Impact of institutional environment on irrigation practices: the case of a france area

Liliane Bonnal and Ornella Boutry ()
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Ornella Boutry: Clersé, University of Lille, France

Economics Bulletin, 2016, vol. 36, issue 3, 1523-1533

Abstract: The development of irrigation since the 1970s explains much of the disequilibrium observed in many territories between the water resources available and the quantity of anthropogenic water withdrawals. The aim of this paper is to analyze the impact of public policies (agro-environmental measures as part of agricultural policy and instruments for managing water demand as part of environmental policy) on irrigation decisions. The study area is the Charente-Maritime department of France, a territory with characteristics that appear to be particularly relevant to this research topic. First, irrigation decisions in 2003 and 2009 are evaluated using a sequential probit model. Second, an attempt is made to identify the determining factors of changes in irrigation intensity, and to estimate the effect of environmental policy instruments (irrigation restriction rulings, abstraction taxes, agro-environmental measures). To do so, a Heckman procedure is used to correct for double selection bias related to irrigation choices in 2003 and 2009. Whilst the successive CAP reforms have sought to reduce incentives for irrigation, such efforts still seem too limited compared to the benefits of irrigation for field crop farms. Furthermore, the results of estimates show that in this context only regulatory tools (restrictions on irrigation) have any significant effect on the limitation of irrigation.

Keywords: Agricultural Policy; Irrigation; Institutional Environment; Water Resources; Selection Bias (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C3 Q2 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-08-11
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