IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/aaea25/360762.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Emissions Trading Programs for Afforestation: Interactions with Federal Agricultural Conservation Programs

Author

Listed:
  • Kim, Youngho
  • Newburn, David
  • Lichtenberg, Erik
  • Wietelman, Derek
  • Wang, Haoluan

Abstract

Emissions trading programs have been promoted as efficient means to reduce nonpoint source water pollution and sequester carbon from agricultural land. While trading programs are often evaluated in isolation, they compete with longstanding agricultural conservation subsidy programs. Both programs target agroforestry practices that provide environmental benefits using different payment structures: Trading pays for performance while agricultural conservation programs pay for effort. We evaluate the performance of both programs in isolation and competition using an integrated assessment model that combines a stated preference survey of agricultural landowners for establishing forests with biophysical models of water quality and carbon sequestration benefits of forests. Our numerical policy simulation suggests that the water quality trading program in isolation can provide sufficient financial incentives for landowners to engage in afforestation activities on agricultural land. However, federal agricultural conservation subsidies largely crowd out the trading program when in competition. Stacking payments for carbon offsets with water quality trading payments does not enhance trading participation. Overall, the attractiveness and effectiveness of emissions trading programs for afforestation activities on agricultural land are heavily influenced by the presence and level of federal agricultural conservation subsidies.

