IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/aaea10/62028.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Who Really Benefits from Agricultural Subsidies? Evidence from Field-Level Data

Author

Listed:
  • Kirwan, Barrett E.
  • Roberts, Michael J.

Abstract

The idea that agricultural subsidies are fully capitalized into farmland values forms the foundation of the argument that subsidies are entitlements and removing them would drastically reduce farmland asset values. Surprisingly little evidence substantiates this claim. Using field-level data and explicitly controlling for potentially confounding variables we find that landlords only capture between 14 – 24 cents of the marginal subsidy dollar. The duration of the rental arrangement has a substantial effect on the incidence. Initially, landlords extract 44 cents of the marginal subsidy dollar, but the incidence falls by 1.5 cents with each additional year of the rental arrangement. This duration effect reveals that rental market frictions play an important role in the farmland rental market.

Suggested Citation

  • Kirwan, Barrett E. & Roberts, Michael J., 2010. "Who Really Benefits from Agricultural Subsidies? Evidence from Field-Level Data," 2010 Annual Meeting, July 25-27, 2010, Denver, Colorado 62028, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:aaea10:62028
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.62028
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/62028/files/Who%20benefits%20from%20agricultural%20subsidies_AAEA.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.62028?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Barry K. Goodwin & Ashok K. Mishra & François Ortalo-Magné, 2011. "The Buck Stops Where? The Distribution of Agricultural Subsidies," NBER Chapters, in: The Intended and Unintended Effects of US Agricultural and Biotechnology Policies, pages 15-50, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Patton, Myles & Kostov, Philip & McErlean, Seamus & Moss, Joan, 2008. "Assessing the influence of direct payments on the rental value of agricultural land," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(5), pages 397-405, October.
    3. Pavel Ciaian & d’Artis Kancs, 2012. "The Capitalization of Area Payments into Farmland Rents: Micro Evidence from the New EU Member States," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 60(4), pages 517-540, December.
    4. Richard E. Just & John A. Miranowski, 1993. "Understanding Farmland Price Changes," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 75(1), pages 156-168.
    5. Barry K. Goodwin & Ashok K. Mishra, 2006. "Are “Decoupled” Farm Program Payments Really Decoupled? An Empirical Evaluation," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 88(1), pages 73-89.
    6. Claassen, Roger & Lubowski, Ruben N. & Roberts, Michael J., 2005. "Extent, Location, and Characteristics of Land Cropped Due to Insurance Subsidies," 2005 Annual meeting, July 24-27, Providence, RI 19546, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    7. Bhaskar, Arathi & Beghin, John C., 2009. "How Coupled Are Decoupled Farm Payments? A Review of the Evidence," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 34(1), pages 1-24, April.
    8. Jerzy Michalek & Pavel Ciaian & d’Artis Kancs, 2014. "Capitalization of the Single Payment Scheme into Land Value: Generalized Propensity Score Evidence from the European Union," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 90(2), pages 260-289.
    9. Nigel Key & Michael J. Roberts, 2006. "Government Payments and Farm Business Survival," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 88(2), pages 382-392.
    10. Carl Johan Lagerkvist, 2005. "Agricultural policy uncertainty and farm level adjustments--the case of direct payments and incentives for farmland investment," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 32(1), pages 1-23, March.
    11. Fabienne Femenia & Alexandre Gohin & Alain Carpentier, 2010. "The Decoupling of Farm Programs: Revisiting the Wealth Effect," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 92(3), pages 836-848.
    12. Allen, Douglas W & Lueck, Dean, 1998. "The Nature of the Farm," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 41(2), pages 343-386, October.
    13. David A. Hennessy, 1998. "The Production Effects of Agricultural Income Support Policies under Uncertainty," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 80(1), pages 46-57.
    14. Roe, Terry & Somwaru, Agapi & Diao, Xinshen, 2002. "Do direct payments have intertemporal effects on U.S. agriculture?," TMD discussion papers 104, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    15. Qiu, Feng & Goodwin, Barry K. & Gervais, Jean-Philippe, 2011. "An Empirical Investigation of the Linkages between Government Payments and Farmland Leasing Arrangements," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 36(3), pages 1-16.
    16. Hendricks, Nathan P. & Janzen, Joseph P. & Dhuyvetter, Kevin C., 2012. "Subsidy Incidence and Inertia in Farmland Rental Markets: Estimates from a Dynamic Panel," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 37(3), pages 1-18.
    17. Barrett E. Kirwan, 2009. "The Incidence of U.S. Agricultural Subsidies on Farmland Rental Rates," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 117(1), pages 138-164, February.
    18. Douglas W. Allen & Dean Lueck, 2004. "The Nature of the Farm: Contracts, Risk, and Organization in Agriculture," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262511851, April.
    19. Hisham El-Osta & Ashok Mishra & Mary Ahearn, 2004. "Labor Supply by Farm Operators Under “Decoupled” Farm Program Payments," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 2(4), pages 367-385, August.
    20. Keith H. Coble & J. Corey Miller & M. Darren Hudson, 2008. "Decoupled Farm Payments and Expectations for Base Updating," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 30(1), pages 27-42.
    21. Alexandre Gohin, 2006. "Assessing CAP Reform: Sensitivity of Modelling Decoupled Policies," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(3), pages 415-440, September.
