The effect of spatial interdependencies on prioritization and payments for environmental services |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Applied Economics and Statistics, University of Delaware, 213 Townsend Hall, Newark, DE 19716, USA;2. George Perkins Marsh Institute and Department of Economics, Clark University, Worcester, MA 01610-1477, USA;1. Technische Universität Berlin (Berlin Institute of Technology), Environmental Assessment and Planning Research Group, Secr. EB 5, Straße des 17, Juni 145, 10623 Berlin, Germany;2. Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), Civil Engineering, Av. Acadêmico Hélio Ramos, s/n - Cidade Universitária, Recife-PE, CEP: 50.740-530, Brazil;1. Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research, P.O. Box 115, NO-1431 Ås, Norway;2. Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research, P.O. Box 115, NO-1431 Ås, Norway;1. Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l’analisi dell’economia agraria, Via Nomentana 41, 00161 Rome, Italy;2. Department of Biosciences, University of Parma, Viale Usberti 33/A, 43124 Parma, Italy;3. Department of Economics, University of Parma, Via J. F. Kennedy 6, 43125 Parma, Italy;1. Centre for Development and Environment (CDE), University Berne, Hallerstrasse 10, CH-3012 Berne, Switzerland;2. Agroscope, Institute for Sustainability Sciences ISS, Reckenholzstrasse 191, CH-8046 Zurich, Switzerland;3. Federal Office of Agriculture (FOAG), Mattenhofstrasse 5, CH-3003 Berne, Switzerland;4. Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), Papiermühlestrasse 172, CH-3003 Berne, Switzerland;1. Center of Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy, Department of Spatial Planning, Vienna University of Technology, Resselgasse 5, 1040 Vienna, Austria;2. Faculty of Natural Sciences, Matej Bel University, Tajovského 40, 974 01 Banská Bystrica, Slovakia |
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| Abstract: | Empirical studies and on-the-ground policies assessing optimal selection of projects in the context of payments for environmental services programs rarely consider spatial proximity of one project to other projects. This occurs despite evidence from theoretical and ecological studies that benefits are often spatially interdependent. This paper develops a flexible construct of “spatial synergy benefits” using the principles of Newtonian gravity similar to efforts in other application areas. This approach is novel to the literature on environmental preservation and, as a systematic method, can account for a wide variety of spatial interdependencies. The empirical setting for the application is farm and forest preservation in Delaware, with a quadratic knapsack algorithm used to select the optimal set of parcels. Application results show that the specific level of the spatial synergy benefit measure does not significantly alter the number of parcels and acreage preserved, but that the composition of the optimal set changes as agglomeration preferences increase. These changes in the optimal targeted set indicate a potential bias in past research on PES selection. Policy makers informed by methods that do not explicitly account for spatial agglomeration preferences often make incorrect investment choices from a cost-effectiveness perspective. |
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| Keywords: | Spatial synergy benefits Preservation Spatial independence Agglomeration preferences Gravity |
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