In this paper we estimate the external cost caused by odor from an animal waste processing facility in Flanders, using new odor measures based on field measurements. We compare four ways of incorporating odor nuisance: distance to the source, distance zones, continuous odor measures, and odor...

This paper identifies the factors that affect farmers’ decisions to adopt soil and water conservation technology in Africa and how this technology impacts farm yields and net returns. This technology is important because it improves efficiency of water use from rainfall—a critical issue in...

We outline the determinants of local public policies for farmland preservation and urban expansion. We first rely on the literature and on a purposely designed field study of municipalities in southern France to propose a theoretical framework better suited to the French situation. The model...

This article considers optimal livestock management on sagebrush rangeland in the presence of invasive plants, wildfire, and reversible and irreversible ecological thresholds. We find that ranchers operating on healthy rangeland have sufficient private incentive to maintain rangeland health,...

A model for the recovery of an endangered species is developed and applied to the red-cockaded woodpecker (Picoides borealis), a species once abundant in the southeastern United States. There is a finite set of recovery actions that might be implemented in each period, with the goal of reaching...

We analyze what motivates Norwegian nonindustrial private forest owners to participate in a national voluntary conservation program. Our empirical study provides new insights, since the program requires participants to relinquish all rights to forestry for eternity, including future generations....

We examine the persistence of cropland retirements induced by the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), the largest U.S. conservation program. We analyze micro data on observed land-use choices following CRP contract expiration over 1995–1997 and predict that 42% of CRP acres would not have been...

This paper investigates the dynamic effects of rainfall shocks on agroecosystems productivity. The analysis estimates a panel data model of cereal production in southern Italy. It documents the adverse effects of a reduction in rainfall on the agroecosystem productivity both in the short run and...

This national-scale, watershed-level analysis provides an empirical assessment of land use impacts on water quality and aquatic ecosystems in the United States. Results suggest that the level of conventional water pollution in a watershed is significantly affected by the amount of land allocated...

Land-use policies may affect the structure of local economies as they respond to internal and external factors. We apply a discrete duration model to estimate the effect of designated wilderness on the rate and timing of counties’ economic transition in the Appalachian Region from 1969 to...