IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/uersrr/180414.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Additionality in U.S. Agricultural Conservation and Regulatory Offset Programs

Author

Listed:
  • Claassen, Roger
  • Duquette, Eric
  • Horowitz, John
  • Kohei, Ueda

Abstract

Conservation payments lead to improvement in environmental quality only if farmers and ranchers who receive them adopt conservation practices that would not have been adopted without the payment. When a voluntary payment causes a change in practice(s) that lead(s) to improved environmental quality, these changes are “additional.” We estimate this “additionality” for a number of common conservation practices that are frequently supported by existing conservation programs. We find that the level of additionality varies by practice and that additionality is high for structural and vegetative practices while the risk of nonadditionality appears to be higher for management practices. While the risk of nonadditionality cannot be completely eliminated, it can be reduced. We discuss a number of approaches to managing nonadditionality in both conservation programs and environmental offset programs.

Suggested Citation

  • Claassen, Roger & Duquette, Eric & Horowitz, John & Kohei, Ueda, 2014. "Additionality in U.S. Agricultural Conservation and Regulatory Offset Programs," Economic Research Report 180414, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:uersrr:180414
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.180414
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/180414/files/ERR170.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.180414?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. Ribaudo, Marc & Delgado, Jorge & Livingston, Michael J., 2011. "Preliminary Assessment of Nitrous Oxide Offsets in a Cap and Trade Program," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association, vol. 40(2), pages 1-16, August.
    2. Mason, Charles F. & Plantinga, Andrew J., 2011. "Contracting for Impure Public Goods: Carbon Offsets and Additionality," Sustainable Development Papers 101290, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    3. Francisco Rosas & Bruce A. Babcock & Dermot J. Hayes, 2011. "A Nonlinear Offset Program to Reduce Nitrous Oxide Emissions Induced by Excessive Nitrogen Application," Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) Publications 11-wp521, Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) at Iowa State University.
    4. Meredith J. Soule & Abebayehu Tegene & Keith D. Wiebe, 2000. "Land Tenure and the Adoption of Conservation Practices," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 82(4), pages 993-1005.
    5. Cattaneo, Andrea & Claassen, Roger & Johansson, Robert C. & Weinberg, Marca, 2005. "Flexible Conservation Measures on Working Land: What Challenges Lie Ahead?," Economic Research Report 7248, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    6. Harrison Fell & Dallas Burtraw & Richard Morgenstern & Karen Palmer, 2012. "Climate Policy Design with Correlated Uncertainties in Offset Supply and Abatement Cost," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 88(3), pages 589-611.
    7. JunJie Wu & Richard M. Adams & Catherine L. Kling & Katsuya Tanaka, 2004. "From Microlevel Decisions to Landscape Changes: An Assessment of Agricultural Conservation Policies," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 86(1), pages 26-41.
    8. James J. Heckman & Hidehiko Ichimura & Petra E. Todd, 1997. "Matching As An Econometric Evaluation Estimator: Evidence from Evaluating a Job Training Programme," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 64(4), pages 605-654.
    9. 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.
    10. 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.
    11. Caswell, Margriet & Fuglie, Keith O. & Ingram, Cassandra & Jans, Sharon & Kascak, Catherine, 2001. "Adoption of Agricultural Production Practices: Lessons Learned from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Area Studies Project," Agricultural Economic Reports 33985, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    12. Laura M.J. McCann, 2009. "Transaction Costs of Environmental Policies and Returns to Scale: The Case of Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plans," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 31(3), pages 561-573, September.
    13. Lori Lynch & Wayne Gray & Jacqueline Geoghegan, 2007. "Are Farmland Preservation Program Easement Restrictions Capitalized into Farmland Prices? What Can a Propensity Score Matching Analysis Tell Us?," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 29(3), pages 502-509.
    14. Black, Dan A. & Smith, J.A.Jeffrey A., 2004. "How robust is the evidence on the effects of college quality? Evidence from matching," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 121(1-2), pages 99-124.
