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Are Production Technologies Associated To Agri-Environmental Programs More Eco-Efficient? A Case Study For Rain-Fed Agriculture

Author

Listed:
  • Mercedes Beltrán-Esteve

    (Departamento de Economía Aplicada II. Universidad de Valencia)

  • José A. Gómez-Limón

    (Departamento de Economía Agraria. Instituto Andaluz de Investigación y Formación Agraria y Pesquera. Córdoba)

  • Andrés J. Picazo-Tadeo

    (Departamento de Economía Aplicada II. Universidad de Valencia)

Abstract

This paper analyses the impact of the Agri-environmental Extensification Scheme for the Protection of Flora and Fauna (F&F Scheme) on the eco-efficiency of a sample of dryland farms in the Spanish region of Castile and Leon. We explore whether or not the production technology of the farms included in the F&F Scheme is more eco-efficient than the technology used by farms that are not included in the Scheme, employing Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and the program decomposition proposed by Charnes et al. (1981) to do so. The results obtained confirm the foregoing hypothesis, providing evidence that environmental pressures could be reduced if all farms adopted the F&F Scheme technology. Furthermore, shadow prices are used to assess the monetary value of the potential reduction in environmental pressures that farms could achieve by adopting the F&F Scheme. The results show that the average opportunity cost of the decrease in environmental pressures (€55.65/ha) is similar to the compensation received by farms included in the F&F Scheme. Nevertheless, bearing in mind the great diversity of farms, we recommend agricultural policymakers to use an auction system to award such environmental contracts.

Suggested Citation

  • Mercedes Beltrán-Esteve & José A. Gómez-Limón & Andrés J. Picazo-Tadeo, 2011. "Are Production Technologies Associated To Agri-Environmental Programs More Eco-Efficient? A Case Study For Rain-Fed Agriculture," Working Papers 1115, Department of Applied Economics II, Universidad de Valencia.
    • Handle: RePEc:eec:wpaper:1115
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andrés J. Picazo-Tadeo & José A. Gómez-Limón & Ernest Reig-Martínez, 2010. "Assessing farming eco-efficiency: A Data Envelopment Analysis approach," Working Papers 1004, Department of Applied Economics II, Universidad de Valencia.
    2. Fare, Rolf & Grosskopf, Shawna & Noh, Dong-Woon & Weber, William, 2005. "Characteristics of a polluting technology: theory and practice," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 126(2), pages 469-492, June.
    3. José A. Gómez-Limón & Andrés J. Picazo-Tadeo & Ernest Reig-Martínez, 2011. "Eco-efficiency Assessment of Olive Farms in Andalusia," Working Papers 1105, Department of Applied Economics II, Universidad de Valencia.
    4. Maria Espinosa‐Goded & Jesús Barreiro‐Hurlé & Eric Ruto, 2010. "What Do Farmers Want From Agri‐Environmental Scheme Design? A Choice Experiment Approach," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(2), pages 259-273, June.
    5. Fare, Rolf & Grosskopf, Shawna & Weber, William L., 2006. "Shadow prices and pollution costs in U.S. agriculture," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(1), pages 89-103, January.
    6. Uwe Latacz-Lohmann & Carel Van der Hamsvoort, 1997. "Auctioning Conservation Contracts: A Theoretical Analysis and an Application," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 79(2), pages 407-418.
    7. Reig-Martinez, Ernest & Picazo-Tadeo, Andres & Hernandez-Sancho, Francesc, 2001. "The calculation of shadow prices for industrial wastes using distance functions: An analysis for Spanish ceramic pavements firms," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(3), pages 277-285, February.
    8. Christopher O’Donnell & D. Rao & George Battese, 2008. "Metafrontier frameworks for the study of firm-level efficiencies and technology ratios," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 34(2), pages 231-255, March.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Data Envelopment Analysis; economic-ecological efficiency; shadow prices; agri-environmental policy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C61 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Optimization Techniques; Programming Models; Dynamic Analysis
    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory
    • Q18 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Policy; Food Policy
    • Q57 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Ecological Economics

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