Suggested Citation

  • Kim, Youngho & Newburn, David & Lichtenberg, Erik & Wietelman, Derek & Wang, Haoluan, 2025. "Emissions Trading Programs for Afforestation: Interactions with Federal Agricultural Conservation Programs," 2025 AAEA & WAEA Joint Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2025, Denver, CO 360762, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:aaea25:360762
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.360762
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/360762/files/75199_103881_105300_Kim_et_al_2025.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.360762?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jeff Savage & Marc Ribaudo, 2016. "Improving the Efficiency of Voluntary Water Quality Conservation Programs," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 92(1), pages 148-166.
    2. Mariano Mezzatesta & David A. Newburn & Richard T. Woodward, 2013. "Additionality and the Adoption of Farm Conservation Practices," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 89(4), pages 722-742.
    3. Talberth, John & Selman, Mindy & Walker, Sara & Gray, Erin, 2015. "Pay for Performance: Optimizing public investments in agricultural best management practices in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 252-261.
    4. Krinsky, Itzhak & Robb, A Leslie, 1990. "On Approximating the Statistical Properties of Elasticities: A Correction," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 72(1), pages 189-190, February.
    5. Banerjee, Simanti & Cason, Timothy N. & de Vries, Frans P. & Hanley, Nick, 2017. "Transaction costs, communication and spatial coordination in Payment for Ecosystem Services Schemes," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 68-89.
    6. Katherine Reichelderfer & William G. Boggess, 1988. "Government Decision Making and Program Performance: The Case of the Conservation Reserve Program," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 70(1), pages 1-11.
    7. Haiyan Liu & Roy Brouwer, 2023. "What is the future of water quality trading?," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 41(1), pages 194-217, January.
    8. Kragt, Marit E. & Dumbrell, Nikki P. & Blackmore, Louise, 2017. "Motivations and barriers for Western Australian broad-acre farmers to adopt carbon farming," Environmental Science & Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 115-123.
    9. Fischer, Carolyn & Preonas, Louis, 2010. "Combining Policies for Renewable Energy: Is the Whole Less Than the Sum of Its Parts?," International Review of Environmental and Resource Economics, now publishers, vol. 4(1), pages 51-92, June.
    10. Roger Claassen & Eric N. Duquette & David J. Smith, 2018. "Additionality in U.S. Agricultural Conservation Programs," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 94(1), pages 19-35.
    11. James Shortle & Richard D. Horan, 2013. "Policy Instruments for Water Quality Protection," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 5(1), pages 111-138, June.
    12. Dumbrell, Nikki P. & Kragt, Marit E. & Gibson, Fiona L., 2016. "What carbon farming activities are farmers likely to adopt? A best–worst scaling survey," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 29-37.
    13. Robert J. Johnston & Tom Ndebele & David A. Newburn, 2023. "Modeling transaction costs in household adoption of landscape conservation practices," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 105(1), pages 341-367, January.
    14. Baylis, Kathy & Peplow, Stephen & Rausser, Gordon & Simon, Leo, 2008. "Agri-environmental policies in the EU and United States: A comparison," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(4), pages 753-764, May.
    15. Christian A. Vossler & Stéphane Bergeron & Maurice Doyon & Daniel Rondeau, 2023. "Revisiting the Gap between the Willingness to Pay and Willingness to Accept for Public Goods," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 10(2), pages 413-445.
    16. Erik Lichtenberg, 2021. "Additionality in Payment for Ecosystem Services Programs: Agricultural Conservation Subsidies in Maryland," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 97(2), pages 305-320.
    17. Erik Lichtenberg, 2007. "Tenants, Landlords, and Soil Conservation," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 89(2), pages 294-307.
    18. Jimena González-Ramírez & Catherine L. Kling & Adriana Valcu, 2012. "An Overview of Carbon Offsets from Agriculture," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 4(1), pages 145-160, August.
    19. Weng, Weizhe & Morrison, Mark D. & Boyle, Kevin J. & Boxall, Peter C. & Rose, John, 2021. "Effects of the number of alternatives in public good discrete choice experiments," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    20. Mason, Charles F. & Plantinga, Andrew J., 2013. "The additionality problem with offsets: Optimal contracts for carbon sequestration in forests," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 1-14.
    21. Wu, JunJie & Boggess, William G., 1999. "The Optimal Allocation of Conservation Funds," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 302-321, November.
    22. Patrick M. Fleming & Erik Lichtenberg & David A. Newburn, 2020. "Water Quality Trading in the Presence of Conservation Subsidies," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 96(4), pages 552-572.
    23. Scarpa, Riccardo & Rose, John M., 2008. "Design efficiency for non-market valuation with choice modelling: how to measure it, what to report and why," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 52(3), pages 1-30.
    24. Lewis, David J. & Plantinga, Andrew J. & Nelson, Erik & Polasky, Stephen, 2011. "The efficiency of voluntary incentive policies for preventing biodiversity loss," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 192-211, January.
    25. Robert J. Johnston & Kevin J. Boyle & Wiktor (Vic) Adamowicz & Jeff Bennett & Roy Brouwer & Trudy Ann Cameron & W. Michael Hanemann & Nick Hanley & Mandy Ryan & Riccardo Scarpa & Roger Tourangeau & Ch, 2017. "Contemporary Guidance for Stated Preference Studies," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 4(2), pages 319-405.
    26. Andrea Cattaneo, 2003. "The Pursuit of Efficiency and Its Unintended Consequences: Contract Withdrawals in the Environmental Quality Incentives Program," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 25(2), pages 449-469.
    27. Fleming, Patrick & Lichtenberg, Erik & Newburn, David A., 2018. "Evaluating impacts of agricultural cost sharing on water quality: Additionality, crowding In, and slippage," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 1-19.
    28. Kurt Stephenson & Leonard Shabman, 2017. "Can Water Quality Trading Fix the Agricultural Nonpoint Source Problem?," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 9(1), pages 95-116, October.
    29. Kim, Youngho & Lichtenberg, Erik & Newburn, David A., 2024. "Payments and penalties in ecosystem services programs," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    30. Tamma Carleton & Michael Greenstone, 2022. "A Guide to Updating the US Government’s Social Cost of Carbon," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 16(2), pages 196-218.
    31. Carolyn Fischer & Louis Preonas & Richard G. Newell, 2017. "Environmental and Technology Policy Options in the Electricity Sector: Are We Deploying Too Many?," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 4(4), pages 959-984.