    15. Neville Millar & G. Robertson & Peter Grace & Ron Gehl & John Hoben, 2010. "Nitrogen fertilizer management for nitrous oxide (N 2 O) mitigation in intensive corn (Maize) production: an emissions reduction protocol for US Midwest agriculture," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 185-204, February.
    16. Ruben N. Lubowski & Andrew J. Plantinga & Robert N. Stavins, 2008. "What Drives Land-Use Change in the United States? A National Analysis of Landowner Decisions," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 84(4), pages 529-550.
    17. JunJie Wu & Bruce A. Babcock, 1998. "The Choice of Tillage, Rotation, and Soil Testing Practices: Economic and Environmental Implications," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 80(3), pages 494-511.
    18. McCann, Laura & Easter, K. William, 2000. "Estimates of Public Sector Transaction Costs in NRCS Programs," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 32(3), pages 555-563, December.
    19. Richard D. Horan & Roger Claassen, 2007. "Targeting Green Payments under a Budget Constraint," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 83(3), pages 319-330.
    20. Feather, Peter & Hellerstein, Daniel & Hansen, LeRoy T., 1999. "Economic Valuation of Environmental Benefits and the Targeting of Conservation Programs: The Case of the CRP," Agricultural Economic Reports 34027, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    21. Laura M.J. McCann, 2009. "Transaction Costs of Environmental Policies and Returns to Scale: The Case of Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plans," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 31(3), pages 561-573.
    22. Robert J. Farquharson & Oscar J. Cacho & John D. Mullen & Graeme D. Schwenke, 2008. "An economic approach to soil fertility management for wheat production in north-eastern Australia," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 38(2), pages 181-192, March.
    23. 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.
    24. Hayley H. Chouinard & Tobias Paterson & Philip R. Wandschneider & Adrienne M. Ohler, 2008. "Will Farmers Trade Profits for Stewardship? Heterogeneous Motivations for Farm Practice Selection," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 84(1), pages 66-82.
    25. 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.
    26. Keith O. Fuglie & Catherine A. Kascak, 2001. "Adoption and Diffusion of Natural-Resource-Conserving Agricultural Technology," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 23(2), pages 386-403.
    27. Finger, Robert & Hediger, Werner, 2007. "The Application of Robust Regression to a Production Function Comparison – the Example of Swiss Corn," MPRA Paper 4740, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    28. Ribaudo, Marc & Kaplan, Jonathan D. & Christensen, Lee A. & Gollehon, Noel R. & Johansson, Robert C. & Breneman, Vincent E. & Aillery, Marcel P. & Agapoff, Jean & Peters, Mark, 2003. "Manure Management For Water Quality Costs To Animal Feeding Operations Of Applying Manure Nutrients To Land," Agricultural Economic Reports 33911, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    29. Allen M. Featherstone & Barry K. Goodwin, 1993. "Factors Influencing a Farmer's Decision to Invest in Long-Term Conservation Improvements," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 69(1), pages 67-81.
    30. Claassen, Roger & Aillery, Marcel P. & Nickerson, Cynthia J., 2007. "Integrating Commodity and Conservation Programs: Design Options and Outcomes," Economic Research Report 6703, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    31. Richard E. Just & Rulon D. Pope, 1979. "Production Function Estimation and Related Risk Considerations," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 61(2), pages 276-284.
    32. Xiangping Liu & Lori Lynch, 2011. "Do Agricultural Land Preservation Programs Reduce Farmland Loss? Evidence from a Propensity Score Matching Estimator," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 87(2), pages 183-201.
    33. 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.
    34. Namatié Traoré & Réjean Landry & Nabil Amara, 1998. "On-Farm Adoption of Conservation Practices: The Role of Farm and Farmer Characteristics, Perceptions, and Health Hazards," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 74(1), pages 114-127.
    35. Claassen, Roger & Duquette, Eric, 2012. "Additionality in U.S. Agricultural Conservation Programs A Preliminary Analysis of New Data," 2012 Annual Meeting, August 12-14, 2012, Seattle, Washington 124721, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    36. James J. Heckman & Hidehiko Ichimura & Petra Todd, 1998. "Matching As An Econometric Evaluation Estimator," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 65(2), pages 261-294.
    37. B. Brorsen & Francisca Richter, 2012. "Experimental designs for estimating plateau-type production functions and economically optimal input levels," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 38(1), pages 45-52, August.
