This article presents experimental tests of a linear and a nonlinear ambient tax mechanism that involve modest information requirements for the regulator. When agents are not allowed to communicate, both tax mechanisms result in emission levels that approximate the social optimum. When agents...

Stated preference surveys often provide ambiguous descriptions of ecological commodities, yielding welfare estimates that have unclear interpretations and cannot be linked to measurable outcomes. This paper proposes guidelines to promote ecological content validity in survey scenarios and...

This article considers the regulation of nonpoint source water pollution through the use of a voluntary-threat approach, which allows a polluter group to meet a standard voluntarily but imposes an ambient tax upon noncompliance. In particular, we develop an "endogenous" voluntary-threat approach...

In this essay we examine the coevolution and cross-fertilization of environmental and agricultural economics over the past century. We discuss the key role that agricultural economists have played in the intellectual development of environmental economics. We focus on three primary...

Stated preference surveys often give minimal attention to distinctions between intermediate and final ecosystem services, leading to the potential for welfare estimates that overlook, misrepresent or double count associated values. This paper illustrates potential mechanisms through which...

Policy makers around the world seem to have widely endorsed the use of voluntary approaches as a means to address concerns about environmental protection and resource degradation. Voluntary approaches have been adopted in many developed countries, as well as in a number of developing countries....

Voluntary approaches have been used in a variety of contexts and for a variety of purposes in agriculture, including voluntary conservation programs and product labeling. This paper provides an overview of some of the general principles that emerge from the literature on voluntary approaches and...