    32. Leah H. Palm-Forster & Scott M. Swinton & Frank Lupi & Robert S. Shupp, 2016. "Too Burdensome to Bid: Transaction Costs and Pay-for-Performance Conservation," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 98(5), pages 1314-1333.
    33. Kurt Stephenson & Leonard Shabman, 2017. "Can Water Quality Trading Fix the Agricultural Nonpoint Source Problem?," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 9(1), pages 95-116, October.
    34. Sergey S. Rabotyagov & Adriana M. Valcu & Catherine L. Kling, 2014. "Reversing Property Rights: Practice-Based Approaches for Controlling Agricultural Nonpoint-source Water Pollution When Emissions Aggregate Nonlinearly," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 96(2), pages 397-419.
    35. Ben Groom & Frank Venmans, 2023. "The social value of offsets," Nature, Nature, vol. 619(7971), pages 768-773, July.
    36. Jeffrey M. Peterson & Craig M. Smith & John C. Leatherman & Nathan P. Hendricks & John A. Fox, 2015. "Transaction Costs in Payment for Environmental Service Contracts," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 97(1), pages 219-238.
    37. Babcock, Bruce A. & Lakshminarayan, P. G. & Wu, J. & Zilberman, David, 1997. "Targeting Tools for the Purchase of Environmental Amenities," Staff General Research Papers Archive 5220, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    38. Andrew B. Rosenberg & Bryan Pratt, 2024. "Land use impacts of the Conservation Reserve Program: An analysis of rejected offers," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 106(3), pages 1217-1240, May.
    39. Arun S. Malik & David Letson & Stephen R. Crutchfield, 1993. "Point/Nonpoint Source Trading of Pollution Abatement: Choosing the Right Trading Ratio," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 75(4), pages 959-967.
    40. Karen Fisher-Vanden & Sheila Olmstead, 2013. "Moving Pollution Trading from Air to Water: Potential, Problems, and Prognosis," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 27(1), pages 147-172, Winter.
    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. Kim, Youngho & Lichtenberg, Erik & Newburn, David A., 2024. "Payments and penalties in ecosystem services programs," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    2. Kim, Youngho, 2023. "Payments for Ecosystem Services Programs and Climate Change Adaptation in Agriculture," 2023 Annual Meeting, July 23-25, Washington D.C. 335971, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    3. repec:ags:aaea22:335971 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Fleming, Patrick & Lichtenberg, Erik & Newburn, David, "undated". "Water Quality Trading Program Design with Heterogeneous Behavioral Responses," 2018 Annual Meeting, August 5-7, Washington, D.C. 274429, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    5. Youngho Kim, 2024. "Payments for Ecosystem Services Programs and Climate Change Adaptation in Agriculture," Economics Series Working Papers 1054, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    6. Cloé Garnache & Scott M. Swinton & Joseph A. Herriges & Frank Lupi & R. Jan Stevenson, 2016. "Solving the Phosphorus Pollution Puzzle: Synthesis and Directions for Future Research," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 98(5), pages 1334-1359.
    7. Rosenberg, Andrew & Gramig, Benjamin M. & Beeson, Peter & Iovanna, Rich, 2025. "Additionality and Persistence of Afforestation Incentives: Evidence from the Conservation Reserve Program," 2025 AAEA & WAEA Joint Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2025, Denver, CO 360765, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    8. Ndebele, Tom & Johnston, Robert J. & Newburn, David, 2020. "Transaction Costs and Household Adoption of Stormwater Best Management Practices," 2020 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, Kansas City, Missouri 304338, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    9. Duke, Joshua M. & Liu, Hongxing & Monteith, Tyler & McGrath, Joshua & Fiorellino, Nicole M., 2020. "A method for predicting participation in a performance-based water quality trading program," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    10. Haiyan Liu & Roy Brouwer, 2023. "What is the future of water quality trading?," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 41(1), pages 194-217, January.
    11. Claassen, Roger & Cattaneo, Andrea & Johansson, Robert, 2008. "Cost-effective design of agri-environmental payment programs: U.S. experience in theory and practice," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(4), pages 737-752, May.
    12. Robert J. Johnston & Tom Ndebele & David A. Newburn, 2023. "Modeling transaction costs in household adoption of landscape conservation practices," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 105(1), pages 341-367, January.
    13. Meyer, Andrew G. & Raff, Zach, 2022. "Pass-through of water pollution regulation: Evidence from sewer utility bills and Wisconsin's phosphorus rule," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322444, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    14. Filippelli, Raphael & Termansen, Mette & Hasan, Syezlin & Hasler, Berit & Hansen, Line & Smart, James C.R., 2022. "Water quality trading markets – Integrating land and marine based measures under a smart market approach," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    15. West, Grant H. & Snell, Heather & Kovacs, Kent & Nayga, Rodolfo M., 2020. "Estimation of the preferences for the intertemporal services from groundwater," 2020 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, Kansas City, Missouri 304220, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    16. Lichtenberg, Erik, "undated". "Additionality of Conservation Cost Sharing," 2017 Annual Meeting, July 30-August 1, Chicago, Illinois 259939, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    17. Zawojska, Ewa & Bartczak, Anna & Czajkowski, Mikołaj, 2019. "Disentangling the effects of policy and payment consequentiality and risk attitudes on stated preferences," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 63-84.
    18. Bowman, Maria & Ferraro, Paul J. & Fuller, Kate Binzen & Gramig, Benjamin & Mosheim, Roberto & Njuki, Eric & Pratt, Bryan & Rejesus, Roderick & Rosenberg, Andrew, 2025. "Economic Outcomes of Soil Health and Conservation Practices on U.S. Cropland," Economic Research Report 358985, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    19. Lewis, David J. & Kling, David M. & Dundas, Steven J. & Lew, Daniel K., 2022. "Estimating the value of threatened species abundance dynamics," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    20. Daniel Rondeau & Christian A. Vossler, 2024. "Incentive compatibility and respondent beliefs: Consequentiality and game form," Working Papers 2024-02, University of Tennessee, Department of Economics.
    21. Nicholas J Pates & Nathan P Hendricks, 2020. "Additionality from Payments for Environmental Services with Technology Diffusion," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 102(1), pages 281-299, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;

    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:aaea25:360762. 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.