk 'emissions leakage'. |
| Keywords: | emissions trading, input-output price model, agricultural greenhouse gases, Demand and Price Analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa107:6678&r=env |
| By: | Kruseman, G.; Blokland, P.W.; Luesink, H.; Vrolijk, H. |
| Abstract: | Non-point source pollution is notoriously difficult to asses. A relevant example is mineral emissions in the Netherlands. Since the mid 1980s the Dutch government has sought to reduce emissions through a wide variety of measures, the effect of which in turn is monitored using modeling techniques. This paper presents the current generation of mineral emission models from agriculture based on microsimulation of farms in combination with a spatial equilibrium model for the dispersion of manure from excess regions with high livestock intensities within the country to areas with low livestock intensities. The micro-simulation approach retains the richness in the heterogeneity of farm household decision making that are the core cause of the difficulty of assessing non-point source pollution, while using the best available data to track corresponding pollution. Using scenario analysis we are able to assess the possible effects of further tightening of agro-environmental policy. |
| Keywords: | micro-simulation, spatial-equilibrium model, non-point source pollution, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:43644&r=env |
| By: | Becker, A. |
| Abstract: | Biomass based energy production has attained a significant market share within the developing renewable energy market. In comparison to alternative renewable energy sources, biomass has several special features: it is not inexhaustible in the short term (limitation of arable land) and it is not only an energy source. Other usages like food or feed compete with energy production for this resource. A number of problems arise which have a direct impact on the fulfillment of policy objectives which are connected with its promotion. Primarily, the production of bioenergy has significant impacts on coupled biomass markets. Further, a change in production intensity or arable land use increases the use of nutrient loads and agro - chemicals. When evaluating renewable energy production, the wide range of political objectives has to be considered. Therefore, the focus of the overall study will be on three objective areas: promotion of the agricultural sector, environmental protection (reduction of GHG emissions) and maintenance of food supply security. The objective of this study is to combine an analysis of selected economic and ecological impacts of an increased biomass based energy production (primarily biofuels) under the assumption of European and international quantity targets by adjusting and applying the agricultural sector model CAPRI (Common Agricultural Policy Regional Impact Analysis). This poster intends to display the methodical approach of the intended analysis. |
| Keywords: | Bioenergy, Biofuels, Biomass production, Impact analysis., Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:43974&r=env |
| By: | Van Passel, S. |
| Abstract: | Agricultural policy makers aim to combine strong economic performance with a sustainable use of natural resources. An important step is to move from trying to define sustainability towards developing concrete tools for measuring and promoting achievements in sustainability. Hence, sustainability assessment is inevitably based on strong simplifications both of the theoretical paradigm and of the characteristics of systems of concern. The most known approaches to assess sustainability performance are burden orientated: they assess the costs or potential harm of resource use. These burden-oriented approaches focus on the level of environmental impacts caused by an economic activity compared to another set of environmental impacts, while value-oriented impact assessment analyses how much value has been created with this set of environmental impacts as compared with the use of these resources by other companies. In this paper, an outline of the possibilities and limitations of value-oriented methods to assess farm sustainability will be discussed. |
| Keywords: | sustainability assessment, agriculture, value oriented, Farm Management, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:44141&r=env |
| By: | Varghese, Shalet K.; Manjunatha, A.V.; Poornima, K.N.; Akarsha, B.M.; Rashmi, N.; Tejaswi, P.B.; Saikumar, B.C.; Jeevarani, A.K.; Accavva, M.S.; Amjath Babu, T.S.; Suneetha, M.S.; Unnikrishnan, P.M.; Deshpande, R.S.; Nagaraj, N.; Chandrashekar, H.; Mahadev, G. Bhat; Chengappa, P.G.; Mundinamani, S.M.; Shanmugam, T.R.; Chandrakanth, M.G. |
| Abstract: | Conceptual development in the theory of externalities have opened up several policy options for their internalization including payment towards environmental services. Hence as externalities are social costs, accountability is crucial in increasing environmental awareness and for collective action through education and extension more so in developing countries. Here a modest attempt has been made to estimate externalities in water, forests and environment with field data from peninsular India to refl ect on the economic perception of externalities by farmers and users of environment for the consideration of policy makers to devise institutions for payment towards environmental services. The methodology largely used here in estimation / valuation of externalities is by considering €طith Â€Ó without€٠situations (including €آefore Â€Ó after€٠in some cases) akin to €ذroject valuation€ٮ Studies cover empirical estimation of externalities inter alia due to over extraction of groundwater , sand mining, watershed development, conservation of forests, sacred groves, cultivation of organic coffee, use of medicinal plants as alternate medicines and the annual values presented are in 2008 prices. The negative externality due to sand mining 24 Â‚Ì per acre, that due to distillery effluent pollution is 34 Â‚Ì per acre. The positive externality due to watershed program is around 51 Â‚Ì per acre, and that due to rehabilitation of irrigation tanks is 26 Â‚Ì per acre. The positive externality due to cultivation of shade coffee is 9 Â‚Ì per acre and that due to forest conservation 27 Â‚Ì per acre. The positive externality due to sacred grove conservation was 12 Â‚Ì per family. The impact of forest conservation on Non timber forest products was 88 Â‚Ì / per tribal household. The positive externality due to use of medicinal plants as alternate medicine is equal to 35 Â‚Ì per patient suffering from osteo-arthritis and 19 Â‚Ì per patient suffering from peptic-ulcer. While these estimates are not sacro sanct as the methodologies for valuation of externalities are subject to further review and improvement, they however serve as initial indicators of spillovers. And they signal possibilities for consideration of policy makers for devising alternate institutions for potential payment towards environmental services. |
| Keywords: | Externalities, Environmental services, Sustainable development, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:44413&r=env |
| By: | Meredith Fowlie; Christopher R. Knittel; Catherine Wolfram |
| Abstract: | For political and practical reasons, environmental regulations sometimes treat point source polluters, such as power plants, differently from mobile source polluters, such as vehicles. This paper measures the extent of this regulatory asymmetry in the case of nitrogen oxides (NOx), the criteria air pollutant that has proven to be the most recalcitrant in the United States. We find significant differences in marginal abatement costs across source types with the marginal cost of reducing NOx from cars less than half of the marginal cost of reducing NOx from power plants. Our findings have important implications for the efficiency of NOx emissions reductions and, more broadly, the benefits from increasing the sectoral scope of environmental regulation. We estimate that the costs of achieving the desired emissions reductions could have been reduced by nearly $2 billion, or 9 percent of program costs, had marginal abatement costs been equated across source types. |
| JEL: | Q52 Q58 |
| Date: | 2008–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14504&r=env |
| By: | Baranger, Edouard; Clodic, Melissa; Galko, Elodie; Jayet, Pierre-Alain; Zakharov, Paul |
| Abstract: | Mathematical programming models suit policy makers' needs for assessing impacts of new policies and modellers' needs for new parameters, constraints and activities to represent the phenomenon under study. The AROPAj model aims at taking into account any geographical extension of the European Union as well as the continuously changing Common Agricultural Policy. As well as the European policies will include more and more environmental problems, AROPAj will be more and more designed toward environmental assessments. Two improvement axes are set up. Biophysical models are used to refine the design of farming systems represented in the economic model and to estimate nitrogen pollutant emissions. Down-scaling methods are coupled with the regional farm group models, aiming at providing results at a fine resolution scale useful for policy evaluation and for consistent analysis of environmental impacts calling for physical models. This helps to deal with new challenges like renewable energy production consistently with agricultural potential and environmental requirements. |
| Keywords: | supply model, EU, linear programming, agriculture, environment, coupling, down-scaling, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa107:6664&r=env |
| By: | Kruseman, Gideon; Blokland, Pieter-Willem; Bouma, Foppe; Luesink, Harry; Mokveld, Lennard; Vrolijk, Hans |
| Abstract: | Non-point source pollution is notoriously difficult to assess. A relevant example is ammonia emissions in the Netherlands. Since the mid 1980s the Dutch government has sought to reduce emissions through a wide variety of measures, the effect of which in turn is monitored using modeling techniques. This paper presents the current generation of mineral emission models from agriculture based on micro-simulation of farms in combination with a spatial equilibrium model for the dispersion of manure from excess regions with high livestock intensities within the country to areas with low livestock intensities. The micro-simulation approach retains the richness in the heterogeneity of farm household decision making that are the core cause of the difficulty of assessing non-point source pollution, while using the best available data to track corresponding pollution. Examples are provided that illustrate the strengths of the modeling framework for both pollution monitoring and environmental policy scenario analyses. |
| Keywords: | micro-simulation, spatial equilibrium model, non-point source pollution, Environmental Economics and Policy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa107:6661&r=env |
| By: | Fernadez-Tirado, Francisca; Parra-Lopez, Carlos |
| Abstract: | A variety of opinions either in favour or against development of biofuels has risen in the last years related to the environmental, economic and social impacts that its diffusion could entail compared to petroleum. Although the EU, in general, and Spain, in particular, are strongly supporting the development of biofuels they highlight that energy planning must be based on a sound analysis of the impacts of the diverse alternatives. This poster is a preliminary approach to this analysis. The main aim is to prioritize a set of environmental, economic and social objectives to identify the most relevant issues that would allow evaluating the impacts of the biofuel production and consumption in Spain. Analytic Network Process (ANP) and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) are the multicriteria decision-making methodologies implemented to deal with the problem based on experts€٠knowledge. The superiority of ANP versus AHP is discussed and the former is recommended. Results indicate that the most important objectives for a sustainable development of biofuels in Spain are conservation of non-renewable resources, within the environmental issues, the ease to be technically implemented in production, storage, distribution, and consumption, within the economic issues, and the direct employment in the agro-energy system, within the social issues. |
| Keywords: | Biofuel, sustainability, ANP, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:44117&r=env |
| By: | Laajimi, A.; Ben Nasr, J.; Ferchichi, M. |
| Abstract: | In Tunisia, the extension of irrigated area is justified by its important role in the development and diversification of agricultural production. Nevertheless, the strong intensification of the agricultural activities may lead to the pollution of underground water resources due to an excess use of fertilisers and other chemical products. In fact, the high nitrate concentrations observed in some Tunisian irrigated areas, are related to the excessive use of nitrate fertilizers in intensive agriculture. The objective of the present study is to implement decision-making methods allowing a better combination of factors production by optimization of an economic objective and an environmental objective. This research is based on multi-criteria modelling through the optimization of two conflict objectives: an economic objective as settled by farmer in the short or medium-run (Gross margin), and an environmental objective (nitrate pollution reduction) as a long-run objective of the decision maker in order to ensure the continuity of agriculture activities and ecosystems sustainability. Data were collected through a survey conducted in the irrigated area of Kalaât El Andalous in Tunisia with a sample containing 57 farms. Efficient solutions were obtained and compared through the "constraints", "NISE" and "compromises" methods. Main results obtained indicate a significant degree of conflict between these two objectives. Indeed the maximization of the total gross margin involves an increase in the degrees of nitrate pollution and conversely. Finally, some policy implications are presented. |
| Keywords: | Nitrate pollution, environmental impact, multicriteria analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:44186&r=env |
| By: | Mouratiadou, Ioanna; Topp, Cairistiona; Moran, Dominic |
| Abstract: | Within the context of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the design of effective and sustainable agricultural and water resources management policies presents multiple challenges. This paper presents a methodological framework that will be used to identify synergies and trade-offs between the CAP and the WFD in relation to their economic and water resources environmental effects, and to assess the cost-effectiveness of measures to control water pollution, in a representative case study catchment in Scotland. The approach is based on the combination of a biophysical simulation model (CropSyst) with a mathematical programming model (FSSIM-MP), so as to provide a better understanding and representation of the economic and agronomic/environmental processes that take place within the agricultural system. |
| Keywords: | Bio-economic Modelling, Water Framework Directive, Common Agricultural Policy, Agricultural and Food Policy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa107:6461&r=env |
| By: | Helin, Janne |
| Abstract: | Agricultural primary production is extensively influenced by policies and regulation. On the level of European Union the common agricultural policy (CAP), frames the production environment. This study analyses the conflict of environmental and income policies in the context of CAP reform, eutrophication, the Water Framework Directive and Finnish policies. As targets of the policies do not coincide and often conflict, the environmental problems of farming have not been solved in the past decades. The comparative analysis is conducted quantitatively under static non-linear optimisation framework of representative farms of cereal and milk production regions of Finland. The results indicate that the decoupling of subsidies from production has enabled more efficient abatement policy. The current policies are still far away from the first best abatement solution. According to the results, main policy failures lie in uniform instruments, which even on a national level ignore the heterogeneous farm structures and environmental conditions. Instead of providing tailored instruments for nutrient load problems, the reform of Finnish agri-environmental subsidy scheme fails to respond to growth trends of nutrient loads on animal intensive regions. |
