Commodity and Resource Policies in Agricultural Systems
Published on 5. February 1991
Book
Hardback
XIX, 387 pages
978-3-540-52273-7 (ISBN)
Description
Agricultural, natural resource, and environmental problems are becom ing increasingly interdependent. For example, soil erosion is largely determined by agricultural land use. Both water use and water con tamination depend on land use and technology choice in agriculture. In many areas, the fertilizers and pesticides used in agriculture are ma jor pollutants of ground and surface water, having adverse effects on drinking water and fisheries. Agricultural pollutants such as pesticides also produce adverse health effects for agricultural workers and the consuming public. On the other hand, the availability of water resources and the value of competing land uses influence agricultural production. Additionally, regional air quality problems may affect crops and global environmental trends may have long-term implica tions for farming. Agriculture, natural resources and environmental quality are all heavily regulated in the U. S. , but they are done so by a vast array of competing or unrelated agencies within the U. S. Departments of Agriculture, Interior, and Commerce, the Environmental Protection Agency; and numerous state agencies. Considering the large number of bureaucratically remote public agencies involved and the pervasive in terdependencies between agriculture, natural resources and the environ ment, policies develop which are at best uncoordinated and at worst conflicting and counterproductive. These policies have become sources of controversy as different interest groups struggle to affect their im plementation, as different agencies have fought for administrative con trol and as legislative bodies have attempted to enact piecemeal changes.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Heidelberg
Germany
Publishing group
Springer Berlin
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
49 figures, 47 tables
Dimensions
Height: 23.5 cm
Width: 15.5 cm
Weight
740 gr
ISBN-13
978-3-540-52273-7 (9783540522737)
DOI
10.1007/978-3-642-75499-9
Schweitzer Classification
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Richard E. Just | Nancy Bockstael
Commodity and Resource Policies in Agricultural Systems
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12/2012
Springer
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Richard E. Just | Nancy Bockstael
Commodity and Resource Policies in Agricultural Systems
Book
02/2012
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Content
I An Overview of the Interface of Agricultural and Resource Policy.- 1 Problems Confronting the Joint Formulation of Commercial Agricultural and Resource Policies.- 1.1 Prospects for Policy Coordination.- 1.2 Issues to Consider.- 1.3 The Important Interfaces of Agricultural and Resource Policy.- 1.3.1 Water Conservation.- 1.3.2 Soil Conservation.- 1.3.3 Pesticide and Fertilizer Control.- 1.3.4 Surface Water Quality.- 1.3.5 Public Health.- 1.3.6 Regional and Global Air Pollution.- 1.4 The Challenge of Research at the Interface Between Agricultural and Resource Policy.- 1.4.1 The Role of Natural Science in Resource and Agricultural Policy Models.- 1.4.2 The Role of Institutions in the Agricultural-Resources Interface.- 1.5 Complementarity and Consistency in Agricultural and Resource Policy.- References.- 2 The Evolution and Coordination of U.S. Commodity and Resource Policies.- 2.1 Introduction.- 2.2 Historical Review.- 2.2.1 Western Water Resource Development.- 2.2.2 Farm Credit System.- 2.2.3 Environmental Pesticide Policy.- 2.2.4 Federal Soil Conservation Policy.- 2.3 The Case for Coordination.- 2.3.1 Illustrative Examples.- 2.3.2 General Formulation.- 2.3.3 Coordinated Commodity and Resource Policy Reform.- 2.4 The Limits to Coordination.- 2.4.1 The Joint Production and Consumption Processes.- 2.4.2 The Spatial Dimension of Commodity and Resource Policies.- 2.4.3 The Temporal Dimension of Commodity and Resource Policies.- 2.4.4 Public Sector Interagency Coodination.- 2.5 Conclusion.- References.- 3 A Comparative Analysis of State Regulations for Use of Agricultural Chemicals.