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How Sustainable are Sustainable Development Programs? The Case of the Sloping Land Conversion Program in China

Author

Listed:
  • Andreas Kontoleon

    (Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge, UK)

  • Pauline Grosjean

    (LERNA, University of Toulouse and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, France)

Abstract

This paper undertakes a direct comprehensive assessment of the long-run sustainability of one the world’s largest sustainable development programs, the Slopping Land Conversion Program (SLCP) in China under different plausible post-SLCP scenarios. The analysis is based on farmer contingent behavior post-program land and labor decisions as well as choice experiment data. Our econometric results highlight the main obstacles to the program’s sustainability, which include specific shortfalls in program implementation as well as certain institutional constraints such as tenure insecurity, poor land renting rights, limited access to credit and limited land management rights.

Suggested Citation

  • Andreas Kontoleon & Pauline Grosjean, 2007. "How Sustainable are Sustainable Development Programs? The Case of the Sloping Land Conversion Program in China," Environmental Economy and Policy Research Working Papers 26.2007, University of Cambridge, Department of Land Economics, revised 2007.
    • Handle: RePEc:lnd:wpaper:200726
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    sustainable development programs; sustainability; recursive probit; choice modeling; Asia; China;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q2 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation
    • Q4 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy
    • R4 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics

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