Market Structures for U.S. Water Quality Trading

The use of transferable discharge permits as a water pollution control policy is rapidly increasing in the United States. Drawing on evidence from existing water quality trading programs, this paper provides a taxonomy of the forms that such markets take. Four main structures are identified: exchanges, bilateral negotiations, clearinghouses, and sole-source offsets. Each of these structures has its own strengths and weaknesses; none is optimal for all scenarios. Since market structure is largely determined by a program's rules, policy makers should be aware of the differences between these structures and the conditions under which each comes to be.     

Riparian Buffers and Hedonic Prices: A Quasi-Experimental Analysis of Residential Property Values in the Neuse River Basin

Riparian buffers, the strips of vegetation along banks of rivers and streams, have been proposed as a key instrument to protect water quality in the United States. Riparian buffers impose a restriction on the use of private property limiting harvest and development, but buffers can also provide for aesthetic and recreational benefits that may accrue to property owners. With data from the Neuse River Basin in North Carolina, this study attempts to provide empirical evidence on the effect of a mandatory buffer rule on the value of riparian properties. Spatial autoregressive hedonic models are estimated within a quasi-experimental framework using the imposition of the buffer rule as the treatment and nonriparian properties as a control group. Results indicate that a riparian property generally commands a high premium. We find no evidence, however, that the mandatory buffer rule has had a significant impact on riparian property values when compared with the control group.     

Farmer perspectives of the on-farm and off-farm pros and cons of planted multifunctional riparian margins

The planting of riparian margins is a policy option for pastoral farmers in response to land use induced environmental issues such as declining water quality, stream bank erosion, and loss of aquatic and terrestrial habitat. We elicited the views and experiences as to pros and cons of planting riparian margins from two sets of dairy farmers from Taranaki, New Zealand: those who are or have planted riparian margins, and those who have not yet done so. Those farmers who have planted riparian margins identified 21 positive aspects of riparian margin plantings and 11 negative aspects of riparian margin plantings. Perceived benefits identified by this group include water quality, increased biodiversity, the provision of cultural ecosystem services, immediate direct benefits to farm management and the farm system, and in some instances increased productivity on-farm. In contrast, those farmers that had fenced but not planted their riparian margins did not consider that riparian margin plantings could add further benefits to that which could be achieved by excluding stock from waterways, and associated only negative perceptions with riparian margin plantings. Planting riparian margins is not cost neutral and will not deliver anticipated environmental benefits in every situation. However, we argue that riparian margin plantings are an important ecological infrastructure investment that needs to be captured within a wider policy framework, the benefits of which extend beyond the mitigation of a single negative externality generated by land use practices, such as nutrient loss, and contribute to a multifunctional landscape.     

The integration of water quality into transboundary allocation agreements Lessons from the southwestern United States

There is now a fairly substantial literature that addresses transboundary water allocation both at the international and interstate level. However, most of this literature deals almost exclusively with the question of allocation and ignores quality considerations. At the same time, there is a growing literature on transboundary pollution control and upstream/downstream externalities. What is missing is an attempt to integrate quality consideration into allocation agreements. This paper examines several allocation agreements and disputes in the southwestern United States and Mexico and looks at the ramifications of omitting pollution control and quality considerations in these negotiations.     

《日美贸易协定》对我国农产品贸易的影响及对策

本文在分析日美农产品关税、贸易和在《日美贸易协定》中降税情况的基础上,采用GTAP模型定量分析《协定》实施对我国农产品贸易的影响。结果显示:《协定》的实施将对我国农业总体发展产生一定冲击,日美相互减免农产品关税将带来一定程度的贸易转移效应,尤其对我国出口日本的蔬果和畜产品影响尤为明显。结合我国自贸区谈判和农业发展情况,本文提出积极推动多双边农业谈判、培育出口竞争优势、借鉴日本经验灵活处理农产品降税、利用自贸试验区积极对接农业国际规则等政策建议。     

WOOL POLICY IN THE UNITED STATES: ITS DIRECT IMPACT ON AUSTRALIAN EXPORTS

Australian apparel wool exports to the United States are less than they might be because of two protective policies of the U.S. government: a fixed tariff and a system of direct price.support payments to U.S. wool producers. Dismantling these policies, though difficult, could mean $10 million to $21 million worth of additional Australian wool sales to the United States, over 1966 levels. Most of the increase would come from tariff cuts. Such amounts are worth negotiating for but would not solve the industry's problems.     

