IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecolec/v149y2018icp202-211.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Do European Agri-environment Measures Help Reduce Herbicide Use? Evidence From Viticulture in France

Author

Listed:
  • Kuhfuss, Laure
  • Subervie, Julie

Abstract

Agri-environmental schemes (AES) are a central component of the European environmental policy, but few of these schemes have been carefully evaluated and doubts are often expressed about their effectiveness. We use original data collected from winegrowers who participated in an AES targeting non-point source pollution from herbicides in 2011 and 2012 in the South region of France. Using the variation in the implementation of the scheme across time and space and a matching approach, we show that the quantity of herbicides used by participants in the scheme in 2011 ranges from 38 to 53% below what they would have used without the scheme and this percentage is between 42 and 50% in 2012. Further, our results suggest that least demanding AES options are effective in avoiding pollution peaks when weed pressure is high, whereas more demanding AES options guarantee an overall reduction in herbicide use, even during relatively easy farming years in which less weed pressure is experienced.

Suggested Citation

  • Kuhfuss, Laure & Subervie, Julie, 2018. "Do European Agri-environment Measures Help Reduce Herbicide Use? Evidence From Viticulture in France," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 202-211.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:149:y:2018:i:c:p:202-211
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2018.03.015
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800917315185
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2018.03.015?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jayachandran, Seema & de Laat, Joost & Lambin, Eric F. & Stanton, Charlotte, 2016. "Cash for Carbon: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Payments for Ecosystem Services to Reduce Deforestation," CEPR Discussion Papers 11349, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    2. Linda Arata & Paolo Sckokai, 2016. "The Impact of Agri-environmental Schemes on Farm Performance in Five E.U. Member States: A DID-Matching Approach," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 92(1), pages 167-186.
    3. Sebastian Galiani & Paul Gertler & Ernesto Schargrodsky, 2005. "Water for Life: The Impact of the Privatization of Water Services on Child Mortality," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 113(1), pages 83-120, February.
    4. Andrea Pufahl & Christoph R. Weiss, 2009. "Evaluating the effects of farm programmes: results from propensity score matching," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 36(1), pages 79-101, March.
    5. Bruhn, Miriam, 2013. "A tale of two species: Revisiting the effect of registration reform on informal business owners in Mexico," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 275-283.
    6. Jenny C. Aker, 2010. "Information from Markets Near and Far: Mobile Phones and Agricultural Markets in Niger," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(3), pages 46-59, July.
    7. Todd, Petra E., 2008. "Evaluating Social Programs with Endogenous Program Placement and Selection of the Treated," Handbook of Development Economics, in: T. Paul Schultz & John A. Strauss (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 60, pages 3847-3894, Elsevier.
    8. Guido W. Imbens & Jeffrey M. Wooldridge, 2009. "Recent Developments in the Econometrics of Program Evaluation," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(1), pages 5-86, March.
    9. Rob Fraser, 2009. "Land Heterogeneity, Agricultural Income Forgone and Environmental Benefit: An Assessment of Incentive Compatibility Problems in Environmental Stewardship Schemes," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(1), pages 190-201, February.