    38. Marshall, Elizabeth P. & Weinberg, Marca, 2012. "Baselines in Environmental Markets: Tradeoffs Between Cost and Additionality," Economic Brief 138922, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    39. Biglaiser, Gary & Horowitz, John K & Quiggin, John, 1995. "Dynamic Pollution Regulation," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 33-44, July.
    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. Pannell, David J. & Pardey, Philip G. & Hurley, Terrence M., 2020. "Private Incentives for Sustainable Agriculture: Principals and Evidence for Sustainable Agricultural Change," Working Papers 304700, University of Western Australia, School of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
    2. Wade, Tara & Claassen, Roger & Wallander, Steven, 2015. "Conservation-Practice Adoption Rates Vary Widely by Crop and Region," Economic Information Bulletin 262111, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    3. Wan, Xiaolan & Howard, Gregory & Zhang, Wendong, 2022. "Enrollment Restrictions and the Adoption of Conservation Practices in the U.S. Corn Belt," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322793, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    4. 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.
    5. Key, Nigel & Prager, Daniel & Burns, Christopher, 2017. "Farm Household Income Volatility: An Analysis Using Panel Data From a National Survey," Economic Research Report 256710, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    6. Bahrami, Shahin & Rouhi Rad, Mani & Nayga, Rodolfo M., 2024. "Land Tenure and Conservation in Agriculture: Evidence from Nationwide Farm-level Data," 2024 Annual Meeting, July 28-30, New Orleans, LA 343986, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    7. Rosenberg, Andrew B. & Wallander, Steven, 2020. "Conservation Practice Adoption and On-field Resource Concerns," 2020 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, Kansas City, Missouri 304563, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    8. Glauber, Joseph W. & Effland, Anne, 2016. "United States agricultural policy: Its evolution and impact:," IFPRI discussion papers 1543, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    9. Claassen, Roger & Bowman, Maria & Breneman, Vince & Wade, Tara & Williams, Ryan & Fooks, Jacob & Hansen, LeRoy & Iovanna, Rich & Loesch, Chuck, 2017. "Conservation Compliance: How Farmer Incentives Are Changing in the Crop Insurance Era," Economic Research Report 261814, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    10. Pates, Nicholas J. & Hendricks, Nathan P., 2016. "Additionality in Payments for Environmental Service Contracts with Technology Diffusion," 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts 236066, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    11. Rees, Gwen & Stephenson, Kurt & Taylor, Daniel B., 2015. "The Impact of Transaction Costs and Differential BMP Adoption Rates on the Cost of Reducing Agricultural Nonpoint Source Pollution in Virginia," 2015 Annual Meeting, January 31-February 3, 2015, Atlanta, Georgia 196834, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    12. Marc N. Conte & Robert Griffin, 2019. "Private Benefits of Conservation and Procurement Auction Performance," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 73(3), pages 759-790, July.
    13. Baker, Justin S. & Latane, Annah & Proville, Jeremy & Cajka, James, 2015. "Additionality, GHG Offsets, and Avoiding Grassland Conversion in the Prairie Pothole Region," 2015 AAEA & WAEA Joint Annual Meeting, July 26-28, San Francisco, California 205802, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    14. Naveen Adusumilli & Rowell Dikitanan & Hua Wang, 2019. "Effect of Cost-Sharing Federal Programs on Adoption of Water Conservation Practices: Results from Propensity Score Matching Approach," Water Economics and Policy (WEP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 6(01), pages 1-16, July.
    15. Lee, Seungyub & McCann, Laura, 2018. "Adoption of Cover Crops in Soybean Production," 2018 Annual Meeting, February 2-6, 2018, Jacksonville, Florida 266576, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    16. James Vercammen, 2019. "A dynamic analysis of cost‐share agri‐environmental programs," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 67(1), pages 15-30, March.
    17. Tong, Jingyi & Bartalotti, Otavio C. & Zhang, Wendong, 2024. "Institutional Land Ownership and Conservation Practice Adoption in the US Midwest," 2024 Annual Meeting, July 28-30, New Orleans, LA 343808, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    18. Stephenson, Kurt & Shabman, Leonard, 2015. "Nutrient Assimilation Services for Water Quality Credit Trading Programs," RFF Working Paper Series dp-15-33, Resources for the Future.
    19. Cheryl J. Wachenheim & John Devney, 2018. "Landowner Conservation Attitudes and Behaviors in the Prairie Pothole Region," Agribusiness & Applied Economics Report 267904, North Dakota State University, Department of Agribusiness and Applied Economics.

