Collective incentives : what design for agri-environmental contracts ?
2013
KUHFUSS , LAURE (INRA , Montpellier (France). UMR 1135 Laboratoire Montpelliérain d'Economie Théorique et Appliquée) | Préget , Raphaële (INRA , Montpellier (France). UMR 1135 Laboratoire Montpelliérain d'Economie Théorique et Appliquée) | Thoyer , Sophie (INRA , Montpellier (France). UMR 1135 Laboratoire Montpelliérain d'Economie Théorique et Appliquée)
The evaluations of the French rural development program point out the low participation of farmers in the national Agri-Environmental Schemes (AES) granting compensation payments to farmers committing to reduce their use of pesticides. Using a choice modeling approach, our objective is to test whether the introduction of a collective dimension in agri-environmental contracts can enhance farmers’ initial participation in AES and so initiate a group dynamics favoring a change of practices towards less intensive use of pesticides on a territory. Our collective dimension relies on a monetary ‘bonus’ paid per hectare engaged to each farmer who has signed a contract, provided that 50% of the area of interest is enrolled at the end of the contract. The objective of the paper is to measure empirically with a choice experiment the preference of farmers for this type of conditional bonus. We conduct an evaluation on hypothetical contracts for low-herbicide practices in the Languedoc-Roussillon region, located in the South East of France, where nearly two thirds of agricultural area is dedicated to vineyards. We show with a sample of 317 wine-growers that introducing a conditional bonus can be a way to improve participation and land enrollment for a lower budgetary outlay.
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