| Keywords: | nutrient, abatement cost, non-point source pollution, agriculture, CAP, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Livestock Production/Industries, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa107:6468&r=env |
| By: | Bayramoglu, Basak |
| Abstract: | The object of this paper is to analyze, in a general equilibrium setting with four markets, the e¢ ciency of a biofuel subsidy policy. The analysis takes into account environmental externalities associated both with the production and the consumption of biofuels, as well as associated with the production of agricultural raw material. Our pre- liminary numerical results, applied to the biodiesel subsidy policy in France, …rst show that this policy increases the utility of the repre- sentative consumer compared to the laissez-faire solution. The same policy action leads, however, to an increased level of agricultural and GHG emissions, in comparison with the laissez-faire solution. |
| Keywords: | biofuels, subsidy, environment, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:44399&r=env |
| By: | Quiroga, S.; Iglesias, A. |
| Abstract: | The objective of this study is to provide a European assessment of the potential effects of climate change on agricultural crop production computing monetary estimates of these impacts for the European agricultural sector. The future scenarios incorporate socio economic projections derived from several SRES scenarios and climate projections obtained from global climate models and regional climate models. The quantitative results are based simulations using the GTAP general equilibrium models system that includes all relevant economic activities. The estimated changes in the exports and imports of agricultural goods, value of GDP and crop prices under the climate and socio-economic scenarios show significant regional differences between northern and southern European countries. The patterns are positive effects except on Mediterranean countries. The most important increases seem to concern the continental region, where the productivity increases enlarge GDP more intensively due to the importance of agricultural sector in the region. The monetary estimates also show that in all cases uncertainty derived from socio-economic scenarios has a larger effect than the ones derived from climate scenarios. |
| Keywords: | agriculture, climate change, computable general equilibrium models, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:44180&r=env |
| By: | Blanco, I.; Varela-Ortega, C.; Flichman, G. |
| Abstract: | Groundwater in Spain, as in other arid or semiarid countries worldwide, has been intensely used for the expansion of irrigated agriculture. This booming development has induced a remarkable socioeconomic development in many rural areas but has produced far-reaching environmental problems. In the Spanish Western La Mancha Aquifer, the excessive, and sometimes illegal, water abstraction for irrigation agriculture has resulted in the Aquifer€ٳ overexploitation and has been responsible of the degradation of the associated wetlands €ܔablas de Daimiel€ݬ an internationally reputed, Ramsarnominated aquatic ecosystem. To undertake this analysis, a mathematical programming model has been developed to simulate farmers€٠behaviour and their responses to different water policy scenarios. Specifically, the policy simulations selected are: alternative water pricing schemes (uniform volumetric and block-rate water tariffs), water use quota systems and water rights market. Results show that controlling illegal water mining is a necessary condition but it is not sufficient to recover the aquifer. Consequently, other measures will be necessary for an effective water management in this area. Among these, the block-rate water pricing scheme seems the most cost-effective system to reach the goal of aquifer sustainability but will entail important income losses in several farms. Therefore, we cannot conclude that a unique water conservation policy instrument will be the best overall solution for all types of holdings that will respond to efficiency as well as to equity considerations. It seems reasonable to make a combination of the tools proposed, even including additional measures that promote an environmental protection and develop sustainable agricultural systems. |
| Keywords: | Environmental degradation, water policies, cost-effectiveness analysis, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:43846&r=env |
| By: | Seeberg-Elverfeldt, Christina; Schwarze, Stefan; Zeller, Manfred |
| Abstract: | Up to 25 percent of all anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions are caused by deforestation, and Indonesia is the third largest emitter worldwide due to land use change and deforestation. On the island of Sulawesi in the vicinity of the Lore Lindu National Park, smallholders contribute to conversion processes at the forest margin as a result of their agricultural practices. Specifically the area dedicated to cocoa plantations has increased from zero in 1979 to nearly 18,000 hectares in 2001. Some of these plots have been established inside the 220,000 hectares of the National Park. An intensification process is observed with a consequent reduction of the shade tree density. This study focuses on the impact of carbon sequestration payments for forest management systems on smallholder households. The level of incentives is determined which motivates farmers to desist from further deforestation and land use intensification activities. Household behaviour and resource allocation is analysed with a comparative static linear programming model. As these models prove to be a reliable tool for policy analysis, the output can indicate the adjustments in resource allocation and land use shifts when introducing compensation payments. The data was collected in a household survey in six villages around the Lore Lindu National Park. Four household categories were identified according to their dominant agroforestry systems. With carbon credit prices up to ‚̳2 tCO2e-1 an incentive can be provided for the majority of the households to adopt the more sustainable shade intensive agroforestry systems. The results show that with current carbon prices the deforestation activities of the majority of households could be stopped. A win-win situation seems to appear, whereby, when targeting only the shade intensive agroforestry systems with carbon payments, the poorest households economically benefit the most, the vicious circle of deforestation can be interrupted and land use systems with high environmental benefits are promoted. |
| Keywords: | Payments for Environmental Services, Avoided Deforestation, Linear Programming, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:44182&r=env |
| By: | Raffaelli, R.; Notaro, S.; Gios, G. |
| Abstract: | The increasing importance of the carbon sequestration issue calls the researchers to investigate if the agri-environmental support (AES) to extensive mountain grazing granted under Regulations 2078/92, 1257/99 and 1698/2005 is still efficient. AES may have contributed to the maintenance of low carbon stocks in extensive grazing areas, which might otherwise have been abandoned and revegetated by species that assist carbon sequestration. We evaluate benefits and costs of supporting the maintenance of pastureland through cattle grazing in an Italian Alpine pasture for 2004. We focus on three non-commodity outputs of Alpine grazing €Ӭandscape-recreation amenities, carbon sequestration and contribution to economic vitality of the area- and three groups of agents: visitors, local community and EU households. The efficiency of supporting mountain grazing is demonstrated by a net benefit of euro 228,613. Landscape-recreational benefits are the key variable, as their value (euro 205,377) is large enough to justify the grazing activity and the related support. The value of carbon sequestration achievable with reforestation (euro 62,491) could not compensate the loss in tourism benefits. Net beneficiaries of the agri-environmental policy are not the farmers but the visitors and the local community. Transforming of the intangible goods (both landscape-recreational amenities and carbon sequestration) into tangible ones would favour the local community. The overall convenience of supporting the maintenance of Alpine pastureland through cattle grazing depends on the number and the types of benefits and costs we consider. When a complete evaluation of all the benefit and cost flow is impossible or when an aspect, previously considered as irrelevant, suddenly increases its importance (such in the case of carbon sequestration), an approach inspired by the precautionary principle is absolutely necessary and wise. |
| Keywords: | agri-environmental support, mountain grazing, carbon sequestration, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:44071&r=env |
| By: | Dillon, Emma; Hennessy, Thia; Hynes, Stephen; Commins, Verena |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa107:6474&r=env |
| By: | Dimitrios Varvarigos |
| Abstract: | I construct an overlapping generations model in which (the endogenous) longevity is impeded by the stock of pollution and promoted by public health spending. I provide an alternative explanation for the so-called environmental Kuznets curve – an explanation which gives an active role to environmental quality as a contributing factor to capital accumulation and growth. I also examine how variations in environment-related parameters determine the effect of taxation in economic development. |
| Keywords: | Overlapping generations; Pollution; Capital accumulation; Endogenous longevity |
| JEL: | O41 Q56 |
| Date: | 2008–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lec:leecon:08/38&r=env |
| By: | Sipiläinen, Timo; Marklund, Per-Olov; Huhtala, Anni |
| Abstract: | Promotion of environmental sustainable farming practices is an important policy goal for the whole agricultural sector. However, when the efficiency of production is measured in practice, enhancement of environmental quality such as biodiversity and other environmental amenities does not seem to be recognized as a positive output produced by agriculture. Here, we include crop diversity index as an indicator of environmental output in a comparison of efficiency of conventional and organic crop farms. Non-parametric technical efficiency scores are estimated applying data envelopment analysis on a sample of Finnish crop farms for 1994 Â€Ó 2002. The results show that in a pooled data set conventional crop farms are more technically efficient than organic farms when only crop output is considered. When taking crop diversity into account the difference between production techniques vanishes. In separate comparisons of conventional and organic farms, the average efficiencies of the two groups do not differ statistically significantly. Thus, the assumptions on the technology and reference sets are crucial with respect to the results of the comparison. This has important implications for policy evaluations when alternative farming technologies are compared. |
| Keywords: | crop diversity, Shannon index, DDEA, technical efficiency, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa107:6478&r=env |
| By: | Salazar-Ordonez, Melania; Sayadi, Samir |
| Abstract: | Agriculture largely shapes the European ecosystems. Today the environmental social interest and the awareness that some farming practices destroy the natural environment is undeniable. Thus, the European decision maker€ٳ emphasis on integrating social demands within the Common Agricultural Policy becomes unquestionable. In this context, this paper analyses: i) the degree of social compliance with soilerosion control from agriculture in Andalusia (southern Spain); ii) the degree of society€ٳ concern about its agriculture; and iii)the respondent€ٳ features that influence both perceptions. |
| Keywords: | Agriculture, Environment, Social Perception, Environmental Economics and Policy, Q18, D62, Q31, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:44420&r=env |
| By: | Reedman, Luke; Graham, Paul |
| Abstract: | Bottom up partial equilibrium modelling of the energy sector has tended to focus on the electricity sector given its typically large share of total emissions, the deregulation of that market in many countries and the relatively well understood technology options. In contrast, this paper employs a model of the energy sector to investigate the proportion electricity and transport may contribute given the relative cost of abatement in those sectors, for specified emission targets. A related issue is the potential convergence of the two sectors through greater uptake of electrically powered transport. |
| Keywords: | Energy, Emissions trading, Electricity and transport, integrated modelling, Environmental Economics and Policy, Public Economics, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare08:6042&r=env |
| By: | Ali, M.; Le Grusse, P.; Rio, P. |
| Abstract: | In this article we treat the problemof nonpoint source pollution as a problem of moral hazard in group. To solve this kind of problemwe consider a group performance based tax coupled to tradable permits market. The tax is activated if the group fails to meet the ambient standard. So the role of the tax is to provide an incitation to ensure that the agents provide the abatement level necessary to achieve the standard. The role of the tradable permits market is to distribute effectively this abatement level through the price of the permits which rises with the exchange of the permits. |
| Keywords: | nonpoint source pollution, ambient tax, tradable permitsmarket, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:44414&r=env |
| By: | Britz, Wolfgang |
| Abstract: | Major environmental indicators require data at a spatial resolution below administrative units as found in economic models. The CAPRI-Dynaspat project added spatial results for EU27 to the CAPRI model allowing for linkage to bio-physical models and calculation of novel indicators. The layer consists of clusters of 1x1 km cells exhausting the agricultural area, uniform in soil parameters, slope class, land cover and administrative unit. Crop and irrigation shares, stocking densities and yields are estimated per cluster along with intermediate input demand including crop specific fertilizer application rates. Those estimates drive statistically estimated meta-models from the bio-physical crop growth model DNDC to derive the nitrogen and water cycle. Indicator calculators allow estimating further impacts as e.g. different gaseous emissions or economic performance of agriculture. The results are available for the base year, for projection or scenario results, thus allowing analyzing environmental impacts in a spatial context. |
| Keywords: | Spatial dis-aggregation, agri-environmental indicators, Environmental Economics and Policy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa107:6677&r=env |
| By: | Wustenberghs, H.; Broekx, S.; Van Hoof, K.; Claeys, D.; D'Heygere, T.; D'Hooghe, J.; Dessers, R.; Huysmans, T.; Lauwers, L.; Meynaerts, E.; Vercaemst, P. |
| Abstract: | In intensive animal husbandry areas surface water N and P concentrations often remain too high. The Water Framework Directive calls for additional nutrient emission abatement measures. Therefore, costs and benefits for possible agricultural measures in Flanders were first analysed in terms of soil balance surplus. Finally, abatement measures for agriculture, households and industry were set off against each other and ranked according to their cost-efficiency by the Environmental Costing Model. Increased dairy cattle efficiency, winter cover crops and increased pig feed efficiency turn out very cost efficient. Other agricultural measures are less cost efficient than for instance collective treatment for households and industry. |