How are America's private forests changing? An integrated assessment of forest management,housing pressure,and urban development in alternate emissions scenarios

Private forests are a vital component of the natural ecosystem infrastructure of the United States, and provide critical ecosystem services including clean air and water, energy, wildlife habitat, recreational services, and wood fiber. These forests have been subject to conversion to developed uses due to increasing population pressures. This study examines the changing patterns in the private forests across the urban–rural gradient in 36 states in the eastern United States. We combine observed forest management activities, housing pressure, and 50-year projections of development pressures under alternate IPCC emission scenarios (A1, A2, B1, and B2) to produce a forest pressures index for a total of 45,707 plots located on privately owned land. We find evidence of continued forest loss in suburban/urban regions, and imminent pressure on private forests in exurban regions, while forests in rural regions are found to be relatively stable in next 50 years. Patterns of forest pressures differ depending on the sub-regions, which can be attributed to differing socio-ecological context of these sub-regions. Forest pressures also differ depending on the alternate scenarios considered, as projected increases in impervious surfaces is higher for the A1 and A2 scenarios as compared to the B1 and B2 scenarios. Land owners, often influenced by changing economic, demographic, and environmental trends, will play an important role in managing goods and services provided by these private forests. While it remains challenging to model forest owner attributes, socio-economic factors appear to be critical in shaping the future forested landscape in the United States.     

Controlling agricultural nonpoint water pollution: costs of implementing the Maryland Water Quality Improvement Act of 1998⋆

The Maryland Water Quality Improvement Act of 1998 (WQIA) seeks to create environmental and other benefits to the Chesapeake Bay through reductions in nonpoint source nutrient pollution. This paper analyzes the economic impacts of the WQIA on agricultural users of nutrients (commercial fertilizers or animal manures) and on poultry growers in the state of Maryland. The net economic impacts to each of these groups are estimated along with some discussion of the distribution of the impacts. Recognition of the distribution of the impacts allows for the assessment of potential policies to address negative impacts. Additional sections of the WQIA are discussed in terms of their ability to shift the distribution of the impacts or to provide partial compensation to those most affected. The WQIA is the most restrictive agricultural nonpoint pollution control law in the US. While the WQIA only regulates nutrient use in the state of Maryland, other states, as well as the federal government, are watching how this law is implemented. Many states are considering similar laws. At the national level, the United States Department of Agriculture and the United States Environmental Protection Agency have issued draft guidelines that will control nutrients from animal operations in much the same way as the WQIA. Therefore, analyses of the economic impacts of the WQIA may be important in shaping policies in other states and at the national level.     

Alternative models of input allocation in multicrop systems: Irrigation water in the Central Plains,United States

This paper compares three models of input allocation in multicrop systems. In addition to the variable input and satisficing models analyzed in previous research, an allocatable fixed input model of short-run input use is derived. The empirical application studies irrigation water use in the Central Plains region of the United States. Based on results from model specification tests and prediction accuracy measures, the allocatable fixed input model dominates both other models in explaining multicrop water allocation. In addition, the paper presents an alternative approach to the study of deficient data on multicrop production. By transferring econometric results from analysis of ‘non-deficient’ crop-level data, input allocations in deficient data sets can be predicted.     