    10. Chabé-Ferret, Sylvain & Subervie, Julie, 2013. "How much green for the buck? Estimating additional and windfall effects of French agro-environmental schemes by DID-matching," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 12-27.
    11. Alberto Abadie & David Drukker & Jane Leber Herr & Guido W. Imbens, 2004. "Implementing matching estimators for average treatment effects in Stata," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 4(3), pages 290-311, September.
    12. Robert Jensen, 2007. "The Digital Provide: Information (Technology), Market Performance, and Welfare in the South Indian Fisheries Sector," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(3), pages 879-924.
    13. Jennifer M. Alix-Garcia & Katharine R. E. Sims & Patricia Yañez-Pagans, 2015. "Only One Tree from Each Seed? Environmental Effectiveness and Poverty Alleviation in Mexico's Payments for Ecosystem Services Program," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 7(4), pages 1-40, November.
    14. DiPrete, Thomas A. & Gangl, Markus, 2004. "Assessing bias in the estimation of causal effects: Rosenbaum bounds on matching estimators and instrumental variables estimation with imperfect instruments," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Labor Market Policy and Employment SP I 2004-101, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    15. Guido W. Imbens, 2004. "Nonparametric Estimation of Average Treatment Effects Under Exogeneity: A Review," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(1), pages 4-29, February.
    16. Chihiro Udagawa & Ian Hodge & Mark Reader, 2014. "Farm Level Costs of Agri-environment Measures: The Impact of Entry Level Stewardship on Cereal Farm Incomes," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 65(1), pages 212-233, January.
    17. Alberto Abadie & Guido W. Imbens, 2006. "Large Sample Properties of Matching Estimators for Average Treatment Effects," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 74(1), pages 235-267, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Liu, Jingping & Jin, Xiaobin & Song, Jiapeng & Zhu, Wenjie & Zhou, Yinkang, 2024. "Semi-natural habitats: A comparative research between the European Union and China in agricultural landscapes," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    2. Blazy, J.-M. & Subervie, J. & Paul, J. & Causeret, F. & Guindé, L. & Moulla, S. & Thomas, A. & Sierra, J., 2021. "Ex-ante assessment of the cost-effectiveness of public policies to sequester carbon in soils," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    3. Ferré, Marie & Engel, Stefanie & Gsottbauer, Elisabeth, 2022. "Incentivizing coordination in the adoption of sustainable land use when costs are heterogeneous: An economic experiment," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    4. Michalek, Jerzy, 2022. "Environmental and farm impacts of the EU RDP agri-environmental measures: Evidence from Slovak regions," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    5. Jean-Marc Blazy & Julie Subervie & Jacky Paul & François Causeret & Loic Guinde & Sarah Moulla & Alban Thomas & Jorge Sierra, 2020. "Ex ante assessment of the cost-effectiveness of Agri-Environmental Schemes promoting compost use to sequester carbon in soils in Guadeloupe," Working Papers hal-02748634, HAL.
    6. Philippe Coent, 2023. "Payment for environmental services related to aquifers: a review of specific issues and existing programmes," Review of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Studies, Springer, vol. 104(3), pages 273-310, December.
    7. Dongyang Xiao & Haipeng Niu & Liangxin Fan & Suxia Zhao & Hongxuan Yan, 2019. "Farmers’ Satisfaction and its Influencing Factors in the Policy of Economic Compensation for Cultivated Land Protection: A Case Study in Chengdu, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-18, October.
