Economic Experiments as a Tool for Agricultural Policy Evaluation: Insights from the European CAP

Colen, Liesbeth; Paloma, Sergio Gómez y; Latacz‐Lohmann, Uwe; Lefebvre, Marianne; Préget, Raphaële; Thoyer, Sophie

doi:10.1111/cjag.12107

Cited by 72 publications

(73 citation statements)

References 69 publications

(73 reference statements)

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“…5 year under the current Common Agricultural Policy). In addition, there is evidence that introducing some level of management option flexibility significantly and positively influences contract adoption (Colen et al., ; Greiner, ) and that farmers prefer simple schemes that reduce paperwork, with flexible lengths of engagement (Ruto & Garrod, ). For example, farmers could signup to mow at a given frequency over the duration of the contract, but without specifying in which years.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paying for conservation: A bioeconomic analysis of the effects of land management options on the viability of an endangered species, Eryngium alpinum

Andrello

Devaux

Quétier³

et al. 2018

Journal of Applied Ecology

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Land management is critical for biodiversity conservation in mountain grasslands. It should be both ecologically effective and economically efficient. We provide an economic analysis of different options (spring and autumn grazing, mowing and abandonment) and their effects on population viability of a rare plant species, Eryngium alpinum (Apiaceae), in two French mountain grassland sites (Fournel and Pralognan). Using data collected in a 10‐year individual‐based demographic study, we estimated the effects of land management options on the population growth rate and simulated the effect of combinations of options. Income earned through each option was estimated using data on associated costs (price of consumables, working time and wages) and benefits (forage production, quality and price), and we assessed the economic effects of agri‐environment subsidies (AESs). We also simulated the effects of increased frequencies of extreme climatic events (such as the 2003 heatwave). Spring grazing was the worst option for E. alpinum demography but the best in economic terms, as it provided net positive incomes. Autumn grazing was the best option, resulting in positive growth rates and incomes, even if the latter were lower than for spring grazing. Mowing was the second best option for demography but resulted in economic losses for farmers. Abandonment provided zero income and was not favourable to population growth. In Fournel, AESs allowed for economically and ecologically near‐optimal combinations of management options. In Pralognan, alternating years of grazing with mowing resulted in an acceptable compromise, with positive growth rates and incomes, but AESs were not sufficient to cover the opportunity cost of spring and autumn grazing. Mowing was also unattractive because of the inaccessibility of the site and impossibility to recover the hay to make forage. Simulations with increased frequency of extreme climatic events resulted in negative growth rates in Pralognan, questioning the continuation of AESs in extinction‐prone populations. Synthesis and applications. The conservation effectiveness and economic efficiency of grassland management could be improved by alternating practices over several years. However, existing agri‐environment subsidies would barely be sufficient to increase uptake of the most favourable land management options for biodiversity.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paying for conservation: A bioeconomic analysis of the effects of land management options on the viability of an endangered species, Eryngium alpinum

Andrello

Devaux

Quétier³

et al. 2018

Journal of Applied Ecology

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“…Methods Khandker et al [24] Gertler et al [26] Lois and Rodrigues [13] EC [25] European Evaluation Network for Rural Development (EENRD) [ From a methodological perspective, experimental approaches are considered the evaluation golden standard, as they allow for robust counterfactual comparisons through random assignment of programme participation among individuals [27]. However, some ethical and representativeness issues provide barriers to application of these methods, and are yet to have been applied for evaluation of agricultural programmes in the EU [28]. Due to these limitations, quasi-experimental approaches-those that attempt to simulate experimental conditions (i.e., randomisation) using observational data-are often recommended to address counterfactual analysis.…”

Section: World Bank European Commission (Ec)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Reviewing Counterfactual Analyses to Assess Impacts of EU Rural Development Programmes: What Lessons Can Be Learned from the 2007–2013 Ex-Post Evaluations?

2019

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Counterfactual analysis has been recommended as a means of assessing the impacts of European Rural Development Programmes (RDP) over recent years, although its application has been scarce to date. This paper examines the use of counterfactual analysis to assess socioeconomic impacts in a set of 2007–2013 ex-post evaluations. The analysis undertaken shows that a wide variety of counterfactual approaches have been applied, although certain barriers still remain to address the estimation of RDP impacts following the EU evaluation standards. Furthermore, we noted that impacts provided by individual RDP evaluations may hardly be aggregated, making it difficult to draw clear conclusions about the effectiveness of rural development policy at the EU level.

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“…Program design should consider the preferences of decision‐makers for the land, most effectively, ex‐ante (Schulz et al., ; Wei et al., ; Welsh et al., ). There is, however, surprisingly little in the literature to guide understanding of how contract designs for wetlands programs affect participation (Colen et al., ). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper that considers producer interest in a working wetlands program (WWP) throughout the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Landowner valuation of a working wetlands program in the Prairie Pothole Region

Wachenheim

Lim

Roberts

et al. 2019

Agricultural Economics

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Wetlands conservation within agricultural working lands is currently incentivized by land retirement programs and farm program eligibility criteria. Private ownership of the majority of agricultural lands within which these wetlands reside and growing opportunity costs facing landowners put wetlands at risk and motivate consideration of alternative policy options. A choice experiment was used to estimate likelihood of enrollment in a hypothetical working wetlands program. Landowners preferred shorter contract lengths, higher rental rates, midterm adjustment rather than a fixedrate contract, the right to conduct managed burning on their lands-containing program wetlands, and no conservation practice requirement. Landowners with higher expressed valuation of conservation and who favor protecting wetlands, believe that small wetlands are important for their farms, who would not drain any of their wetlands, and raise ruminant animals are more inclined to participate in the program. Recommendations include consideration of program targeting during program design, practicing creative thought regarding program promotion, and exploration of no-loss wetlands solutions, especially those market based.

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Economic Experiments as a Tool for Agricultural Policy Evaluation: Insights from the European CAP

Abstract: ). This article assesses the potential contribution of economic experiments to evidence-based policy making in the field of agriculture, with a special focus on the European Union (EU)'s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

Cited by 72 publications

References 69 publications

Paying for conservation: A bioeconomic analysis of the effects of land management options on the viability of an endangered species, Eryngium alpinum

Paying for conservation: A bioeconomic analysis of the effects of land management options on the viability of an endangered species, Eryngium alpinum

Reviewing Counterfactual Analyses to Assess Impacts of EU Rural Development Programmes: What Lessons Can Be Learned from the 2007–2013 Ex-Post Evaluations?

Landowner valuation of a working wetlands program in the Prairie Pothole Region

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