Coûts de transaction et adoption des MAE territorialisées à enjeu eau

The Local Agro-Environmental Schemes (L-AES) are a new policy instrument to reach the objective of « good status » of aquatic environment planned by the European Water Framework Directive (WFD). Mid-term of the 2007-2013 French Rural Development Program, the rate of achievement for targeted watersheds with non-point source pollution problems remains low. In reference to New Institutional Economics, we claim that transactions costs play a decisive role in slowing the adoption rate of L-AES. A survey of eligible farmers in the Poitou-Charentes region confirms the importance of the access to information and the producer?s individual preferences in contractual flexibility.