Wetland mitigation banking: Negotiations with stakeholders in a zone of ecological-economic viability

Wetland mitigation banking (WMB) is an organizational form that attempts to balance the ecological goals of wetland conservation and the economic goals of development with the aim of improving the implementation of wetland offsetting. Given the resulting tension, it is important to understand how the way stakeholders employ the WMB regulatory framework affects the goal of No Net Loss of wetlands. In this study, we interviewed WMB stakeholders in Florida in the United States to identify their strategies during negotiations around different aspects of defining wetland mitigation credits (e.g. service areas, types of credit and credit release schedules). Using the approach of New Institutional Economics, we found that within a framework of well-defined rules that nonetheless allow flexibility, WMB enables a field of action for negotiating within a zone of ecological-economic viability – in part due to the stakeholders’ interest in maintaining a good reputation in this field. Outside of this zone of viability a wetland mitigation bank proposal collapses for economic or ecological reasons.     

Productivity and international competitiveness of agriculture in the European Union and the United States

This study looks at international competitiveness of agriculture in the European Union and the United States. The most intuitive concept is that of price competitiveness. We calculate relative prices for 11 member states of the European Union and the United States for the period 1973–2002. We assume that markets are perfectly competitive and in long‐run equilibrium, so that the observed price always equals average total cost, as measured by the cost dual to the production function. This assumption is used in our calculation of relative competitiveness and productivity gaps between the European Union and the United States and in our decomposition of relative price movements between changes in relative input prices and changes in relative productivity levels.     

Contracting for Canola in the Great Plains States

Canola has become an important crop in the last decade in the United States. Production of canola is risky and competes with other crops that have varying risk reduction mechanisms. Processors develop and offer contracts with varying specifications that allow growers to reduce risk and attract canola production. In this study, preplant contracting strategies were evaluated in terms of risk and return for growers and processors. Alternative contracts include fixed‐price‐variety‐specific with and without act‐of‐God provisions, and an oil‐premium contract. Grower returns and processor gross margins were simulated and resulting distributions were evaluated using stochastic efficiency with respect to a function. In the dominant growing region, growers would prefer fixed‐price‐variety‐specific contracts versus contracts with oil premiums. The latter would only be preferred by crushers that are highly risk averse. The results vary regionally suggesting that contract types should vary by region to be acceptable to a broader range of growers and processors.     

Valuing instream and riparian aspects of stream restoration – A willingness to tax approach

Streams provide a variety of ecosystem and recreational services. Several studies have documented that the public often has a strong willingness to pay for stream restoration, however, many do not distinguish between the values for different types of uses of restored streams. Given that stream restoration can include a variety of actions both instream and along streambanks, which differ widely in terms of cost, it is important to distinguish between such benefits. Taking Israel as a case study, this paper uses an approach based on respondents’ willingness to allocate tax monies in a choice modeling framework to evaluate the relative priorities that the public assigns to instream versus land-based uses of stream areas. In Israel, some rehabilitation of streambanks and riparian areas has occurred, but much less progress has been made on instream improvements, which would demand allocation of water, a scarce and pricey resource in the region. Respondents indicated a slight preference for land-based uses. Greater familiarity with streams was associated with higher utility from land uses. This indicates that less costly rehabilitation of land along stream banks is a reasonable first step for policymakers to take, before attempting more costly efforts requiring allocation of instream flows.     

黄河兰州段水质污染状况分析

黄河穿兰州城而过，为城市的发展提供了丰富的水源。同时，大量的污染物排放到河中，造成不同河段的污染。本文以1991—2000年的统计资料，主要从化学和生物两个角度来分析黄河兰州段的水质污染状况，并运用SPSS统计软件分析了两者的相关关系。最后得出黄河兰州段以生物、有机污染为主。就此提出减少废水排放量(尤其是工业废水)是控制黄河兰州段水质的关键。     

Re‐examination of production,cost, and restricted profit functions using quantile regression approach

This article estimates quantile regressions of production, cost, and restricted profit functions using a Cobb‐Douglas functional form with non‐Hicks neutral technology change. In contrast to previous studies, quantile regression estimates reveal the relationship between the independent (production, cost, and restricted profit) and dependent (input quantities and prices) variables at each quantile of the distribution. An empirical application using data from 48 states in United States from 1960 to 2004 indicates the returns to scale and aggregate technology not only differ across production, cost, and restricted profit functions but across states in different quantiles of the distribution. This suggests the traditional measures of returns to scale and aggregate technology are under‐ and overestimated in states at upper and lower quantiles, respectively.     