    8. Luc Behaghel & Karen Macours & Julie Subervie, 2018. "Can RCTs help improve the design of CAP," Working Papers hal-01974425, HAL.
    9. Javier Castaño & Maria Blanco & Pilar Martinez, 2019. "Reviewing Counterfactual Analyses to Assess Impacts of EU Rural Development Programmes: What Lessons Can Be Learned from the 2007–2013 Ex-Post Evaluations?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-22, February.
    10. Luc Behaghel & Karen Macours & Julie Subervie, 2019. "How can randomised controlled trials help improve the design of the common agricultural policy?," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 46(3), pages 473-493.
    11. Lapierre, Margaux & Le Velly, Gwenolé & Bougherara, Douadia & Préget, Raphaële & Sauquet, Alexandre, 2023. "Designing agri-environmental schemes to cope with uncertainty," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).
    12. Tsakiridis, Andreas & O’Donoghue, Cathal & Ryan, Mary & Cullen, Paula & Ó hUallacháin, Daire & Sheridan, Helen & Stout, Jane, 2022. "Examining the relationship between farmer participation in an agri-environment scheme and the quantity and quality of semi-natural habitats on Irish farms," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    13. Chabé-Ferret, Sylvain & Voia, Anca, 2019. "Are Grassland Conservation Programs a Cost-Effective Way to Fight Climate Change? Evidence from France," SocArXiv cx8j6, Center for Open Science.
    14. Margaux Lapierre & Alexandre Sauquet & Julie Subervie, 2019. "Providing technical assistance to peer networks to reduce pesticide use in Europe: Evidence from the French Ecophyto plan," CEE-M Working Papers hal-02190979, CEE-M, Universtiy of Montpellier, CNRS, INRA, Montpellier SupAgro.
    15. Alexia Stokes & Géraldine Bocquého & Pascal Carrère & Raphaël Conde Salazar & Marc Deconchat & Léo Garcia & Antoine Gardarin & Christian Gary & Cédric Gaucherel & Mamadou Gueye & Mickael Hedde & Franç, 2023. "Services provided by multifunctional agroecosystems : Questions, obstacles and solutions," Post-Print hal-04056486, HAL.
    16. Christian Stetter & Philipp Mennig & Johannes Sauer, 2022. "Using Machine Learning to Identify Heterogeneous Impacts of Agri-Environment Schemes in the EU: A Case Study," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 49(4), pages 723-759.
    17. Mohamed Ghali & Maha Ben Jaballah & Nejla Ben Arfa & Annie Sigwalt, 2022. "Analysis of factors that influence adoption of agroecological practices in viticulture," Review of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Studies, Springer, vol. 103(3), pages 179-209, September.
    18. Uehleke, Reinhard & Petrick, Martin & Hüttel, Silke, 2022. "Evaluations of agri-environmental schemes based on observational farm data: The importance of covariate selection," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    19. Florence Jacquet & Nathalie Delame & Jesus Lozano Vita & Christian Huyghe & Xavier Reboud, 2021. "The micro-economic impacts of a ban on glyphosate and its replacement with mechanical weeding in French vineyards," Post-Print hal-03318887, HAL.
    20. Weituschat, Chiara Sophia & Pascucci, Stefano & Materia, Valentina Cristiana & Caracciolo, Francesco, 2023. "Can contract farming support sustainable intensification in agri-food value chains?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 211(C).
    21. Margaux Lapierre & Gwenolé Le Velly & Douadia Bougherara & Raphaële Préget & Alexandre Sauquet, 2021. "Designing Agri-Environmental Schemes to cope with uncertainty," Working Papers hal-03349026, HAL.
    22. Margaux Lapierre & Alexandre Sauquet & Julie Subervie, 2019. "Improving Farm Environmental Performance through Technical Assistance: Empirical Evidence on Pesticide Use," Working Papers 2019.19, FAERE - French Association of Environmental and Resource Economists.