- 3.1 Introduction.- 3.2 Background.- 3.3 State Policies.- 3.3.1 State Policy Instruments.- 3.4 Survey Design.- 3.5 Survey Analysis.- 3.5.1 Date for the Analysis.- 3.5.2 Results.- 3.6 Conclusion.- 3.7 Appendix: Dependent Variable Description.- References.- 4 Policy Failures Arising from Multiple Jurisdictions: Western Agriculture Water Resources, and the Role of the Courts.- 4.1 Introduction.- 4.2 Regulating and Controlling Natural Resources: From State Jurisdictions to the Market.- 4.2.1 Limitations on State and Local Jurisdictions in the Control of Natural Resources.- 4.2.2 The Commerce Clause Extended to Groundwater.- 4.2.3 Equitable Apportionment and Water Markets: The Demise of the Prior Appropriation Doctrine?.- 4.3 A General Equilibrium Model for Measuring the Efficiency and Equity Effects of Market Allocations of Water.- 4.3.1 The Basic Model.- 4.3.2 The Treatment of Water.- 4.4 Empirical Results.- 4.5 Concluding Remarks.- References.- II Analytical and Conceptual Perspectives.- 5 Effects of Commodity Program Structure on Resource Use and the Environment.- 5.1 The Conceptual Framework.- 5.2 The Disaggregated Model.- 5.2.1 A Log-Linear Model.- 5.2.2 Modeling the Joint Distribution of x, ?, and z.- 5.2.3 Truncation of Distributions.- 5.2.4 Censoring of Distributions.- 5.3 Policy and Input Use on the Intensive Margin.- 5.3.1 Agricultural Policy on the Intensive Margin.- 5.3.2 Environmental Policies and Behavior on the Intensive Margin.- 5.3.3 Combining Commodity and Environmental Policies at the Intensive Margin.- 5.4 Policy Interaction on the Extensive Margin.- 5.4.1 Price Support.- 5.4.2 Production Controls.- 5.4.3 Pollution Tax.- 5.4.4 Interaction of a Pollution Tax with Agricultural Policy.- 5.4.5 Pollution Standards.- 5.4.6 Interaction of Pollution Standards with Agricultural Policy.- 5.4.7 Conclusions with Respect to Policy Interaction on the Extensive Margin.- 5.5 Policy Interaction at the Extensive and Intensive Margins.- 5.6 Generalizations and Extensions of the Analytical Framework.- 5.7 Conclusions.- References.- 6 Redistribution of Income Through Commodity and Resource Policy.- 6.1 The Model.- 6.2 Distributional Tradeoffs.- 6.3 Political Economy of Distribution.- 6.4 Generalization of the Model.- 6.4.1 Environmental Gains.- 6.4.2 Social Costs of Raising Taxes.- 6.4.3 Environmental Damage Caused by Nonland Inputs.- 6.5 Broader Policy Implications.- References.- 7 Sequential Coordination of Agricultural and Resource Policy.- 7.1 Introduction.- 7.2 A Survey of Relevant Agricultural and Natural.- Resource Policy.- 7.2.1 Agricultural Policies.- 7.2.2 Natural Resource Policies.- 7.3 Three Examples of Sequential Coordination.- 7.3.1 The Property Rights for Fisheries Influence the Benefits of Water Quality.- 7.3.2 Agricultural Water Pollution: The Case of Downstream Markets.- 7.3.3 Agricultural and Job Safety: The Case of Perfectly Competitive Downstream Markets.- 7.4 Conclusion.- References.- 8 Information Issues in the Coordination of Agricultural and Resource Policy.- 8.1 Introduction.- 8.2 The Public Choice Model.- 8.3 Optimal Policy.- 8.4 The Role of Information.- 8.4.1 The Informational Value of the States of Nature.- 8.4.2 Information and Policy Decisions.- 8.5 Some Implications for Agricultural and Resource Policies.- 8.5.1 Coordination Between Agricultural Policy and Resource Policy.- 8.5.2 The Optimality of Alternative Instruments.- 8.6 Conclusion.- References.- 9 Joint Management of Buffer Stocks for Water and Commodities.- 9.1 The Cost of Storage as a Stabilization Activity.- 9.2 A Simple Market Model with Weather and Demand Stocks.- 9.3 Social Welfare and the Policy Criterion.- 9.3.1 Characterization of the Social Optimum.- 9.3.2 Evaluation of Uncoordinated Storage Policies.- 9.4 Public Versus Private Markets and the Need for Intervention.- 9.5 Nonstorable Commodity Market Stabilization.- 9.6 The Magnitude of Importance of Joint Policy Formulation.- 9.7 Conclusions.- References.- 10 Economy and Climate: A Preliminary Framework for Microeconomic Analysis.- 10.1 Introduction.- 10.2 The Greenhouse Effect.- 10.3 What is the Climate?.- 10.3.1 A Model of Externalities via the Climate.