    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. Claassen, Roger & Duquette, Eric, 2012. "Additionality in U.S. Agricultural Conservation Programs A Preliminary Analysis of New Data," 2012 Annual Meeting, August 12-14, 2012, Seattle, Washington 124721, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    2. Horowitz, John & Ueda, Kohei, 2013. "Paying Farmers to Reduce Nitrogen Application on Corn: The Baseline Approach," 2013 Annual Meeting, August 4-6, 2013, Washington, D.C. 150561, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    3. Claassen, Roger & Savage, Jeff & Loesch, Chuck & Breneman, Vince & Williams, Ryan & Mulvaney, Bill & Fairbanks, Tammy, 2017. "Additionality in Grassland Easements to Provide Migratory Bird Habitat in the Northern Plains," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 42(3), September.
    4. Naveen Adusumilli & Rowell Dikitanan & Hua Wang, 2019. "Effect of Cost-Sharing Federal Programs on Adoption of Water Conservation Practices: Results from Propensity Score Matching Approach," Water Economics and Policy (WEP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 6(01), pages 1-16, July.
    5. Sánchez-Braza, Antonio & Pablo-Romero, María del P., 2014. "Evaluation of property tax bonus to promote solar thermal systems in Andalusia (Spain)," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 832-843.
    6. 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.
    7. Woodward, Richard T. & Newburn, David A. & Mezzatesta, Mariano, 2016. "Additionality and reverse crowding out for pollution offsets in water quality trading," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 224-231.
    8. Wallander, Steven & Bowman, Maria & Beeson, Peter & Claassen, Roger, 2017. "Farmers and Habits: The Challenge of Identifying the Sources of Persistence in Tillage Decisions," 2018 Allied Social Sciences Association (ASSA) Annual Meeting, January 5-7, 2018, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 266307, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    9. David J. Pannell & Roger Claassen, 2020. "The Roles of Adoption and Behavior Change in Agricultural Policy," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 42(1), pages 31-41, March.
    10. 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.
    11. Dettmann, E. & Becker, C. & Schmeißer, C., 2011. "Distance functions for matching in small samples," Computational Statistics & Data Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 55(5), pages 1942-1960, May.
    12. Arata, Linda & Sckokai, P., 2013. "Impact of Agri-environmental Schemes on Farm Performances in five EU Member States," 2013 Second Congress, June 6-7, 2013, Parma, Italy 149771, Italian Association of Agricultural and Applied Economics (AIEAA).
    13. Marita Laukkanen & Céline Nauges, 2014. "Evaluating Greening Farm Policies: A Structural Model for Assessing Agri-environmental Subsidies," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 90(3), pages 458-481.
    14. Cisilino, Federica & Bodini, Antonella & Zanoli, Agostina, 2019. "Rural development programs’ impact on environment: An ex-post evaluation of organic faming," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 454-462.
    15. Caroline Roussy & Aude Ridier & Karim Chaïb, 2014. "Adoption d’innovations par les agriculteurs : rôle des perceptions et des préférences," Post-Print hal-01123427, HAL.
    16. Abdul Wadud, 2013. "Impact of Microcredit on Agricultural Farm Performance and Food Security in Bangladesh," Working Papers 14, Institute of Microfinance (InM).
    17. Giovanopoulou, Eirini & Nastis, Stefanos A. & Papanagiotou, Evagelos, 2011. "Modeling farmer participation in agri-environmental nitrate pollution reducing schemes," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(11), pages 2175-2180, September.
    18. 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.
    19. Tommaso Nannicini, 2007. "Simulation-based sensitivity analysis for matching estimators," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 7(3), pages 334-350, September.
    20. Gudibande, Rohan Ravindra & Jacob, Arun, 2020. "Minimum wages for domestic workers: impact evaluation of the Indian experience," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Agricultural and Food Policy; Environmental Economics and Policy;

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:uersrr:180414. 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/ersgvus.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.