| Keywords: | nitrogen and phosphorus abatement, surface water, cost efficiency, Environmental Economics and Policy, Livestock Production/Industries, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:44245&r=env |
| By: | Fabio Mariani (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne - Paris School of Economics and IZA); Agustin Pérez-Barahona (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne); Natacha Raffin (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne) |
| Abstract: | We present an OLG model in which life expectancy and environmental quality dynamics are jointly determined. Agents may invest in environmental quality, depending on how much they expect to live, but also in order to leave good environmental conditions to future generations. In turn, environmental conditions affect life expectancy. The model produces multiple steady states (development regimes) and initial conditions do matter. In particular, some countries may be trapped in a low life expectancy / low environmental quality trap. This outcome is consistent with stylized facts relating life expectancy and environmental performance measures. Possible strategies to escape from this kind of trap are also discussed. Finally, this result is robust to the introduction of human capital through parental education expenditures. |
| Keywords: | Environmental quality, life expectancy, poverty traps. |
| JEL: | D62 J13 J24 O11 Q56 |
| Date: | 2008–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mse:cesdoc:v08048&r=env |
| By: | Rousseau, S. |
| Abstract: | This model explicitly incorporates the dynamic aspects of conservation programs with incomplete compliance and it allows landholders€٠behaviour to change over time. We find that incomplete and instrument-specific enforcement can have a significant impact on the choice between subsidy schemes and reserves for conservation policies. The results suggest that it is useless to design a conservation scheme for landholders if the regulator is not prepared to explicitly back the program with a monitoring and enforcement policy. In general, the regulator will prefer to use compensation payments, if the cost of using government revenues is sufficiently low, the environmental benefits are equal, and the cost efficiency benefits exceed the (possible) increase in inspection costs. If the use of government funds is too costly, the reserve-type instruments will be socially beneficial. |
| Keywords: | Monitoring and enforcement, Policy instruments, Conservation policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:44453&r=env |
| By: | Gómez, Salvador Parra |
| Abstract: | Over 380000 tons of vegetable waste is produced annually in the €܃ampo de DalÃasÂ€Ý zone (AlmerÃa, Spain), deriving from the diverse existing crops grown under plastic cover. Landfills containing this vegetable waste are a potential breeding ground for diseases and pests, they can also be the subject of uncontrolled burning, cause a riverbed blockage and, at the same time, they are an unsightly aspect of the landscape. The only way to prevent or minimize this problem is to adopt a comprehensive and environmentally sensitive waste management program. The utilization of the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) has allowed the monetarization of the total environmental benefit of the projects undertaken, composting plant or in an energy recycling process, to the tune of 4082777 Â‚Ì and 4794566 ‚̬ respectively. Likewise, a Geographical Information System (GIS) has been used to locate an optimal zone for a composting plant. The solution obtained minimizes the transportation cost of organic waste. It represents 40% of the total cost at current market price. The subsequent integration of the results obtained with the previous methods in a costbenefit analysis showed when a decision on possible public action needed to be taken that the best option would be a composting project with a 63.58 million Â‚Ì Net Present Value (NPV), including the internalization in economic terms of the environmental benefit of recycling organic residue. If this benefit is not internalized, the project NPV would be negative. |
| Keywords: | Contingent Valuation Method, GIS, Cost-Benefit Analysis., Demand and Price Analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa107:6399&r=env |
| By: | Marta-Costa, A.; Poeta, A. |
| Abstract: | Currently, agricultural farm units are faced with a double and most times contradictory challenge, in order to be successful: on the one hand the invested capital has to be profitable and the economic performance has to be maximised. On the other hand, given the socio-environmental situation, it is necessary to preserve and to protect the environment and natural resources. Given the potential conflict of the two aims, since the satisfaction of one implies the underperformance of the other (and vice versa), the question then is: which is the solution to choose? We intend, in this work, to formulate a farm plan with the purpose of reconciling the criteria of environmental sustainability with that of economic competitiveness. For this achievement we proceed to the comparative study of sustainability of different groups of farms identified in the study area (first evaluation cycle) through MESMIS (€Üarco para la Evaluación de Sistemas de Manejo de Recursos Naturales Mediante Indicadores de SustentabilidadÂ€Ý - Framework for Evaluation of Natural-Resource Systems Handling through Sustainability Indicators) methodology, that allowed to select the more sustainable group of farms. Based on the found potentialities and weakness on these production systems, we stepped to the planning of a production unit of bovine meat, which obeys simultaneously to economic and environmental objectives, using Multicriteria Decision. We finished the work with the sustainability evaluation between groups of farms identified previously and the planned farms (second evaluation cycle), based, again, in the MESMIS methodology, to confirm (or not) the greatest sustainability of the last ones. Analyses of the results allow us to confirm the greatest relative sustainability of the planned farm, for the diverse traced scenarios. |
| Keywords: | Decision taking, planning, sustainability, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:44252&r=env |
| By: | Branch, Marian |
| Abstract: | Michigan, like many other states, is concerned that current ground water regulations are not adequate for addressing increasing demands placed upon the state€ٳ aquifers and is currently revising its ground water policies. In order to identify components of effective ground water policies, we interviewed (via telephone) 70 ground water experts in 20 regulated riparian states which have a history of managing ground water within a riparian doctrine. Our respondents were from agencies, extension, universities, water resource institutes, and special interest groups, as well as legislators. Our sample includes experts who were involved in policy design as well as experts who work with ground water regulations on a daily basis. The questions in our semi-structured interview and the analysis were guided by an economic criteria framework for evaluating effective policy instruments. The findings from this project provide advice for water policy design based upon extensive experience. |
| Keywords: | riparian groundwater policy, interview groundwater experts, Environmental Economics and Policy, Political Economy, Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics, Environmental and Ecological Economics, Q25 - Water, Q28 - Government Policy., |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midagr:44813&r=env |
| By: | Cucuzza, Giuseppe |
| Abstract: | The struggle against climate change represents one of the €خew challenges€٠which agriculture will have to face in the immediate future. The €܈ealth CheckÂ€Ý of the Common Agricultural Policy together with questions about the efficacy and simplification of the direct aid system and the adaptation of support tools for the European Union market, give climate change a central role in the relationship between agriculture and the environment, in that they are considered likely to affect the chances of success in terms of bioenergy increase and a more efficient management of hydro resources (Com 2007/722 fin). Agriculture being subject to the effects generated by climate change should identify and develop solutions that will favour the adaptation of cultivation systems to the changes in course and should also make valid efforts in terms of mitigating and combating this worldwide phenomenon. One of the effects generated by the climate change is inherent to the management of risks in agriculture brought about by the meteorological conditions (Com 2007/722 fin). It is, therefore, necessary to define measures that can compensate for the changes and, at the same time, promote the adaptations that are necessary in the new scenario, taking into account the various local environmental conditions. This paper try to point out some of the main aspects that could condition the development of insurance in agriculture in the light of the effects generated by climate change and to indicate the role that could be played by the public sector at European level. With regard to this, the role of risk management systems in agriculture could be of great importance, especially in Europe as farmers have to make their decisions in a more competitive market and have also to deal with risks and global crises as a result of market liberalisation process and a diminished market and price support policy. The necessity to evaluate the ability of agriculture to mitigate the effects of climate change and to examine the possibility of integrating the climate change aspect into agricultural support programmes is also set out in the €܇reen Paper on Adapting to Climate Change in EuropeÂ€Ý (Com 2007/354 fin). |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008–11–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa109:44863&r=env |
| By: | BOUCEKKINE, RAOUF (Université catholique de Louvain (UCL). Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE)); Krawczyk, Jacek B.; VALLÉE, Thomas |
| Abstract: | Consider a country with two regions that have developed differently so that their current levels of energy efficiency differ. Each region's production involves the emission of pollutants, on which a regulator might impose restrictions. The restrictions can be related to pollution standards that the regulator perceives as binding the whole country (e.g., enforced by international agreements like the Kyoto Protocol). We observe that the pollution standards define a common constraint upon the joint strategy space of the regions. We propose a game theoretic model with a coupled constraints equilibrium as a solution to the regulator's problem of avoiding excessive pollution. The regulator can direct the regions to implement the solution by using a political pressure, or compel them to employ it by using the coupled constraints' Lagrange multipliers as taxation coefficients. We specify a stylised model that possesses those characteristics, of the Belgian regions of Flanders and Wallonia. We analytically and numerically analyse the equilibrium regional production levels as a function of the pollution standards and of the sharing rules for the satisfaction of the constraint. For the computational results, we use NIRA, which is a piece of software designed to min-maximise the associated Nikaido-Isoda function. |
| Keywords: | coupled constraints, generalised Nash equilibrium, Nikaido-Isoda function, regional economics, environmental regulations. |
| JEL: | C6 C7 D7 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cor:louvco:2008055&r=env |
| By: | Bartolini, Fabio; Gallerani, Vittorio; Raggi, M.; Viaggi, D. |
| Abstract: | Agri-environmental schemes (AES) have been studied under different perspectives in Europe, since the beginning of the €ع0s. Under regulation 1698/2005, agri-environmental schemes design has been modified with a more clear identification of a baseline for identifying the commitments and the costs of these prescriptions. The link between cross-compliance and agri-environmental schemes can be interpreted as a problem of joint design by the decision maker. From the farmer€ٳ point of view, private costs of participations in agri-environmental schemes shall be added to the cost to be compliant with the mandatory standard defined for each measure if they are not already implemented. This amount of costs arise when mandatory standard are required in the whole farm, even if agri-environmental schemes are applied in a small portion of the farm. The objectives of this paper is to investigate the farmer choice under different amounts of control and sanctions about the application to mandatory standards and about the commitments required by agri-environmental schemes, in conditions of moral hazard. A case study in an area of Emilia Romagna (Italy) has been developed. The simulations are referred to an agri-environmental scheme relative to input reductions use. The model offers useful insights about the mechanisms of compliance in agri-environmental schemes and their implications for the effects of policies in the case study area. |
| Keywords: | Agri-Environmental Schemes, Cross Compliance, Farmers€٠Behaviour Modelling, Moral Hazard, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Q10, Q18, |
| Date: | 2008–11–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa109:44800&r=env |
| By: | Colombo, Sergio; Hanley, Nick; Ready, Richard |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we investigate whether people€ٳ knowledge of the past influences their preferences and values towards future landscape change. €܋nowledge of the pastÂ€Ý is one aspect of the information set held by individuals, and a well-established finding in stated preference work is that changes in information can change preferences and values. The case studies used here relate to prospective changes in woodland cover in a UK national park the Lock Lomond and Trossachs. We find that people who are made aware that the landscape has changed over time are more likely to favour changes to the current landscape. Knowledge of the past therefore seems to have an impact on preferences for future landscapes. |
| Keywords: | environmental economics, landscape valuation, national parks, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:43604&r=env |
| By: | Dimoso, R.; Antonides, G. |
| Abstract: | We assess the influence of environmental degradation on intrahousehold labour time allocations in rural south Pare, Tanzania. We distinguished three types of areas, namely, severely degraded, medium degraded and non-degraded environmental conditions. The unit of analysis is the household composed of both parents and at least one schoolchild. The results, among others, show that environmental products collection and/or grazing time by the household members is, almost in all groups and in accordance to gender-biased activity, significantly influenced by the environmental conditions. |
| Keywords: | Environmental degradation, intrahousehold labour time allocations, rural south Pare highlands., Labor and Human Capital, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:44387&r=env |
| By: | Wajszczuk, Karol; Baum, Rafal; Wielicki, Witold |
| Abstract: | The paper presents a concept for a digital platform model for the biomass logistics network for local communities. This concept refers to the strategy for the development of renewable power engineering in Poland to the year 2020, adopted by the Polish government. The status and prospects for biomass production are presented, from which it results that plant production for energy purposes may in the nearest future constitute an important alternative to food production. In turn, main problems connected with the organization of biomass market at the local and regional levels are also discussed. In the proposed model the digital platform would be available on the Internet for all links of the logistics chain, starting from producers and ending with buyers (processors) of biomass. Primary benefits of the implementation of such a system include the development of local energy biomass markets and maintenance of their effective operation; comprehensive utilization of local energy biomass resources for the production of green energy; initiation of an appropriate development of biomass power engineering as an element of sustainable rural development. |
