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Economic Incentives to Improve Water Quality in Agricultural Landscapes: Some New Variations on Old Ideas

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  • Kling, Catherine L.

Abstract

Agricultural nutrients and other emissions remain a primary source of water quality degradation in much of the nation. Many such sources are classified as “nonpoint” sources under the Clean Water Act and are therefore exempt from most federal regulations and enforceable standards. In addition, many agricultural nonpoint source emissions are difficult to measure and the damages that result from them depend on the amount that is transported to the waterways. Nutrient runoff (particularly nitrogen and phosphorous) from intensive row crop agriculture in much of the cornbelt exemplifies these issues. Both the lack of enforceable standards and the physical characteristics of nutrient fate and transport make the design of efficient policy challenging, as witnessed by the lack of significant progress over the last several decades.

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  • Kling, Catherine L., 2011. "Economic Incentives to Improve Water Quality in Agricultural Landscapes: Some New Variations on Old Ideas," ISU General Staff Papers 201101010800001560, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:isu:genstf:201101010800001560
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    3. Weng, Weizhe & Cobourn, Kelly M. & Kemanian, Armen R. & Boyle, Kevin J. & Shi, Yuning & Stachelek, Joseph & White, Charles, 2020. "Quantifying Co-Benefits of Water Quality Policies: An Integrated Assessment Model of Nitrogen Management," 2020 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, Kansas City, Missouri 304667, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    4. Garnache, Cloé & Mérel, Pierre R. & Lee, Juhwan & Six, Johan, 2017. "The social costs of second-best policies: Evidence from agricultural GHG mitigation," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 39-73.
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    6. Ribaudo, Marc & Savage, Jeffrey & Aillery, Marcel P., 2014. "An Economic Assessment of Policy Options To Reduce Agricultural Pollutants in the Chesapeake Bay," Economic Research Report 171880, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    7. Fleming, Patrick & Lichtenberg, Erik & Newburn, David, 2018. "Water Quality Trading Program Design with Heterogeneous Behavioral Responses," 2018 Annual Meeting, August 5-7, Washington, D.C. 274429, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    8. 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.
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    11. Eanes, Francis R. & Singh, Ajay S. & Bulla, Brian R. & Ranjan, Pranay & Fales, Mary & Wickerham, Benjamin & Doran, Patrick J. & Prokopy, Linda S., 2019. "Crop advisers as conservation intermediaries: Perceptions and policy implications for relying on nontraditional partners to increase U.S. farmers’ adoption of soil and water conservation practices," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 360-370.
    12. Tingting Liu & Randall J. F. Bruins & Matthew T. Heberling, 2018. "Factors Influencing Farmers’ Adoption of Best Management Practices: A Review and Synthesis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-26, February.
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    14. Kurkalova, Lyubov A., 2014. "On optimal placement of best management practices in agricultural watersheds," 2014 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2014, Minneapolis, Minnesota 169768, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    15. Fleming, Patrick, 2014. "A Model of Agricultural Land Use, Costs, and Water Quality in the Chesapeake Bay," 2014 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2014, Minneapolis, Minnesota 170373, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    16. Liu, Tingting & Merrill, Nathaniel H. & Gold, Arthur J. & Kellogg, Dorothy Q. & Uchida, Emi, 2013. "Modeling the Production of Multiple Ecosystem Services from Agricultural and Forest Landscapes in Rhode Island," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association, vol. 42(1), pages 1-24, April.
    17. Valcu, Adriana Mihaela, 2013. "Agricultural nonpoint source pollution and water quality trading: empirical analysis under imperfect cost information and measurement error," ISU General Staff Papers 201301010800004451, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    18. Marin Skidmore & Tihitina Andarge & Jeremy Foltz, 2023. "Effectiveness of local regulations on nonpoint source pollution: Evidence from Wisconsin dairy farms," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 105(5), pages 1333-1364, October.
    19. Zhen, Chen & Zheng, Xiaoyong, 2015. "Measuring the Informational Value of Interpretive Shelf Nutrition Labels to Shoppers," 2016 Allied Social Sciences Association (ASSA) Annual Meeting, January 3-5, 2016, San Francisco, California 212812, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    20. Hodde, Whitney & Sesmero, Juan & Gramig, Benjamin & Vyn, Tony & Doering, Otto, 2016. "Climate Change and the Economics of Conservation Tillage," 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts 236090, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    21. Spencer, Daniel S. & Barnes, James N. & Coatney, Kalyn T. & Parman, Bryon J. & Coble, Keith H., 2017. "Property Rights And The Economics Of Non-Point Source Water Regulations In Agriculture: A New Biophysical-Economic Methodological Approach," 2017 Annual Meeting, February 4-7, 2017, Mobile, Alabama 252835, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    22. 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.

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