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Spatial Heterogeneity and the Choice of Instruments to Control Nonpoint Pollution

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  • JunJie Wu
  • Bruce A. Babcock

Abstract

Designing policies to control conjoint pollution poses several difficulties for environmental authorities. This study aims to provide general conditions under which the relative efficiency of input-use taxes and standards can be judged in the presence of spatial heterogeneity. It also shows how consideration of prohibitive taxes on low-productivity land and nonbinding standards on low-input land affect the relative efficiency.

Suggested Citation

  • JunJie Wu & Bruce A. Babcock, 1996. "Spatial Heterogeneity and the Choice of Instruments to Control Nonpoint Pollution," Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) Publications 96-wp164, Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) at Iowa State University.
  • Handle: RePEc:ias:cpaper:96-wp164
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. JunJie Wu & Mark L. Teague & Harry P. Mapp & Daniel J. Bernardo, 1995. "An Empirical Analysis of the Relative Efficiency of Policy Instruments to Reduce Nitrate Water Pollution in the U.S. Southern High Plains," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 43(3), pages 403-420, November.
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    6. Babcock, Bruce A. & Blackmer, Alfred M., 1992. "The Value Of Reducing Temporal Input Nonuniformities," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 17(2), pages 1-13, December.
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    20. JunJie Wu & Bruce A. Babcock, 1996. "Contract Design for the Purchase of Environmental Goods from Agriculture," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 78(4), pages 935-945.
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    Cited by:

    1. Constadina Passa & Anastasios Xepapadeas, 2008. "Modelling of Agricultural Behavior under the CAP Regime: Policy Effectiveness and Design," Working Papers 0819, University of Crete, Department of Economics.
    2. Philippe Bontems & Gilles Rotillon & Nadine Turpin, 2004. "Improvement of water quality as a joint production of milk when dairy farms are heterogeneous [Incitation à la production jointe d'eau de qualité et de lait lorsque les exploitations laitières sont," Post-Print hal-01606126, HAL.
    3. Aftab, Ashar & Hanley, Nick & Baiocchi, Giovanni, 2010. "Integrated regulation of nonpoint pollution: Combining managerial controls and economic instruments under multiple environmental targets," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(1), pages 24-33, November.
    4. Brock, William & Xepapadeas, Anastasios, 2010. "Pattern formation, spatial externalities and regulation in coupled economic-ecological systems," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 59(2), pages 149-164, March.
    5. Canton, Joan & De Cara, Stéphane & Jayet, Pierre-Alain, 2009. "Agri-environmental schemes: Adverse selection, information structure and delegation," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(7), pages 2114-2121, May.
    6. Boyd, James, 2003. "Water Pollution Taxes: A Good Idea Doomed to Failure?," Discussion Papers 10611, Resources for the Future.
    7. Rohling, Moritz & Ohndorf, Markus, 2012. "Prices vs. Quantities with fiscal cushioning," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 169-187.
    8. Athanasios Kampas & Ben White, 2004. "Administrative Costs and Instrument Choice for Stochastic Non-point Source Pollutants," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 27(2), pages 109-133, February.
    9. James Shortle & Richard D. Horan, 2017. "Nutrient Pollution: A Wicked Challenge for Economic Instruments," Water Economics and Policy (WEP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 3(02), pages 1-39, April.
    10. Lally, Breda & van Rensburg, Tom M., 2014. "Reducing nitrogen applications on Irish dairy farms: effectiveness and efficiency of different strategies," International Journal of Agricultural Management, Institute of Agricultural Management, vol. 4(1), October.
    11. Constadina Passa & Anastasios Xepapadeas, 2008. "Modelling of Agricultural Behavior under the CAP Regime: Assessment of Environmental Impacts and Policy Effectiveness," Working Papers 0818, University of Crete, Department of Economics.
    12. Petsakos, Athanasios & Jayet, Pierre-Alain, 2010. "Evaluating the efficiency of a N-input tax under different policy scenarios at different scales," 120th Seminar, September 2-4, 2010, Chania, Crete 109397, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    13. Encarna Esteban & José Albiac, 2016. "Salinity Pollution Control in the Presence of Farm Heterogeneity — An Empirical Analysis," Water Economics and Policy (WEP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 2(02), pages 1-20, June.
    14. Helin, Janne, 2009. "Does geography matter in nutrient abatement? Bioeconomic model of heteregoneus farm nutrient loads," 2009 Conference, August 16-22, 2009, Beijing, China 51693, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    15. Picazo-Tadeo, Andres J. & Reig-Martinez, Ernest, 2007. "Farmers' costs of environmental regulation: Reducing the consumption of nitrogen in citrus farming," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 312-328, March.

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