| Keywords: | sustainable agriculture, renewable energy sources, biomass logistics network, Environmental Economics and Policy, Production Economics, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa107:6454&r=env |
| By: | Bertoni, D.; Olper, A. |
| Abstract: | The paper deals with the political economy determinants of EU agri-environmental measures (AEMs) applied by 59 regional/country units, during the 2001-2004 period. Five different groups of determinants, spanning from positive and negative externalities to political institutions, are highlighted and tested using an econometric model. The main results suggest that AEMs implementation is mostly affected by the strength of farm lobbies, political institutions and the demand for positive externalities. On the contrary, AEMs do not seem implemented by the willingness to address negative externalities. |
| Keywords: | Agri-environmental Measures, Political Economy, EU Regions, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:44435&r=env |
| By: | Lehtonen, H. |
| Abstract: | Production linked supports are paid for agriculture in less favoured areas (LFA) in Finland in order to maintain agricultural production and farms. The CAP reform increased the importance of LFA payments and other payments which are still partly coupled to production. We evaluate if any significant environmental damage can be avoided without risking maintenance agricultural production in less favoured areas. We also evaluate the relative effectiveness of alternative policy measures to decrease nutrient surplus, promote biodiversity, and maintain production and farm income. The policy options evaluated are full decoupling, fertiliser tax, both combined and explicit payments for reduced nutrient surpluses. The impacts of the options are compared to the baseline assuming milk quota abolition and continuation of production linked CAP beef premia. Sector model results suggest that decoupling of certain degree would improve the effectiveness of targeted agri-environmental support measures, and in some cases considerable reduction in nutrient surplus is possible with relatively minor reduction in agricultural production and farm income. Fertiliser tax appears to be efficient especially when combined to decoupling while explicit payments on nutrient surpluses as well as full decoupling have some negative side-effects. |
| Keywords: | Agri-environmental policies, nutrient surplus, agricultural sector modelling, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:44150&r=env |
| By: | Kempen, Markus; Kraenzlein, Tim |
| Abstract: | Agricultural production requires significant input of fossil fuels and other energy sources leading to negative external effects like emissions of CO2. Measures to discourage energy consumption in the agricultural sector are contemplated upon and might increase costs of production activities. At the same time, energy cost rise due to market developments, also affecting the relative competitiveness of agricultural activities in favor of low energy input sub-sectors. Increasing energy related cost could reduce total energy consumption, but the extent of the reduction is uncertain. The effects of increasing energy costs in EU27 on market quantities and prices as well as energy use in the agricultural sector will be investigated using the agricultural sector model CAPRI which was recently extended by an energy indicator related to production activities. This paper intends to demonstrate the functionality of a large scale agricultural sector model in simulations with respect to energy use. |
| Keywords: | Energy Use in Agriculture, Energy Cost, Agricultural Sector Model, Production Economics, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa107:6652&r=env |
| By: | Feix, R.D.; Miranda, S.H.G.; Barros, G.S.A.C. |
| Abstract: | This paper aims at examining the relation between the international trade and the environment, particularly focused on sensitive agribusiness sectors. It consists on an empirical test to the conflicting positions supported by economists, some following the traditional approach (trade-off or neoclassical), while others supporting the Porter€ٳ hypothesis, which considers that impacts of the stricter environmental regulation can benefit the trade competitiveness. A Heckscher-Ohlin- Vanek model was applied to net exports as the dependent variable. The agricultural products analyzed were total agriculture, rice, maize, soybean, wheat, dairy and swine; run for 97 countries, divided as developing and developed, in a cross-section approach. This modeling allows including the environmental endowment as explanatory variables. Moreover the Environmental Performance Index (Esty et al, 2008) was also tried as explanatory variables in order to catch any effect of the environmental regulation on the trade patterns. Results were not conclusively as they show that the net exports of the selected products, considered environmentally sensitive, can be affected even positively or negatively (neoclassical approach) by the environmental regulation. The results depend on the products. A remarkable outcome to highlight is that the dummy for developing countries and developed countries was significant, pointing that for rice, for example, it makes difference being a developing country, as well as it does for wheat, being a developed country. |
| Keywords: | Trade, environmental regulation, agribusiness, Environmental Economics and Policy, International Relations/Trade, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:44329&r=env |
| By: | Yano, Y.; Blandford, D. |
| Abstract: | Several theoretical and empirical models have been developed to examine how risk aversion affects compliance with agri-environmental schemes under asymmetric information and uncertainty. However, none has examined the case where the level of compliance is a continuous variable and producers face simultaneous monitoring, output price and production uncertainty. Treating conservation effort as a continuous variable, we show that risk aversion can mitigate the moral hazard problem in most cases. However, if conservation effort has a risk-increasing impact on production the effect of risk aversion on compliance is ambiguous. |
| Keywords: | Agri-environmental schemes, uncertainty, moral hazard, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:44323&r=env |
| By: | Parra-Lopez, C.; Groot, J.C.J.; Carmona-Torres, C.; Rossing, W.A.H. |
| Abstract: | Theoretical discussions on the joint consideration of multiple (economic, social and environmental) functions when assessing the sustainability of human actions are increasing. However few studies exist that integrate the social demand for multifunctional agriculture in the evaluation of the sustainability and the global welfare of society. This paper presents a methodology to answer to these questions: Which are the social demands for the multiple functions of agriculture and how can they be quantified?; Which are the feasible technical alternatives of land management to satisfy these demands?; What is the value of the land use alternatives according to social preferences and which alternatives optimally satisfy the social preferences?. The net utility of alternatives for society, and therefore their sustainability, will be measured as the sum of market and non-market net changes compared to the current situation. The proposed methodology combines economic valuation, integrated modelling, stakeholder analysis, and multi-criteria evaluation. In particular, different multi-criteria methods (QFD/ANP) and agro-economic modelling and optimizing tools (Landscape IMAGES) were used. The methodology will be fully illustrated through the case study of dairy farming landscapes in the Northern Friesian Woodlands, The Netherlands. Results show that for the case study it is possible to change current farming techniques and achieve more sustainable farming systems. The more sustainable alternatives are beneficial for farmers, obtaining higher gross margin, and for government, decreasing the current levels of subsidies in agri-environmental programs. Even current environmental restrictions can be slightly relaxed without compromising social demands to the analysed Dutch dairy farming systems. |
| Keywords: | Land-use planning, public preferences, agro-economic models, Environmental Economics and Policy, Livestock Production/Industries, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:44253&r=env |
| By: | Michaud, C.; Llerena, D. |
| Abstract: | Markets for environmentally friendly products have been expanding during the last decade. These products provide both private benefits to the consumer and environmental Â€Ó public Â€Ó benefits. The demand for environmentally friendly products has consequently received a growing interest. Our study aims at studying consumers' choices for a non-food product, i.e. roses, with different environmental attributes. We combine a choice experiment with a laboratory experiment to provide real economic incentives. |
| Keywords: | Choice experiment, environmental attributes, real economic incentives, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:44234&r=env |
| By: | Laajimi, A.; Ben Nasr, J.; Guesmi, A. |
| Abstract: | This research has been carried out to study the sustainability of the Tunisian olive-growing farms and to compare the sustainability level of organic with conventional farms. A survey was conducted with 62 olive growers in the region of Sfax in Tunisia. First, a diagnosis of the situation of the farms was undertaken comparing between organic and conventional farms. Second, an empirical analysis was achieved to asses the sustainability of organic farms versus conventional farms following the French €܉DEAÂ€Ý method developed by Vilain [1] 1. The €܉DEAÂ€Ý indicators showed a greater ranking for the organic farms. The analysis indicated the sustainability of organic farming on the three scales adopted; ecological scale, through the soil fertility and reduction of pollution, socio-territorial scale through employment creation, reinforcement of the spirit of collective work and the products quality, and finally on the economic scale by enhancing profitability, responding to demand and prices allowing organic farming adopters to reach better incomes. |
| Keywords: | sustainability, organic farming, Tunisia, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:44463&r=env |
| By: | Abdelkrim Araar (Département d’économique and CIRPEE, Université Laval); Yazid Dissou (Department of Economics, University of Ottawa); Jean-Yves Duclos (Département d’économique and CIRPEE, Université Laval) |
| Abstract: | This study assesses the incidence of pollution control policies on households. In contrast to previous studies, we employ an integrated framework combining a multisector general equilibrium model with a stochastic dominance analysis using household-level data. We consider three policy instruments in a domestic emission trading system: (i) an output-based allocation of permits (OBA); (ii) the use of the proceeds of permit sales to reduce payroll taxes (RPT); (iii) and the use of these proceeds to reduce consumption taxes instead(UCS). The general equilibrium results suggest that the return to capital is more negatively affected than the wage rate in all simulations, since polluting industries are capital intensive. Abstracting from pollution externalities, the dominance analysis allows us to conclude that all three policies have a normatively robust negative (positive) impact on welfare (poverty). Formal dominance tests indicate that RPT first-order welfare dominates OBA over all values of household incomes. UCS also first-order poverty dominates RPT for any choice of poverty line below $CAN 18,600, and for any poverty line at the second order. Finally, while the three pollution control policies do not have a numerically large impact on inequality (in comparison to the base run), statistical tests indicate that inequality increases statistically more with OBA and RPT than with UCS. |
| Keywords: | Pollution control policies; household incidence; stochastic dominance; general equilibrium effects. |
| JEL: | C68 D31 D58 D63 H23 Q52 Q56 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ott:wpaper:0805e&r=env |
| By: | Arandia, A.; Aldanondo-Ochoa, A. |
| Abstract: | Organic farming may be seen as an alternative approach to agriculture that tries to integrate environmental concerns in management practices. By means of DEA, in this work we calculate and compare the efficiency of two samples of conventional and organic vineyards, from two different perspectives: in the first instance, the relationship between inputs and outputs is considered, exclusively, that is, the private efficiency; in the second instance, social efficiency is calculated, and the environmental impacts arising from the activity are also included. The comparison of the results obtained in these two scenarios allows us to draw some conclusions on the efficiency of organic farming in dry-farming conditions. |
| Keywords: | organic farming, efficiency, environmental impact, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:44416&r=env |
| By: | Nuppenau, E.-A. |
| Abstract: | The paper deals with the problem of finding re-lative values for species in the case of biodiversity conservation in a cultural landscape. We use the concept of shadow prices to derive flexible functional forms that allow us to conduct an in-teractive and internal valuation process. The paper is organi-zed such as that (1) the theory of shadow price derivation is presented in a framework of programming. (2) We obtain qua-dratic objective functions for participant in the valuation pro-cess. (3) Quasi demand and supply functions are derived from which we can simulate a market. (5) The special role of ecolo-gists as experts and potential managers of a landscape is ad-dressed and (6), or finally, a balanced solution on values, value oriented management, and species prevalence is provided. |
| Keywords: | Valuation, cultural landscape, species composition and nature provision by farms, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:43608&r=env |
| By: | Czajkowski, Mikołaj; Hanley, Nick |
| Abstract: | Insufficient sensitivity to scope remains one of the pivots of criticism addressed at validity of stated preference methods. Many studies demonstrate failure of a scope test of some sort, while many others show that WTP responses are sensitive to the scope of environmental change. Despite some existing explanations and reasons for insensitivity to scope (embedding, warm glow, uncertainty over supply of a public good, awareness of all options) there seems to exist no clear conclusion on how to deal with it. The paper provides an alternative explanation for insufficient sensitivity to scope, based on redefinition of value drivers of environmental goods. In the proposed framework respondents' WTP need not depend only on physical characteristics of a valued good but may also partly be a function of a ‘label' under which the environmental good is ‘sold'. To investigate this problem and empirically test the hypothesis and its implications a CE study in a biodiversity valuation setting is designed and conducted. The conceptual framework and empirical evidence provide an alternative explanation for problems with the insufficient sensitivity to scope observed in many studies. Finally, we set out some implications of the nature of labels as value drivers for the design of future valuation studies. |
| Keywords: | Scope test; Embedding; Warm glow; Label effect; CE; CVM; Biodiversity |
| Date: | 2008–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:stl:stledp:2008-16&r=env |
| By: | Arguedas, C.; Meijerink, G.W.; van Soest, D. |
| Abstract: | Many conservation programs offer financial compensation to farmers in exchange for socially desired services, such as soil conservation or biodiversity protection. Realization of the conservation objective at minimum cost requires payments to just cover the extra costs incurred by each individual (type of) farmer. In the presence of information asymmetries regarding costs, incentive-compatible contracts can be designed to mitigate excess compensation, but these typically only provide partial improvement because of several distortions. We argue that these distortions are inevitable only if all conservation costs are variable in nature. If there are fixed costs too, we find that the least-cost solution can be incentive compatible. We identify the exact conditions under which these maximum savings can be obtained and conclude that, given the relevance of fixed costs in conservation services provision, incentive€ԣompatible contracts deserve a second look. |