- 10.4 Extensions of the Model.- 10.5 Uncertainty About Economy-Climate Interactions.- 10.6 Discounting.- 10.7 International Cooperation.- References.- III Empirical Significance of Agricultural and Resource Policy Interactions.- 11 Effects of the Feed Grain and Wheat Programs on Irrigation and Groundwater Depletion in Nebraska.- 11.1 Introduction.- 11.2 A Model of Irrigation Adoption.- 11.3 Irrigation Adoption and Groundwater Depletion Models.- 11.4 The Grain and Livestock Market Model.- 11.5 The Crop Supply Structure.- 11.6 The Crop Demand Structure.- 11.7 The Livestock Supply Structure.- 11.8 The Meat Demand Structure.- 11.9 Policy Simulation Results.- 11.10 Conclusions.- References.- 12 Water Policy Effects on Crop Production and Vice Versa: An Empirical Approach.- 12.1 Introduction.- 12.2 An Analytical Approach.- 12.3 The National/Regional Model.- 12.4 Policy Scenarios.- 12.4.1 Scenario 1-25% Increase in Western Water Price.- 12.4.2 Scenario 2 - Regulatory Resource Policies.- 12.4.3 Scenario 3 - 50% Reduction in Program Price Support.- 12.5 Conclusions.- References.- 13 Tradeoffs Between Agricultural and Chemical Policies.- 13.1 Introduction.- 13.2 Tradeoff Opportunities.- 13.3 Selected Examples of Policy Tradeoffs.- 13.3.1 Conservation Compliance.- 13.3.2 Nitrogen Tax.- 13.3.3 Targeting the Conservation Reserve.- 13.3.4 Corn Rootworm Insecticide Ban.- 13.4 Observations.- References.- 14 The Effects of Commodity Programs on Resource Use.- 14.1 Introduction.- 14.2 Conceptual Issues.- 14.3 Consistency Through Conservation Title.- 14.4 Effects of Commodity Policy Reform.- 14.5 Resource Impacts of Policy Reform.- 14.6 Decomposing Policy Reform Impacts.- 14.7 Conclusions.- References.- 15 Best Management Practices Versus Socially Optimal Practices.- 15.1 Introduction.- 15.2 Best Management Practices in Concept.- 15.3 Practical Problems in Implementing BMP's.- 15.4 Incentives for Adopting BMP's: Theoretical Considerations.- 15.5 Implementation of BMP's: Some Empirical Evidence from Maryland.- 15.6 Objectives of Agricultural Policy and Measurement of Costs and Benefits.- 15.7 Conclusions.- References.- 16 Interaction Between Agriculture and Fisheries: Empirical Evidence and Policy Implications.- 16.1 Introduction.- 16.2 The Agriculture-Fisheries Externality.- 16.3 Chesapeake Bay Application.- 16.3.1 The Relationship Between Nitrogen Concentrations and SAV.- 16.3.2 The Relationship Between Striped Bass and SAV.- 16.4 The Link Between the Physical Externality and the Industry Effects - The Regulatory Environment.- 16.4.1 The Agricultural Sector Model.- 16.4.2 The Fishery Sector Model - Without Demand Effects.- 16.4.3 The Fishery Sector - With Demand Effects.- 16.4.4 The Welfare Implications of the Two Models.- 16.5 Implications in a Complex Policy Setting.- References.- I An Overview of the Interface of Agricultural and Resource Policy.- 17 The Interaction of Agricultural Policies and Health Regulation: The Case of Tobacco.- 17.1 The Economic Literature on Cigarettes and Tobacco: Empirical Estimates and Results.- 17.1.1 Smoking Behavior and Its Impacts.- 17.1.2 Economic Controls of Cigarettes and Smoking.- 17.2 Conceptual Framework.- 17.3 Regulations on Tobacco and Their Impacts.- 17.4 Conclusions.- References.- 18 Air Pollution and Agriculture: A Review and Evaluation of Policy Interactions.- 18.1 Introduction.- 18.2 The Effects of Air Pollution on Agriculture: A Review.- 18.2.1 The Case of Ozone.- 18.2.2 The Case of Acid Rain.- 18.3 The Role of Distortions.- 18.3.1 The Effect of Commodity Programs.- 18.3.2 The Role of Water Quality Externalities.- 18.4 Summary.- References.- IV Summary and Conclusions.- 19 The Significance of the Interface of Agricultural and Resource Policy: Conclusions and Directions for Further Research.- 19.1 The Complex Interface of Agricultural and Resource Policy.- 19.2 Potential Gains from Coordination of Agricultural and Resource Policy.- 19.3 Key Issues in Assessing the Benefits of Coordination..- 19.3.1 Heterogeneity.- 19.3.2 Elasticity of Substitution.- 19.3.3 Missing Data.- 19.4 The Changing Information Base.- 19.5 Political Economy.- 19.6 Conclusions.- References.- Author Index.