    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. Laure Kuhfuss & Julie Subervie, 2015. "Do agri-environmental schemes help reduce herbicide use? Evidence from a natural experiment in France," Post-Print hal-01199067, HAL.
    2. Laure Kuhfuss & Julie Subervie, 2015. "Do European PES help reduce herbicide use ? Evidence from a natural experiment in France," Working Papers 15-02, LAMETA, Universtiy of Montpellier, revised Nov 2015.
    3. Chabé-Ferret, Sylvain & Voia, Anca, 2019. "Are Grassland Conservation Programs a Cost-Effective Way to Fight Climate Change? Evidence from France," SocArXiv cx8j6, Center for Open Science.
    4. Ito, Junichi & Feuer, Hart N. & Kitano, Shinichi & Asahi, Haruka, 2019. "Assessing the effectiveness of Japan's community-based direct payment scheme for hilly and mountainous areas," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 62-75.
    5. Roberto ESPOSTI, 2014. "To match, not to match, how to match: Estimating the farm-level impact of the CAP-first pillar reform (or: How to Apply Treatment-Effect Econometrics when the Real World is;a Mess)," Working Papers 403, Universita' Politecnica delle Marche (I), Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali.
    6. Jones A.M & Rice N, 2009. "Econometric Evaluation of Health Policies," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 09/09, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    7. Jenny C. Aker & Marcel Fafchamps, 2015. "Mobile Phone Coverage and Producer Markets: Evidence from West Africa," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 29(2), pages 262-292.
    8. Riccardo D’Alberto & Matteo Zavalloni & Meri Raggi & Davide Viaggi, 2018. "AES Impact Evaluation With Integrated Farm Data: Combining Statistical Matching and Propensity Score Matching," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-24, November.
    9. Ainembabazi, John Herbert & Abdoulaye, Tahirou & Feleke, Shiferaw & Alene, Arega & Dontsop-Nguezet, Paul M. & Ndayisaba, Pierre Celestin & Hicintuka, Cyrille & Mapatano, Sylvain & Manyong, Victor, 2018. "Who benefits from which agricultural research-for-development technologies? Evidence from farm household poverty analysis in Central Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 28-46.
    10. Uehleke, Reinhard & Petrick, Martin & Hüttel, Silke, 2022. "Evaluations of agri-environmental schemes based on observational farm data: The importance of covariate selection," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    11. Fatema, Naureen, 2019. "Can land title reduce low-intensity interhousehold conflict incidences and associated damages in eastern DRC?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 1-1.
    12. Jean-Marc Blazy & Julie Subervie & Jacky Paul & François Causeret & Loic Guinde & Sarah Moulla & Alban Thomas & Jorge Sierra, 2020. "Ex ante assessment of the cost-effectiveness of Agri-Environmental Schemes promoting compost use to sequester carbon in soils in Guadeloupe," CEE-M Working Papers hal-02748634, CEE-M, Universtiy of Montpellier, CNRS, INRA, Montpellier SupAgro.
    13. Crespo Cuaresma, Jesus & Oberhofer, Harald & Vincelette, Gallina Andronova, 2014. "Firm growth and productivity in Belarus: New empirical evidence from the machine building industry," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 726-738.
    14. Abbott, Joshua K. & Klaiber, H. Allen, 2011. "The Value Of Water As An Urban Club Good: A Matching Approach To Hoa-Provided Lakes," 2011 Annual Meeting, July 24-26, 2011, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 103781, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    15. Jones, Kelly W. & Avila Foucat, Sophie & Pischke, Erin C. & Salcone, Jacob & Torrez, David & Selfa, Theresa & Halvorsen, Kathleen E., 2019. "Exploring the connections between participation in and benefits from payments for hydrological services programs in Veracruz State, Mexico," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 32-42.
    16. Susan Athey & Guido W. Imbens, 2017. "The State of Applied Econometrics: Causality and Policy Evaluation," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 31(2), pages 3-32, Spring.
    17. Sauer, Johannes & Walsh, John & Zilberman, David, 2012. "Behavioural Change through Agri-Environmental Policies ? – A Distance Function based Matching Approach," 86th Annual Conference, April 16-18, 2012, Warwick University, Coventry, UK 134783, Agricultural Economics Society.
    18. Marco Caliendo & Sabine Kopeinig, 2008. "Some Practical Guidance For The Implementation Of Propensity Score Matching," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(1), pages 31-72, February.
    19. Esaka, Taro, 2014. "Are consistent pegs really more prone to currency crises?," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 136-163.
    20. Martin Huber & Michael Lechner & Conny Wunsch, 2011. "Does leaving welfare improve health? Evidence for Germany," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 20(4), pages 484-504, April.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Payments for environmental services; Agri-environmental scheme; Water quality; Nonpoint source pollution; Herbicides; Pesticides; Treatment effect;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q15 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Land Ownership and Tenure; Land Reform; Land Use; Irrigation; Agriculture and Environment
    • Q18 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Policy; Food Policy; Animal Welfare Policy
    • Q25 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Water
    • Q28 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Government Policy
    • Q53 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling

    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:eee:ecolec:v:149:y:2018:i:c:p:202-211. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolecon .

    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.