| Keywords: | Asymmetric information, environmental benefits, mechanism design, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:44320&r=env |
| By: | Bazoche, P.; Deola, C.; Soler, L.G. |
| Abstract: | The reduction of pesticides use is becoming a priority for the public authorities in many countries. We conducted an experiment with wine consumers to see whether end-consumers value the dissemination of information about environmentally-friendly production practices. The experiment was devised to (i) evaluate whether there is a premium for environmentallyfriendly wines, (ii) determine whether or not consumers are sensitive to label owners who implement and guarantee the environmental actions, (iii) and assess the impact of public messages about the consequences of pesticide use. Some 139 participants were divided randomly into two groups. One group had no specific information about the current state of pesticide use in farming. The other group was given information about pesticide use in farming before making their valuations. Becker-DeGroot-Marshak mechanisms revealed that (i) the environmental signal is valued differently depending on who conveyed the information, and that (ii) dissemination of information about the environmental repercussions of farming methods does not significantly affect willingness-to-pay. |
| Keywords: | Willingness to pay, Wine, Effect of information, Experimental economics, Environment, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:43651&r=env |
| By: | Helming, J.F.M.; Schrijver, R.A.M. |
| Abstract: | Part of the Health check of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the European Union in 2008, will be a discussion of the linkage between direct payments to farmers and the contribution of agricultural production to social important values. The objective of this paper is to analyse the economic and environmental effects of extra region specific environmental measures and a redistribution of direct payments to the Dutch agricultural sector in 2020. In doing so a chain of models is used from the dairy farm level to the regional sector level in the Netherlands to the European sector level. From the dairy farm model it is found that the extra-environmental measures result in a decrease in the number of dairy cows per ha and a decrease in the gross margin per ha in the regions at hand. At maximum the gross margin decreases with about Â‚Ì 1,300 per ha. This is the case on intensive types of dairy farms in the Nature2000 areas. Linking and aggregating these results to the regional sector level and using the sector model of the Netherlands it is found that income from dairy farming at sector level and national milk production decreases with about 6%. Emission of ammonia decreases with 11% and Nitrogen (N) surplus at soil level decreases with 22%. However, economic and environmental results can be very different per type of dairy farm and province. |
| Keywords: | economic models, model linking, policy, regions, dairy farming, environment and nature, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Livestock Production/Industries, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa107:6602&r=env |
| By: | Peerlings, Jack; Polman, Nico |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this paper is to analyse land allocation between competing agri-environmental contracts taking into account institutional issues and farm household and farm characteristics. We consider a Biodiversity Protection Contract, Landscape Management Contract and a Restriction on Intensive Practises Contract. The paper shows that it is important to study the choice for an agrienvironmental contract in combination with the choice for other agri-environmental contracts. The reasons being that a unit of land can only be allocated to one contract (although a farm can select more than one contract) and perceived relative marginal costs of contracts can change if institutional settings and farm household and farm characteristics alter. The model uses a two stage method. In the first step the probability of contract choice is determined. In the second stage these probabilities are linked to ex ante costs (including transaction costs) and optimal contract choice is determined. |
| Keywords: | Agri-environmental contracts, transaction costs, contract choice, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa107:6698&r=env |
| By: | Acs, Szvetlana; Hanley, Nick; Dallimer, Martin; Gaston, Kevin J.; Robertson, Philip; Wilson, Paul; Armsworth, Paul R. |
| Abstract: | In many parts of Europe, decades of production subsidies led to the steady intensification of agriculture in marginal areas, but the recent decoupling of subsidies from production decisions means that the future of farming in these areas is uncertain. For example, in the uplands of the United Kingdom, an area important both for biodiversity conservation and ecosystem service provision, hill farmers steadily increased stocking densities in response to headage payments but must now reconfigure farm businesses to account for the shift to the Single Farm Payment scheme. We examined hill farming in the Peak District National Park as a case study into the future of marginal agriculture after decoupling. We surveyed 44 farm businesses and from this identified six representative farm types based on enterprise mix and land holdings. We developed linear programming models of production decisions for each farm type to examine the impacts of policy changes, comparing the effects of decoupling with and without agri-environment and hill farm support, and evaluating the effects of removal of the Single Farm Payment. The main effects of decoupling are to reduce stocking rates, and to change the mix of livestock activities. Agri-environmental schemes mediate the income losses from decoupling, and farmers are predicted to maximise take up of new Environmental Stewardship programmes, which have both positive and negative feedback effects on livestock numbers. Finally, removal of the Single Farm Payment would lead to negative net farm incomes, and some land abandonment. These changes have important implications for ongoing debates about how ecological service flows can be maintained from upland areas, and how marginal upland farming communities can be sust ained. |
| Keywords: | CAP reform; de-coupling; ecological-economic modelling; upland farming |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:stl:stledp:2008-18&r=env |
| By: | Rodriguez-Entrena, Macario; Sayadi, Samir |
| Abstract: | Progress in Biotechnology (Gene Revolution) tends to be compared with that of the Green Revolution in the sixties and seventies. This process is developing in a context of increasing concern by the consumers for food safety and environmental conservation, stirring controversy in the scientific community and society about the potential benefits and possible risks of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). In this context, the purpose of the present study is to estimate consumer preferences in relation to genetically modified (GM) foods, emphasizing the relative importance of environmental attribute, to develop an understanding of the factors influencing consumer purchasing decisions. |
| Keywords: | Genetically Modified Foods, Consumers€٠Preferences, Conjoint Analysis., Consumer/Household Economics, Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:43973&r=env |
| By: | Lankoski, J.; Lichtenberg, E.; Ollikainen, M. |
| Abstract: | Heterogeneity of agricultural landscapes may necessitate the use of spatially targeted instrument combinations to implement the social optimum. But compliance with these policies may require costly enforcement. This paper examines the design of agri-environmental policies featuring two of the most commonly used instruments, reductions in fertilizer application rates and installation of riparian buffers. While compliance with buffer strip requirements is verifiable at negligible cost, fertilizer application is only verifiable through costly monitoring. We derive optimal subsidies for fertilizer reduction and buffer strip set-asides and enforcement strategies for the cases of low and excessive monitoring costs. An empirical simulation model suggests that enforceable policies can come close to replicating socially optimal crop production, nitrogen runoff, and overall welfare without requiring increases in overall subsidy expenditures, at least under conditions characteristic of Scandinavia. |
| Keywords: | nutrient runoff, monitoring, enforcement, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:44381&r=env |
| By: | Illge, L.; Hahn, T.; Figge, F. |
| Abstract: | Sustainable Value is a method to measure the contribution of an economic entity, such as a farm or the entire agricultural sector, towards the sustainability (sustainable development) of a region, a country or on a global scale. A positive sustainable value is created once resources are used more efficiently than by a benchmark. It shows the excess return that is created or lost by the use of economic, environmental and social resources by an economic entity relative to a benchmark. The purpose of this paper is to give an overview on the characteristics and requirements of the SV and to provide information on (a) possible applications and (b) extensions of the SV method related to the agricultural sector. A particular emphasis is put on the choice of sustainability indicators (resource figures, welfare figure) to be included, the generic steps of SV calculation, the meaning of weighting and aggregation in the SV, the role of the Return-to-Cost Ratio in taking farm size into consideration, and the interpretation and communication of the results of an agriculture-related SV assessment. After sketching out possible extensions and variations of the SV method, the paper closes with a summary of those aspects to keep in mind when applying the SV to agriculture. |
| Keywords: | sustainability contributions, value, measurement, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:44441&r=env |
| By: | Louhichi, Kamel; Belhouchette, Hatem; Wery, Jacques; Therond, Olivier; Flichman, Guillermo |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the impact of the 2003 CAP reform (the so-called Fischler Reform) and its interaction with the Nitrate Directive on the sustainability of selected arable farming systems in a French region (Midi-Pyrénées). The Nitrate Directive is one of the oldest EU environmental programs designed to reduce water pollution by nitrate from agricultural sources, through a set of measures, defined at regional level, and mandatory for farmers of vulnerable zones. This impact analysis is performed through a bio-economic modelling framework coupling the crop model CropSyst and the farm-based model FSSIM developed, within the EU FP6 SEAMLESS project (Van Ittersum et al., 2008). The 2003 CAP reform was compared first to the continuation of Agenda 2000 Regulations and then to a policy scenario combining the CAP reform with the application of the Nitrate Directive. Compared to the continuation of Agenda 2000 Regulations, the implementation of the 2003 CAP reform leads to (i) a decrease of durum wheat area, as the supplement for durum wheat in traditional production zones was reduced and integrated in the single payment scheme, (ii) a slight increase in the land used for irrigated crops, especially for maize grain, considering that 25% of the payments for these crops remain coupled and (iii) an amelioration of farm income due to a better crop allocation. Regarding the environmental results, the 2003 CAP reform induces a decrease of nitrate leaching mostly because of the drop in the level of durum wheat growing under cereal rotations in profit of soft wheat-sunflower rotation which generates less pollution levels. The impact analysis of the policy scenario shows that the potential 3% premium cut is not enough to compel farmers to adopt the Nitrate Directive and to substitute entirely the current activities by the alternative ones based on better N management. The farm income is marginally affected in spite of this premium cut thanks to the implementation of certain alternative activities which are more competitive. The impact on nitrate leaching is not always positive and swings between -6% to +5% depending on farm types. This implies that the partial adoption of better N management is not sufficient to ensure a reduction of leached nitrate. A sensitivity analysis shows that 17% of premium cut is required to enforce all arable farmers in the region to implement this directive. |
| Keywords: | Integrated assessment, Agricultural Policy, Nitrate Directive, Bioeconomic modelling, multi-scale analysis., Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Q18, Q52, Q58, |
| Date: | 2008–11–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa109:44826&r=env |
| By: | Ehrmann, Markus |
| Abstract: | Objective of this paper is to compare different measurement concepts for sustainability at farm level in Germany: a) Sustainable Value Approach (SV), b) Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and c) indicator approaches close to KUL (Criteria for an Ecologically Compatible Land Management). The mathematical programming model FARMIS is extended wrt the underlying subject and applied for quantitative analysis. Indicators based on physical inputs are calculated based on monetary data of national FADN data. The methods are applied to a sample of about 4000 representative dairy farms. Results of SV are given in both absolute values and return-to-cost ratios which take farm size into account. Considering relationships between methods we found out that correlation between DEA and SV results are higher than 0.75. The indicator methods show correlations with the other approaches of more than 0.5 for economic indicators but a rather low correlation for ecological indicators. Further we identified characteristics of farms with high efficiency and sustainable performance. In order to show differences of used methods results are given by regions, size classes and orientation of production. Results indicate that bigger farms generate higher Sustainable Value. Farms in less favourable areas show a lower performance with regard to Sustainable Value and efficiency than farms located in other areas. |
| Keywords: | Sustainable Value Approach, agriculture sustainability, Environmental Economics and Policy, Livestock Production/Industries, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:44140&r=env |
| By: | Pancino, B.; Franco, S.; Marino, D. |
| Abstract: | Italy, unlike other countries, has included the territorial dimension in the recent interventions and regulations of organic agriculture, introducing explicitly the concept of €ܯrganic district€ݮ It is defined as a local productive system with a high agricultural vocation where organic production and processing practices are predominant. The main object of this new subject is to promote the diffusion of organic agriculture focusing on the productive and environmental territorial characteristic. In this poster, after a general definition of the organic districts, as they are introduced in the Italian regulations, a method for their identification in a region is proposed. In the final part, some considerations about the role of the organic district within the general framework of agro-environmental policies are developed. |
| Keywords: | organic district, agro-environmental policies, organic agriculture, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:44192&r=env |
| By: | Hynes, Stephen; Hanley, Nick |