    22. Michael J. Roberts & Barrett Kirwan & Jeffrey Hopkins, 2003. "The Incidence of Government Program Payments on Agricultural Land Rents: The Challenges of Identification," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 85(3), pages 762-769.
    23. Gunnar Breustedt & Hendrik Habermann, 2011. "The Incidence of EU Per‐Hectare Payments on Farmland Rental Rates: A Spatial Econometric Analysis of German Farm‐Level Data," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(1), pages 225-243, February.
    24. Jeremy G. Weber & Nigel Key, 2012. "How much Do Decoupled Payments Affect Production? An Instrumental Variable Approach with Panel Data," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 94(1), pages 52-66.
    25. John E. Floyd, 1965. "The Effects of Farm Price Supports on the Returns to Land and Labor in Agriculture," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 73(2), pages 148-148.
    26. Alexandre Gohin, 2006. "Assessing CAP reform: sensitivity of modelling decoupled policies," Post-Print hal-01931639, HAL.
    27. Emanuel Melichar, 1979. "Capital Gains versus Current Income in the Farming Sector," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 61(5), pages 1085-1092.
    28. Serra, Teresa & Goodwin, Barry K. & Featherstone, Allen M., 2011. "Risk behavior in the presence of government programs," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 162(1), pages 18-24, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Moro, Daniele & Sckokai, Paolo, 2013. "The impact of decoupled payments on farm choices: Conceptual and methodological challenges," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 28-38.
    2. Pavel Ciaian & Edoardo Baldoni & d'Artis Kancs & Dušan Drabik, 2021. "The Capitalization of Agricultural Subsidies into Land Prices," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 13(1), pages 17-38, October.
    3. Marten Graubner, 2018. "Lost in space? The effect of direct payments on land rental prices," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 45(2), pages 143-171.
    4. Kehinde Oluseyi Olagunju & Myles Patton & Siyi Feng, 2020. "Estimating the Impact of Decoupled Payments on Farm Production in Northern Ireland: An Instrumental Variable Fixed Effect Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-17, April.
    5. repec:zbw:inwedp:652016 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Devadoss, Stephen & Gibson, Mark J. & Luckstead, Jeff, 2016. "The Impact of Agricultural Subsidies on the Corn Market with Farm Heterogeneity and Endogenous Entry and Exit," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 41(3), pages 1-20, September.
    7. Pavel Ciaian & d’Artis Kancs & Johan Swinnen, 2010. "EU Land Markets and the Common Agricultural Policy," Journal of Economics and Econometrics, Economics and Econometrics Society, vol. 53(3), pages 1-31.
    8. Feichtinger, Paul & Salhofer, Klaus, 2016. "Decoupled Single Farm Payments of the CAP and Land Rental Prices," Discussion Papers DP-65-2016, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Department of Economics and Social Sciences, Institute for Sustainable Economic Development.
    9. Stephen O'Neill & Kevin Hanrahan, 2016. "The capitalization of coupled and decoupled CAP payments into land rental rates," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 47(3), pages 285-294, May.
    10. Paul Feichtinger & Klaus Salhofer, 2016. "Decoupled Single Farm Payments of the CAP and Land Rental Prices," Working Papers 652016, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Department of Economics and Social Sciences, Institute for Sustainable Economic Development.
    11. Baldoni, Edoardo & Ciaian, Pavel, 2023. "The capitalization of CAP subsidies into land prices in the EU," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    12. Jerzy Michalek & Pavel Ciaian & d’Artis Kancs, 2014. "Capitalization of the Single Payment Scheme into Land Value: Generalized Propensity Score Evidence from the European Union," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 90(2), pages 260-289.
    13. Bhaskar, Arathi & Beghin, John C., 2009. "How Coupled Are Decoupled Farm Payments? A Review of the Evidence," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 34(1), pages 1-24, April.
    14. Pavel Ciaian & D'Artis Kancs & Johan Swinnen, 2014. "The Impact of the 2013 Reform of the Common Agricultural Policy on Land Capitalization in the European Union," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 36(4), pages 643-673.
    15. Lin, Wensheng & Huang, Jikun, 2021. "Impacts of agricultural incentive policies on land rental prices: New evidence from China," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    16. Wensheng Lin & Rongyuan Chen, 2021. "The Capitalization Effect and Its Consequence of Agricultural Support Policies—Based on the Evidence of 800 Villages in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-13, July.
    17. Pierre Boulanger & Kirsten Boysen-Urban & George Philippidis, 2021. "European Union Agricultural Support ‘Coupling’ in Simulation Modelling: Measuring the Sustainability Impacts," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-17, March.
    18. Antti Simola, 2018. "Government payments, market profits and structural change in agriculture," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 28(4), pages 837-857, September.
    19. Bhaskar, Arathi & Beghin, John C., 2007. "Decoupled Farm Payments and the Role of Base Updating Under Uncertainty," Working Papers 7350, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    20. Pavel Ciaian & d'Artis Kancs & Jo Swinnen, 2008. "Static and Dynamic Distributional Effects of Decoupled Payments," Journal of Economics and Econometrics, Economics and Econometrics Society, vol. 51(2), pages 20-47.
    21. Urban, Kirsten & Jensen, Hans Grinsted & Brockmeier, Martina, 2012. "How Decoupled is the SFP in GTAP: Using a Sensitivity Analysis to Uncover the Degree of Coupling," Conference papers 332173, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Agricultural and Food Policy;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:aaea10:62028. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aaeaaea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.