Description

This article assesses two U.S. agri-environmental payment programs, the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and the Environmnetal Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). The analysis addresses the impacts and effectiveness of benefit-cost targeting, competitive bidding, and other elements of program design.

Contents:

1. Introduction and background 2. Design of U.S. agri-environmental payment programs: Broad considerations 3. Design of U.S. agri-environmental payment programs: Gathering and using information 4. Implementation of U.S. agri-environmental programs: The case of CRP and EQIP 5. Analysis of U.S. programs: How cost-effective are they? 6. Benefit cost targeting: CRP 7. Benefit cost targeting: EQIP 8. Bidding for financial assistance: CRP 9. Bidding for financial assistance: EQIP 10. Monitoring and enforcement 11. Transaction costs 12. Additionality and retention 13. Producer welfare and low income producers 14. Conclusions