Linkages between Agricultural Policies and Environmental Effects : Using the OECD Stylised Agri-environmental Policy Impact Model (OECD Green Growth Strategy)

Improving The Environmental Performance Of Agriculture Is A High Priority For Oecd Countries, But Measuring And Evaluating The Impact Of Agri-environmental Policies On The Environment Can Be Challenging, As It Requires Linking Economic And Biophysical Models In Country-specific Contexts. The Oecd Has Developed The Stylized Agri-environmental Policy Impact Model (sapim), Which Can Be Adapted And Applied By Researchers And Policy Makers To Better Understand The Impact Of Policies On The Agri-environment Conditions In Their Countries. This Report Applies The Model To Representative Farms In Finland, Japan, Switzerland And The United States. These Countries Include A Wide Range Of Objectives, Policy Measures And Agri-environmental Conditions. The Results Highlight That When Positive Or Negative Environmental Externalities Are Not Taken Into Account By Farmers Then The Production Choices By Farmers Will Reflect Private Costs And Benefits. Policies Can Potentially Raise Social Welfare By Taking Account Of Those Externalities. This Report Notes That, Overall, The Diversity Of Conditions Across Sectors And Countries Makes It Difficult To Generalize The Impact Of Agri-environmental Policies Beyond The Situations That Are Modeled. Nevertheless, Some Wider Policy Messages Emerge. Drawing On The Four Case Studies Examined, This Report Recommends That Polluting Activities That Are Not Regulated Should Be Included In Policy Design; The Existing Overall Policy Environment Needs To Be Taken Into Account In Evaluating Agri-environmental Policies; And Environmental Co-benefits And Trade-offs Need To Be Recognized.--publisher's Description. General Description Of The Sapim Framework -- Environmental Effects Of Agricultural Policies : Literature Review -- Finland : Crop Production And Entry/exit Options With Forestry -- Switzerland : The Environmental Effects Of Dairy Production -- United States : The Environmental Effects Of Crop Production And The Conservation Auctions -- Japan : Optimal Land-use Allocation And Nitrogen Application -- Sensitivity Analysis -- Comparative Analysis Of Results For All Case Studies -- Conclusions. Includes Bibliographical References. Also Available Online. Foreword......Page 5 Table of Contents......Page 7 Executive Summary......Page 11 Introduction......Page 15 Agriculture-environment interactions: Model choices......Page 17 General framework for agri-environmental externalities in a heterogeneous landscape......Page 18 Soil erosion......Page 23 Greenhouse gas emissions......Page 25 Pesticides......Page 27 Water quality (nutrient pollution)......Page 28 Livestock manure related emissions and policies......Page 30 Broad-ranging agricultural policies and multiple environmental effects......Page 31 Farm-level modelling approaches under heterogeneous conditions......Page 32 Theoretical framework......Page 35 Empirical applications using Finnish data......Page 43 Policy simulations and results......Page 45 Summary of the Finnish case study......Page 59 Switzerland: The environmental effects of dairy production......Page 63 Theoretical framework......Page 65 Empirical application on the basis of Swiss data......Page 71 Policy simulations and results......Page 76 Summary of the Swiss case study......Page 81 United States: The environmental effects of crop production and conservation auctions......Page 85 Theoretical framework......Page 87 Empirical application on the basis of the US Corn Belt......Page 90 Results......Page 93 Summary of the US case study......Page 100 Policy context and analytical framework......Page 103 Theoretical framework......Page 108 Empirical framework......Page 111 Policy simulations and results......Page 118 Summary of the Japanese case study......Page 125 Sensitivity analysis of model parameters......Page 129 Sensitivity analysis of SAPIM case studies......Page 130 Comparing environmental and economic impacts......Page 137 Comparative analysis results......Page 139 Conclusions......Page 141 Annex A. The Finnish case study......Page 147 Annex B. The Swiss case study: Background data......Page 149 Annex C. The Japanese case study: Empirical specification......Page 151 Bibliography......Page 165 The Oecd Stylised Agri-environmental Policy Impact Model (sapim), Enables Better Understanding Of The Impact Of Agri-environmental Policies. This Report Applies The Model To Representative Farms In Finland, Japan, Switzerland And The United States.