| Abstract: | This paper considers farmers willingness to pay (WTP) to conserve an endangered Irish farmland bird, the Corncrake (Crex crex). An Irish National Farm Survey (NFS) is used to produce individual farm-level WTP estimates for the year 2006. These figures are then aggregated to obtain a total value figure for the farming community of Corncrake conservation in Ireland. We focus on the willingness to pay of farmers rather than the WTP of the general Irish population, as farmers will ultimately be the ones that will have to take responsibility if targets set out in the All Ireland Action Plan for Corncrake conservation are to be achieved. Quantifying willingness to pay on the part of farmers can help inform the design of agri-environment schemes aimed at improving conservation of many bird species on farmland. Results indicate that the non-market benefit of corncrake conservation in Ireland may significantly outweigh the costs of existing conservation schemes. |
| Keywords: | contingent valuation; corncrakes; agri-environment schemes; biodiversi ty |
| Date: | 2008–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:stl:stledp:2008-14&r=env |
| By: | Schader, Christian; Sanders, Jürn; Offermann, Frank; Lampkin, Nic; Stolze, Matthias |
| Abstract: | This paper focuses on non-linear programming models and their suitability for ex-ante evaluations of agri-environmental policies on sector level. An approach is presented to compare organic farming payments as a multi-objective policy, with other, more targeted agri-environmental policies in Switzerland. The Swiss version of the comparative static sector-consistent farm group model FARMIS is able to group the sector€ٳ farms into organic and non-organic farms and optimise them separately. CH-FARMIS is expanded with three modules particularly for this study: a) allowing for the simulation of uptake; b) integrating life cycle assessment data for energy use, eutrophication and biodiversity; and c) estimating the policy and farm-group-specific public expenditure, including transaction costs. This paper illustrates the functions of the model, shows preliminary energy use calculations for the German Agricultural Sector and discusses the advantages and limitations of the approach. |
| Keywords: | positive mathematical programming, life cycle assessment, organic farming, environmental indicators, economic efficiency, Agricultural and Food Policy, Farm Management, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa107:6604&r=env |
| By: | Mathieu Couttenier (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne - Paris School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This article analyses through a rent seeking model, the relationship between institutions' quality and natural resources. Depending on the institutions quality, each country has a specific structural capacity to stand natural resources dependency. It is shown that for each country, a threshold exists, such that beyond this point, any additional amounts of natural resources begin to have a negative impact on institutions. As the stock of natural resources increases, this improves the expected profitability of rent seeking, which in turn lowers the quality of institutions. The mechanism comes from a new balance of power within the country. However, the institutional degradation's intensity is determined by social interactions and depends on both the resources nature and their appropriability level. The inverse U-shaped curve obtained from empirical studies presented in this article supports the natural resources non-monotonic effect on institutions found in the model. |
| Keywords: | Natural resources, institutions, rent seeking. |
| JEL: | Q32 O43 O10 F10 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mse:cesdoc:bla08060&r=env |
| By: | Barreiro-Hurle, Jesus; Espinosa-Goded, Maria; Dupraz, Pierre |
| Abstract: | Agri-environmental schemes are the main policy instrument currently available in the EU to promote environmentally friendly farming practices. Nevertheless, the adoption rate of these measures is still limited. This paper develops a theoretical framework to explain farmer sign-up decision and tests whether factors affecting this decision differ depending on the level of requirement of each measure. The model is tested with two different AES in Spain implying a low and a high farm management change. Technical factors are found to be most relevant when significant farm practice changes are at stake while the role of farmer characteristics is significant when minor changes are required. In both cases, social capital and farmer attitudes still explain part of the sign-up decision. In order to increase adoption rates, different promotion activities should be undertaken according to different measures, increasing technical suitability when major changes are at stake and enhancing social capital and better targeting to relevant farmers for measures with lower requirements. |
| Keywords: | Agri-environmental schemes, adoption models, measure intensity, Spain, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa107:6458&r=env |
| By: | Molnar, A. |
| Abstract: | The Sustainable Value method is a promising approach for accessing sustainability performance of a given activity using the concept of opportunity cost and the performance of a given benchmark. In this study the performance of the Hungarian agriculture is studied. Using FADN data for the period of 2002-2006, the possible effect of the EU accession on agricultural production is examined. Structural, economic and human factors are considered in order to gain better understanding of the differences. |
| Keywords: | sustainability, EU accession, assessment, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:44139&r=env |
| By: | Bartolini, F.; Gallerani, V.; Viaggi, D. |
| Abstract: | The objective of this paper is to set a complete ex-ante evaluation to support Decision Makers in designing more efficient and effective agri-environmental contracts, through an integrated modelling of elements of private and public decision making. Ex-ante comparison of policy design options in terms of overall effectiveness requires both simulations of farmers' behaviour and evaluation of the farms simulations outcomes. An intermediate step is the aggregation of single farms impacts at territorial level, in order to identify the aggregate impact of each alternative. Alternatives are several contract design, based on different levels of payments. Farm level analysis is based on a real options approach including in the simulations the timing of choice and the uncertainty in the future about price and decoupled payments. Aggregate policy impact is identified through the quantification of economic, social and environmental impacts at territorial level and the weights are elicited with Multiple-Criteria Robust Interactive Decision Analysis (MCRID). Simulations in the case study show that relevant opportunities to improve policy design are available. Multicriteria Analysis is then used to aggregate impacts of many criteria, including not only effects on the environment, but also economic and social impacts. |
| Keywords: | Agri-environmental schemes, Real Options, Investments, Decoupled payments, Uncertainty, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Risk and Uncertainty, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa107:6639&r=env |
| By: | Van der Straeten, B.; Buysse, J.; Nolte, S.; Marchand, F.L.; Lauwers, L.; Claeys, D.; Van Huylenbroeck, G. |
| Abstract: | The agricultural policies shift gradually from EU-level organised market interventions to local organised environmental policies. This paper explores the growth possibilities of the Flemish dairy sector with the outlook of a quota abolishment as a case study of this policy shift. The dairy quota policy seems very restrictive for the highly profitable Flemish dairy sector, but the environmental restrictions from the manure regulation can limit the growth of the dairy sector as well. The paper uses a spatial multi-agent simulation model applied to a sample of 40.000 farms to estimate price development of emission rights and their possible impact on the growth of the dairy production. The results show that a higher milk production leads to higher prices for emission rights. However, the increased cost of manure emission rights is not expected to impede dairy farm growth because the current milk quota rent estimates go far beyond the cost of manure emission rights. |
| Keywords: | milk quota, manure emission rights, mathematical programming, Flanders, Agricultural and Food Policy, Industrial Organization, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, C02, C61, L11, Q18, |
| Date: | 2008–11–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa109:44846&r=env |
| By: | Bertoni, D.; Cavicchioli, D.; Pretolani, R.; Olper, A. |
| Abstract: | As a consequence of the €اreening€٠process of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) the demand for evaluation of actual agri-environmental measures (AEMs) calls for a deeper analysis of this policy instrument implementation. The idea behind this paper is that farmers€٠willingness to participate is a necessary but not a sufficient condition in explaining the AEMs local uptake. Specifically, we test whether AEMs adoption depends both on farms and farmers€٠characteristics, and on the local political and institutional framework, as well. Discriminating between genuine farmer incentive and attitude towards AEMs from the role played by the local institutional environment, appears a crucial step toward a better understanding of agri-environmental schemes. Empirical evidence conducted on the €صniverse€٠of AEMs eligible farms located in Lombardy region gives substantial support to this hypothesis. |
| Keywords: | Agro - Environmental measures, Lombardy region, CAP, Agricultural and Food Policy, Political Economy, Q10, Q18, |
| Date: | 2008–11–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa109:44848&r=env |
| By: | Havlik, Petr; Bamiere, Laure; Jacquet, Florence; Millet, Guy |
| Abstract: | A mathematical programming model is developed and associated to a spatial pattern index (Ripley L-function) to analyse the optimal reserve design and implementation for the Little Bustard conservation in Plaine de Niort. The model structure corresponds to three spatial levels, fields, farm and landscape. Simple in terms of area representation it is detailed in term of farm behaviour and spatially explicit. The model is applied in a normative and in a positive way. The major findings of the normative approach relate to the trade-offs between the reserve pattern and its cost. It was found that the environmentally optimal reserve, which is randomly dispersed across the zone, is the most costly one. Within the positive approach, it is illustrated that the various reserve patterns generated within the normative approach can be obtained through relatively simple uniform contract structures. The most effective contract structure is a degressive set of two payments enabling all the farms to enrol at least a small share of their land. |
| Keywords: | Biodiversity, spatial optimization, mathematical programming, agri-environmental policies, Tetrax tetrax, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa107:6676&r=env |
| By: | Anoop, P.; Suryaprakash, S. |
| Abstract: | Ashtamudi estuary of south India provides many direct and indirect use values to the local community in terms of fishing, coconut husk retting, recreation and inland navigation. Nowadays the estuary is facing many threats like pollution, reclamation, injudicious fishing practices etc. At the same time it is having many potential future uses also. So it is imperative to assess the option value of the estuary to appraise the importance to conserve it. Here a contingent valuation method is applied for the assessment. The high option value of the estuary indicates the urgent need of conserving it for the potential future uses. |
| Keywords: | Ashtamudi, Option Value, CVM, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:43607&r=env |
| By: | Owen, Ann L.; Videras, Julio; Wu, Stephen |
| Abstract: | This paper adds to the literature on the voluntary provision of public goods by showing that the warm glow that individuals gain depends on the perceived relative effectiveness of contributions. We use a new survey on pro-environment behaviors, attitudes, and knowledge and find that individuals act in accordance with their beliefs, regardless of whether or not these beliefs are accurate, and engage more frequently in activities that have a higher perceived impact on environmental quality. We find that low provision of the public good is greater among people who believe they cannot do much for the environment and do not consider themselves environmentalists. |
| Keywords: | warm glow; environmental quality; public goods contributions |
| JEL: | Q50 H41 |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:11588&r=env |
| By: | Toma, Luiza; Ashworth, Cheryl J.; Stott, Alistair |
| Abstract: | This research analyses the impacts of a scientific advance that improves animal welfare, upon the environment and trade in Scotland using partial equilibrium (PE) modelling. The science improves pig neonatal survival through improved (high fibre) sow diets used before mating. Our model simulates the effects of animal welfare changes on the pig production systems (pig meat) and further on trade flows (trade in pig meat) and environment (water and air pollution). We consider two animal welfare simulation scenarios, namely the status quo Â€Ó no animal welfare change as regards pig neonatal mortality (baseline scenario) and the case of improving pig neonatal survival (alternative scenario) and compare the impacts on trade and environment between the two scenarios during the simulation horizon 2008-2015. The results show that the increase in animal welfare has a lower impact on the environment in the alternative scenario compared to the baseline scenario (by about 6% at the end of the simulation horizon) and a positive impact on net trade in the alternative scenario compared to the baseline scenario (by about 13% at the end of the simulation horizon). |
| Keywords: | Pig Welfare, Trade, Environment, Scotland, Partial Equilibrium Model., Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Q18, Q50, |
| Date: | 2008–11–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa109:44825&r=env |
| By: | Sydorovych, O.; Wossink, A. |
| Abstract: | Increasing public interest in the concept of sustainable agriculture has resulted in the development of a number of methods that could be used for the assessment of sustainability of various agricultural production systems. Because of its complex, multi-dimensional nature, sustainability is most often assessed using numerous indicators, which make aggregate comparisons among systems difficult. In this paper we propose a methodology that could be beneficial in aggregate sustainability assessment. We apply conjoint analysis to identify economic, social, and ecological attributes that are perceived as important for agricultural sustainability by different stakeholders and to assess their relative impact on the overall sustainability measure. |
| Keywords: | Conjoint analysis, choice experiments, sustainability assessment, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:44464&r=env |
| By: | Bruno Gagnon (Faculte de Génie, Université de Sherbrooke); Roland Leduc (Faculte de Génie, Université de Sherbrooke); Luc Savard (GREDI, Faculte d'administration, Université de Sherbrooke) |
| Abstract: | This paper aims to provide engineers and the engineering community with a conceptual framework setting out the connections between engineering projects and the sustainable development of environmental and social systems. The main principles of sustainable development on the one hand and of sustainable engineering on the other hand are first reviewed and summarized. Particular attention is paid to the principles put forward by international and national engineering organizations. Second, concepts and models originating in natural and social sciences are outlined to shed more light on the ways the various aspects of sustainability are related. The conceptual framework we propose combines the reviewed principles, concepts and models in a relevant manner for engineering projects. Engineering and physical or social systems prove to be related in manifold ways. While the most common relations are exposed in the sustainability framework, others have to be further elaborated in order to fully take into account the specificities of the various fields of engineering. Finally, applications of the sustainability framework in engineering practice and engineering education are discussed. |
