Francois Bel

The public policies for reducing nonpoint water pollution between equity and efficiency

This paper investigates if and how equity and efficiency could be reconciled when improving nitrogen-polluted groundwater of agricultural origin. This is achieved through comparing two pollution control programmes with respect to their costs, water quality impacts and correlation between abatement cost and polluting emissions. The fieldwork was done in a watershed, near the French Alps. It was carried out by economists in close relation with agronomists and hydrologists. The difficulty of the assessment of the environmental impact of the foreseen technological scenarios is overcome by developing an indicator of environmental effectiveness able to grasp the level of nitrate pollution of agricultural origin and to check whether the pollution control programmes are able to reach the given environmental target or not. The results show that it is only in the framework of a more flexible regulatory system that total abatement costs are reduced, and equity and efficiency reconciled,. This is due to the specific situation in agriculture the combination of various productions in every farm. This characteristic explains why the heterogeneity of the abatement costs is more significant within the firm (between production systems) rather than between firms.

Interest of site-specific pollution control policies: the case of nitrate pollution from agriculture

Theoritically, spatially targeted environmental policies are considered optimal, since economic agents tune their efforts according to their environment. But this advantage can be undermined by the high cost of information. We posit that it is possible to reduce the spatial scale and simultaneously to limit costs and retain environmental effectiveness. In this paper we consider the example of the nitrate pollution of water on two sites in France. Using a bio-physical model coupled with an economic model, we conduct a cost-effectiveness analysis of various solutions to mitigate water pollution and we suggest a guideline for investigating the trade-off between the scale of abatement effort and the abatement effectiveness.

Fertiliser taxation and regulation of nonpoint water pollution: a critical analysis based on European experiences

In Europe, the effectiveness of current forms of control of nonpoint nitrogen pollution is considered to be weak. This assessment highlights the need to introduce more efficient modes of regulation. Many economists recommend a simple tax based on known polluting factors, for example a tax on purchases of mineral fertilisers. In addition to its simplicity of application and low information cost, one can argue that this tax has already been implemented in several European countries and could prefigure a more general decision at European Union level. However, the same economists disagree as to the valuation of the decreasing use of fertilisers that could be expected, since the issue of the price-elasticity of demand is highly controversial. The aim of this paper is to present a critical assessment of research undertaken up to now and of actual experiences in taxation. We also highlight the role of determining factors in long-term trends in the consumption of nitrogen fertilisers in European countries.