Environmental charges as drivers of soil sealing? The case of the Czech charge for agricultural land loss

Eliška Vejchodská and Martin Pelucha

Land Use Policy, 2019, vol. 87, issue C

Abstract: Sustainable land use is considered to be one of the largest environmental threads in the European Union in the context of economic development. The gradual loss of quality agricultural land by soil sealing significantly affects agricultural production capacity. A variety of governance approaches have emerged. This paper focuses on the utilization of a charge which aims to internalise a part of the social costs that are related to agricultural land loss in the case of the Czech Republic. Paradoxically, while this policy has been designed to protect precious agricultural land from excessive development, it could also belong concomitantly to the driving forces of the loss of precious land due to the dual role of municipalities – as levy gain receivers and as decision makers concerning future usage of land within their jurisdiction. The aim of this paper is to assess the possible inverse consequences of the charge by using multiple linear regression on a data sample of 986 Czech municipalities. The results indicate the negative environmental effects of the charge that has been introduced, with a possible increased amount of soil sealing of precious agricultural land, when compared with the situation prior to the introduction of charges. We stress the need to bear in mind the possible inverse effects of policies when introducing any environmental policy.

Keywords: Policy; Charges; Taxes; Agricultural land; Land protection; Soil sealing; Land use; Economic instruments (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:lauspo:v:87:y:2019:i:c:s026483771930362x

DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2019.104071

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