| Keywords: | Engineering; Sustainable development; Sustainability principles; Sustainability framework |
| JEL: | Q01 Q56 Q57 I31 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:shr:wpaper:08-18&r=env |
| By: | Arriaza, M. |
| Abstract: | Following the decoupling of the cotton subsidies in 2006 the production system has become less intensive in input usage with an average yield reduction of 40 per cent. Albeit the farm income has not been reduced, the reform has had a negative effect on the economy of some rural areas of Southern Spain, where there are few productive alternatives to cotton, with a 39% reduction of direct farm labour. Besides, the reform has been borne by the ginning industry (60% reduction), the agrochemical suppliers and the auxiliary sector. On the other hand, the environment has benefits from the extensification of the cotton production since three quarter of the production is now carried out under integrated production that implies a reduction in the amount of fertilizers and pesticides that farmers can use. |
| Keywords: | cotton, CAP reform, decoupling, Spain, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:44328&r=env |
| By: | BOUCEKKINE, Raouf (Université catholique de Louvain (UCL). Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE)); HRITONENKO, Natali (Prairie View A&M University); YATSENKO, Yuri (Houston Baptist University) |
| Abstract: | The paper examines the Porter and induced-innovation hypotheses in a firm model where: (i) the firm has a vintage capital technology with two complementary factors, energy and capital ; (ii) scrapping is endogenous; (iii) technological progress is energy-saving and endogenous through purposive R&D investment; (iv) the innovation rate increases with R&D investment and decreases with complexity; (v) the firm is subject to emission quotas which put an upper bound on its energy consumption at any date; (vi) energy and capital prices are exogenous. Balanced growth paths are first characterized, and a comparative static analysis is performed to study a kind of long-term Porter and induced-innovation hypotheses. In particular, it is shown that tighter emission quotas do not prevent firms to grow in the long-run, thanks to endogenous innovation, but they have an inverse effect on the growth rate of profits. Some short-term dynamics are also produced, particularly, to analyze the role of initial conditions and energy prices in optimal firm behavior subject to environmental regulation. Among numerous results, we show that (i) firms which are historically “small” polluters find it optimal to massively pollute in the short run: during the transition, new and clean machines will co-exist with old and dirty machines in the productive sectors, implying an unambiguously dirty transition; (ii) higher energy prices induce a shorter lifetime for capital goods but they depress investment in both new capital and R&D, featuring a kind of reverse Hicksian mechanism. |
| Keywords: | matching problem, von Neumann-Morgenstern stable sets, farsighted stability |
| JEL: | C71 C78 |
| Date: | 2008–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cor:louvco:2008024&r=env |
| By: | Judez, L.; de Andres, R.; Ibanez, M.; Urzainqui, E. |
| Abstract: | When working with positive mathematical programming (PMP) models it is generally admitted that it is not possible to consider in the modeled unit activities that are not present in the baseline situation of the unit. This constitutes a considerable drawback for traditional PMP techniques which cannot be applied in specific cases, in particular to the study of the impact of new agri-environmental programs that subsidize crops grown with technologies different to those applied in the baseline situation. This paper presents a method for dealing with these cases, which can be easily implemented as an extension of the traditional calibration techniques of PMP. The method is applied to a specific problem, using modified calibration expressions derived from the necessary Khun-Tucker conditions, assuming increasing marginal costs. The analysis of the results and their comparison with those obtained using a linear programming model permits a first evaluation of this methodological proposal. |
| Keywords: | Positive mathematical programming extensions, Agri-environmental measures, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:44243&r=env |
| By: | Vesterinen, J.; Pouta, E. |
| Abstract: | Eutrophication has been commonly acknowledged as a typical problem of the Baltic Sea, but it is also emerging in Finnish inland waters. As municipal sources of nutrients have been addressed by enhancing waste water treatment, the pressure has focused to agriculture along with the adoption of the EU- Water Framework Directive, which aims to improve surface water quality to €ܧood ecological statusÂ€Ý by 2015. The implementation of the directive will likely affect water recreation behavior and benefits. In this study we modeled water recreation participation and water quality econometrically using a hurdle model for three activities: swimming, fishing and boating. In addition, we estimated the consumer surplus for a water recreation day using a travel cost approach. We found that close-to-home water quality affects swimming and fishing behavior positively, and that for a 1-meter improvement in water clarity, consumer surplus for swimmers would increase at a range between 32 to 97 million Euros, and for fishers by 43 to 130 million Euros. In comparison with previously estimated costs of decreasing agricultural nutrient flow to the Gulf of Finland, we found that net benefits may be positive. |
| Keywords: | Water recreation, non-market valuation, eutrophication, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:43848&r=env |
| By: | Viaggi, D. |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to test the relevance of considering private fixed transaction costs for contract design of Agri-Environmental Schemes, when transaction costs are negatively correlated to marginal compliance costs. In order to do so, a principal-agent model of contract design under adverse selection, including fixed private transaction costs, is developed. The model is applied to the design of payments in the Emilia Romagna region of Italy. The results show that fixed transaction costs in the range of those actually faced by farmers may significantly affect the optimal amount of environmental good to be produced by each farm type. In some cases, fixed transaction costs can even reverse the standard insight that more of a public good should be produced when the cost of its provision is lower (countervailing incentives). The results call for a higher attention to private transaction costs in the design of agri-environmental contracts. |
| Keywords: | Agri-environmental schemes, principal-agent, countervailing incentives, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:44322&r=env |
| By: | Jan, P.; Lips, M.; Roesch, A.; Lehmann, B.; Dumondel, M. |
| Abstract: | The improvement of the sustainable performance of the agricultural sector is a priority of the Swiss agricultural policy. The sustainability of Swiss dairy farms located in the mountainous area might be critical as many of them show a weak performance in the use of their economic and/or social resources, and sometimes also of their environmental resources. An improvement of the sustainability of these farms prerequisites to better know on a large scale their sustainable performance and its determinants. For a representative sample of 480 dairy farms, we perform an assessment of their sustainable efficiency with the €ܳustainable value€ݬ an approach to assess corporate sustainability based on the capital and opportunity cost theories. Using a linear regression, we analyze the determinants of the sustainable efficiency. The results show a tight positive relationship between sustainable performance and pure economic performance. The intensity of the use of intermediate consumptions is found to be the most important determinant of the sustainable efficiency. Farms with a high sustainable efficiency are those that use their intermediate consumptions in the most efficient way. The part of direct payments in the gross profit is shown to negatively affect the sustainable efficiency. The structural characteristics of the farms and the sociologic characteristics of the farmer managers are shown to hardly influence the sustainable efficiency. |
| Keywords: | corporate sustainable performance, dairy farms, Switzerland, Farm Management, Livestock Production/Industries, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:44138&r=env |
| By: | Barreiro-Hurle, J.; Espinosa-Goded, M.; Dupraz, P. |
| Abstract: | Current EU legislation states that premiums for agri-environmental schemes must be calculated based on forgone profit and additional costs. This approach has been implemented for the last decades without much success in farmer uptake, a situation that might even worsen as the 20% additional payment as incentive for participation has been excluded in the new EU Rural Development Framework 2007-2013. This paper tries to explain why supply side estimated premiums might not suffice to assure farm profitability investigating the role that fixed costs have on adoption. A farm profit maximizing model is proposed where fixed and transaction costs are split from variations in marginal profit. This model is then developed to identify the potential barriers to adoption associated with the presence of fixed compliance costs. A sample of farmers eligible for an agri-environmental scheme entailing a land-use change is used to test whether the theoretical models are valid for explaining adoption decisions. Two different econometric specifications are used to identify the role of fixed costs, one assuming that uptake and surface decisions are governed by the same variables and another distinguishing both decisions. Estimation results show that there is an adoption barrier derived from the initial farm technical assets and know-how affecting the fixed compliance costs of introducing the new crop. Therefore not compensating for fixed costs can curtail agri-environmental policy success. In addition, there is an adoption barrier derived from transaction costs which are reduced in the presence of social networks. |
| Keywords: | Agri-environmental schemes, fixed costs, adoption, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:43606&r=env |
| By: | Rojas, Mauro Arias; Martinez, Eva Iglesias |
| Abstract: | The failure of the centralized management system and the intense over-exploitation of benthonic resources along the Chilean coast motivated the design and implementation of an innovative co-management policy in 1999. Although its positive effects have already been recognized at biological and organizational level, doubts have been posed with regards to its economic sustainability. In this paper, we present a bio-economic evaluation at national level for one of the most important and valuable benthonic resources, the Loco ecosystem. A dynamic simulation model is developed in order to compare and evaluate the effectiveness of the traditional centralized management and the co-management system recently implemented in Chile. The results show that the amount of captures and effort devoted during the centralized management period were significantly underestimated due to the existence of illegal captures. On the other side, the results reveal that, after a fearful beginning, the values for revenues, capture and stock were larger than those that would have been obtained in case the former centralized system had persisted. |
| Keywords: | natural resource modeling, marine policy, co-management policy, artisanal fisheries management, Territorial Use Right Fisheries, Industrial Organization, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa107:6400&r=env |
| By: | Bulgheroni, Claudia; Sali, Guido |
| Abstract: | This paper presents a regional model, based on Positive Mathematical Programming, which aims to evaluate the consequences of Fischler reform on the agricultural sector of the Lombardy irrigated lowland (Northern Italy). The model main focus is to quantify the agricultural land use changes due to the farmers reaction to the CAP reform main issues, such as single payment, and to simulate possible scenarios for the future. The model takes into account also the Water Frame Directive principles, in order to combine the assessment of both CAP issues and the potential irrigation water supplies reduction, which could deeply affect the area. The model input are obtained by means of the integration between FADN and SIARL (Agricultural Information System of Lombardy Region) information, in order to fit the territorial dimension. The simulation results of 11 different scenarios are discussed. |
| Keywords: | CAP modelling, Fischler Reform, Positive Mathematical Programming, Regional model, Water Frame Directive, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Q18, Q15, C61, |
| Date: | 2008–11–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa109:44827&r=env |
| By: | Gomez-Limon, Jose A.; Riesgo, Laura |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to carry out a comparative analysis of alternative methods on constructing composite indicators to measure global sustainability of the agricultural sector. This comparison is implemented empirically on the irrigated agriculture of the Duero basin (Spain) as a case study. For this purpose, this research uses a dataset of indicators previously calculated for different farm-types and policy scenarios. The results allow to establish a hierarchy of the policy scenarios on the basis of the level of sustainability achieved. Furthermore, analyzing the heterogeneity of different farms-types in each scenario, is also possible to determine the main features of the most sustainable farms in each case. All this information is useful in order to support agricultural policy design and its implementation, trying to increase the sustainability of this sector. |
| Keywords: | Sustainability, Composite Indicators, Irrigated agriculture, Scenarios, Agricultural policy, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa107:6489&r=env |
| By: | Mettepenningen, E.; Beckmann, V.; Eggers, J. |
| Abstract: | Despite a total budget increase for rural development in the new programming period (2007- 2013), for most older Member States in the now expanded European Union the multi-annual spending plan for the period 2007-2013 predicts a substantial decrease of the budget for rural development and thus for agri-environmental schemes (AESs). It can be assumed that nothing or only part of this loss could be compensated by national funds in most countries. Therefore designing more efficient national governance structures for AESs, which decrease public transaction costs (TCs), would be an appropriate answer to this problem. The objective of this paper is to define the factors influencing these public TCs, because then appropriate action can be taken to reduce them. A statistical analysis with a proxy for public TCs is combined with an analysis of the perception on public TCs influencing factors of the stakeholders involved (not including farmers). The research showed that mainly scheme related factors are perceived to be important, although the governance structure, institutional environment and trust also play a role. High public TCs are however not necessarily a problem, if they would lead to a higher environmental effectiveness of the schemes. It is important to pay attention to the heterogeneity of the natural environment and on the basis of that decide for a more centralised or decentralised approach to AES design. |
| Keywords: | Public transaction costs, agrienvironmental schemes, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:44321&r=env |
| By: | Katona-Kovacs, J.; Dax, T. |