Towards sustainable water management: Catchment planning in France and Britain

Water management in European States is currently undergoing a series of major shifts linked to changing user and consumer demands, the increasing role of European Union legislation and, critically, the need to address sustainability in water uses. These shifts have a spatial expression. A comparative analysis of recent water management practice in two Member States of the EU, France and Britain (England and Wales), reveals both a new territorial focus in water management, as existing structures and institutions of water policy adapt to the changing environmental agenda, and the development of an integrated approach at the local level based upon river catchments.     

Assessing growth management policy implementation: Case study of the United States' leading growth management state

Many states in the United States attempt to manage urban growth so that development is directed to urban areas equipped to accommodate development and rural lands are preserved for resource and other non-urban uses. Oregon is entering its third decade of what many commentators describe as the nation's most aggressive urban growth management program administered statewide. This article reports a recent evaluation of the effectiveness of state urban growth management policies as they are implemented in four urban areas. The study is the first of its kind to assess development patterns associated with administration of statewide growth management policies by local governments. Using primary data collection and analysis, effectiveness of urban growth management and resource land preservation efforts is found to be mixed. In some situations, administration does not appear to be effectively directing development into urban growth boundaries and away from resource lands. In other situations, administration appears to be quite effective. Problems with administration are found in all situations. This article offers two generalizable outcomes. The first is a methodology for assessing the effectiveness of any given urban growth management program to effect desired development patterns. The second is a specific set of policy lessons learned by Oregon in its effort to create definable, compact urban centers and preserve resource land for non-urban uses.     

The Wheat War of 1994: Comment

The opinions expressed are those of the authors and not those of the United States International Trade Commission or any of its Commissioners. This article is a U.S. Government work and, as such, is in the public domain within the United States of America.     

An Economic Investigation of the Import Licensing Methods and TRQs in Agriculture

Tariff-Rate Quotas (TRQs) were introduced at the outset of the Uruguay Round to support market access following the tariffication of non-tariff barriers to trade in agriculture. TRQs created an administrative mess in which governments often discretionarily allocate import licenses to private and/or public firms. Numerous papers describe the arbitrarily chosen procedures used to allocate licenses in different countries and the resulting distorted trade patterns. However, few research efforts have formally studied the impacts of different administrative methods on welfare. Due to significant spreads between domestic and world prices, the administration of import licenses can have important strategic effects under imperfect competition. We propose a simple theoretical framework to highlight the various economic implications of two methods used by WTO members: the historical allocation and the first-come-first-serve procedures. These two methods differ in their discretionary degree and, under imperfect competition, lead to different welfare implications depending on the structural parameters of an industry. Numerical simulations are provided to illustrate our findings     

A continuing evolution in U.S. agricultural and food policy - The 1990 Act

This paper reports the results of a study of the economic content and the decision-making process of the recently adopted U.S. 1990 agricultural and food policy. It is the most comprehensive policy of its type. It represents the broadest participation of private individuals and interests groups, and will affect the economy of not only the United States, but also the ***economies of trading countries around the world. The study examines the economic conditions leading up to the policy, a theoretical foundation of public policy determinants, the role of economic analysis in that policy development, the provisions of the Act compared with the previous policy, and its extensive economic implications. Results of the study support features of a conceptual framework for economic policy of a participatory government. The study also reveals the unique policy process of the United States and the provisions of its price and income policy for the food and agricultural sector. Finally, this article identifies the interrelations between the 1990 policy and on-going GATT negotiations, the emerging importance of environmental and food quality issues in agricultural and food policy, and sources for further study of this Act.