| Abstract: | Although there are steps in the direction that the application of Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) instruments in different regions has to take account of the territorial dimension, these have to be further improved. This aspect attains particular relevance in ecologically sensitive areas. The aim of the paper is to examine the role of CAP instruments in two National Parks from the aspect of sustainable rural development. The two selected National Parks are both very famous protected areas in Hungary and Austria, situated in very different landscapes and representing different types of national parks. The territorial distribution of the CAP Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 payments are analysed against the specific local role and the regional and national contexts. The comparison addresses the different policy background of the two countries with their different history and experience within the CAP system. It particularly discusses the regional expenditure structure with regard to the placespecific role of agri-environmental payments. |
| Keywords: | National Parks, CAP, territorial dimension JEL Q20 Q01, Community/Rural/Urban Development, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:44438&r=env |
| By: | Havlik, P.; Bamiere, L.; Jacquet, F.; Millet, G. |
| Abstract: | A mathematical programming model is developed and associated to a spatial pattern index (Ripley L function) to analyse the optimal reserve design and implementation for the Little Bustard conservation in Plaine de Niort. The model structure corresponds to three spatial levels, fields, farm and landscape. Simple in terms of area representation, it is detailed in terms of farm behaviour and spatially explicit. The model is applied in a normative and in a positive way. The major findings of the normative approach relate to the trade-offs between the reserve pattern and its cost. It was found that the environmentally optimal reserve, which is randomly dispersed across the zone, is the most costly one. Within the positive approach, it is illustrated that the various reserve patterns generated within the normative approach can be obtained through relatively simple uniform contract structures. The most effective contract structure is a degressive set of two payments enabling the farms to enrol at least a small share of their land. |
| Keywords: | Biodiversity, spatial optimization, mathematical programming, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:44172&r=env |
| By: | Sambit Bhattacharyya; Roland Hodler |
| Abstract: | We study how natural resources can feed corruption and how this effect depends on the quality of the democratic institutions. Our game-theoretic model predicts that natural resources lead to an increase in corruption if the quality of the democratic institutions is relatively poor, but not otherwise. We use panel data covering the period 1980 to 2004 and 99 countries to test this theoretical prediction. Our estimates confirm that the relationship between resource abundance and corruption depends on the quality of the democratic institutions. In particular, resource abundance is positively associated with corruption only in countries that have endured a nondemocratic regime for more than 60 percent of the years since 1956. Our main results hold when we control for the effects of income, time varying common shocks, regional fixed effects and various additional covariates. They are also robust to various alternative measures of natural resources, corruption and the quality of the democratic institutions. These findings imply that democratization can be a powerful tool to reduce corruption in resource-rich countries. |
| Keywords: | Natural resources; democracy; political institutions; corruption |
| JEL: | D7 O1 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mlb:wpaper:1047&r=env |
| By: | John Creedy; Ross Guest |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the implications of adopting alternative value judgements when evaluating future consumption streams in the context of damage abatement. The paper focusses on a form of ‘sustainable preferences’ designed to avoid either a dictatorship by present or by future generations which can arise when using a ‘standard’ social welfare function. Numerical examples are reported, based on a simple growth model, under alternative damage abatement parameters and welfare functions. The results illustrate how sustainable preferences effectively reduce the damages on future consumption by shifting consumption from the present to the future. This implies an intergenerational trade-off. An explicit policy of damage abatement under a standard social welfare function implies a similar intergenerational trade-off. However, the results suggest that damage abatement does not penalise current generations as much under sustainable preferences as it does under standard value judgements |
| Keywords: | n/a |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mlb:wpaper:1026&r=env |
| By: | Peter Bardsley; Ingrid Burfurd |
| Abstract: | Market based instruments are proving e¤ective in biodiversity procure- ment and in the management of regulatory schemes to preserve biodiversity. The design of these schemes brings together issues in auction design, con- tract theory, ecology, and monitoring. Using a mixed adverse selection, moral hazard procurement model, we show that optimal contract design may di¤er signi?cantly between procurement and regulatory policy environ- ments |
| Keywords: | biodiversity; procurement; adverse selection; contract theory |
| JEL: | D82 D86 Q57 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mlb:wpaper:1031&r=env |
| By: | Gallerani, Vittorio; Raggi, Meri; Viaggi, Davide |
| Abstract: | Agri-Environmetal Policy (AEP) application raised a wide debate about the determination of payment levels and the efficiency of the economic instruments used. In particular, some aspects support the hypothesis of relevant rents due to an overcompensation of farmersÏ¿Ý compliance costs. A policy tool suitable for improving the efficiency of AEP can be the adoption of auctions mechanisms in contract allocation. In theory, in an auction mechanism, the farmers have incentives to reveal their compliance costs, helping to reduce the information rents and increase cost-effectiveness. A crucial problem therefore arises from the uneven distribution of information between landowners and the public administration. Auctions mechanism can be useful in reducing opportunistic behavior that arises due to these information asymmetries. The aim of this work is to simulate the potential contribution of auctions mechanism to the efficiency of Agri-Environmental contracts in Emilia Romagna Region (Italy). The results give some indications about the efficiency of auction mechanism compared to other contract mechanism. |
| Keywords: | Auction, Agri-Environmental Policy, Information asymmetries., Agricultural Finance, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa107:6660&r=env |
| By: | OGGIONI, Giorgia (Université catholique de Louvain (UCL). Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE)); SMEERS, Yves (Université catholique de Louvain (UCL). Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE)) |
| Abstract: | The inception of the Emission Trading System in Europe (EU-ETS) has made power price more expensive. This affects the competitiveness of electricity intensive industrial consumers and may force them to leave Europe. Taking up of a proposal of the industrial sector, we explore the possible application of special contracts, based on the average cost pricing system, which would mitigate the impact of CO2 cost on their electricity price. The model supposes fixed generation capacities. A companion paper treats the case with capacity expansion. We first consider a reference model representing a perfectly competitive market where all consumers (households and industries) are price-takers and buy electricity at the short-run marginal cost. We then change the market design assuming that large industrial consumers pay power either at a single or at a nodal average cost price. The analysis of these problems is conducted with simulation models applied to the Northwestern European market. The equilibrium models developed are implemented in the GAMS environment. |
| Keywords: | average cost pricing, complementarity conditions, EU-ETS, Northwestern Europe market. |
| Date: | 2008–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cor:louvco:2008001&r=env |
| By: | Giannoccaro, G.; Prosperi, M.; Zanni, G. |
| Abstract: | With the enforcement of the Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC (WFD), policy makers are required to pursue the improvement of the use efficiency of the water resources in the agricultural sector. For this purpose, we suggest a methodology to perform an ex-ante analysis of the efficiency of water pricing policies, based on a two stage DEA technique, by which it is possible to disaggregate the technical and the ecological efficiency of the policy. According to our results, we found that, coherently with the WFD principles, the direct pricing methods show the highest levels of efficiency. However, we have also found that some indirect pricing methods show relatively high levels of efficiency. Therefore, since the high cost for the management and implementation of water measurement devices required to apply the volumetric methods, indirect pricing methods might still be preferable. |
| Keywords: | Data Envelopment Analysis, efficiency, water pricing, water framework directive, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa107:6499&r=env |
| By: | Helming, J.F.M.; Berkum van, S. |
| Abstract: | Following model calculations presented in this paper he removal of the EU quota system will result in 21% more milk production in the Netherlands. Large dairy farms expand and achieve higher income levels compared to a scenario with quota continuation, as increasing scale of production and decrease of quota costs outweigh price reductions and extra manure disposal costs. Production in the category of relatively small farms, however, declines and farms in this category will leave business. Sector income will only marginally fall while production expansion will remain within the limits of present environmental policies related to manure and nutrient applications. |
| Keywords: | milk quota, mathematical programming models, environment, Agricultural and Food Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:43966&r=env |
| By: | Jongeneel, Roel; Polman, Nico; Slangen, Louis |
| Abstract: | The scattering of nature areas in the Netherlands and the increased demand for nature lead to a governmental project in 1990 to complete a network of nature favouring areas, the ecological main structure, in 2018. The financial and economic costs and benefits of this project were analysed. Targets for purchasing of agricultural land and conversion into nature were adjusted several times as the land price doubled between 1995 and 2000. The purchasing rate still has to double, which will probably drive up the land price even further. The alternative is long-term contracts with farmers or private landowners for nature conservation. |
| Keywords: | cost-benefit analysis, transaction costs, land market, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:43970&r=env |
| By: | Hanley, Nick; Davies, Althea; Angelopoulos, Konstantinos; Hamilton, Alistair; Ross, Alasdair; Tinch, Dugald; Watson, Fiona |
| Abstract: | This study shows how data from very different disciplines can be combined to address questions relevant to contemporary conservation and understanding. This novel, interdisciplinary approach provides new insights into the role of economic factors as a driver of biodiversity loss in the uplands. Biodiversity levels have varied considerably over 400 years, partly as a function of land management, suggesting that establishing baselines or "natural" target levels for biodiversity is likely to be problematic. Changes in livestock grazing pressures brought about by changes in prices had statistically significant effects on estimated plant diversity, as did land abandonment. This suggests that longterm management of upland areas for the conservation of diversity should focus on grazing pressures as a key policy attribute. Another policy implication is that drastic cuts in grazing pressures - such as might occur under current reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy - can have adverse biodiversity con sequences. |
| Keywords: | economic factors; grazing pressures; historical studies; interdisciplinary studies; panel data models; pollen analysis; uplands; palynological r ichness |
| Date: | 2008–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:stl:stledp:2008-01&r=env |
| By: | Hyytiainen, K.; Leppanen, J.; Pahkasalo, T. |
| Abstract: | Rational land use decisions of private landowners are analysed in the framework of Common Agricultural Policy and other public support schemes effective in Finland in 2003. Net present values are computed for a marginal hectare of a typical Finnish farm. Three alternative land uses are considered: traditional cultivation of oats (Avena sativa L.), cultivation of reed canary grass (Phalaris Arundinacea L.) for energy production, and production of Norway spruce (Picea abies [L.] Karst.) timber. Both arable land and forested land are considered as initial states. Experimental data from 38 afforested stands and distance-independent individual-tree stand growth model are used for computing discounted net returns from forestry. Statistics on market prices, average yields, prices and costs are used for obtaining estimates of land value under agricultural and energy production. Cultivation of energy grass gives clearly the highest economic outcome for arable land, but it has limited demand only in the neighbourhood of thermal power stations. Maintaining arable lands under traditional food production gives higher land value than afforestation. Without an option for agricultural use, public support makes afforestation investments profitable even for the least successfully established forest stands. However, possibilities to sell or to rent out retain arable lands under agricultural production, and explain poor success of the latest afforestation programme. Clearing additional forestland for agricultural production turns rational if clearing of the site is inexpensive, relative value growth of the existing timber stock is low, and future prospects of agricultural production are dependent on scale advantages. |
| Keywords: | common agricultural policy, energy grass, incentives, land use, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:44178&r=env |
| By: | Verguts, V.; Dessein, J; Lauwers, L. |
| Abstract: | Greenhouse horticulture can play a major role in Flemish rural development, regional economy and employment. However, the sector deals with structural problems. Scale increase of greenhouse firms is required for economic reasons, but high investments and risks make this quasi unsupportable for individual farmers. Clustering greenhouses into greenhouse parks is a possible way out. Through collaboration and mutual material exchanges, firms enjoy scale effects and eco-efficiency is enhanced without individual enlargement. The government is planning pilot projects to investigate possibilities of greenhouse parks in Flanders. Obviously, many obstacles are faced, such as spatial planning, coordination of policy levels and institutions and interactions with different stakeholders, e.g. local people, environmentalists, the distribution sector. Moreover, the mere set-up of such a high impact process is a challenge. We look at similar projects, implemented in the Netherlands in order to obtain a better view on possibilities, critical success factors, triggers and threats for greenhouse parks in Flanders. Dutch cases of successes and failures are explored by case study research. After the first data gathering round, only preliminary results are presented. Different concepts such as transition and system innovation are used as theoretical lenses in the analysis. In a later phase of the research, information and lessons learned from Dutch projects will be combined with research data of Flanders. First results indicate the importance of €ܒelated activities in the neighbourhood€ݬ €܌and€ݬ €܆inancial conditions€ݬ €ܒole of different policy levels€ݬ €ܓupport of stakeholders€ݬ €܃ollaborationÂ€Ý and €Ürocess specific parameters€ݮ |
| Keywords: | Greenhouse parks, tranistion, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae08:43602&r=env |