Measuring the environmental impacts of economic change: The case of land degradation in Philippine agriculture

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TR Number
Date
1995
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Madison, Wisc.: University of Wisconsin-Madison. Department of Agricultural Economics
Abstract

We evaluate the onsite land degradation effects of economic changes occurring both within agriculture and elsewhere in the Philippine economy, simulated with the APEX applied general equilibrium model. We derive changes in land degradation rates from changes in land use in rainfed annual crops, using Philippine data on upland erosion under a range of crops, rainfall patterns and slopes. In general equilibrium, land degradation rates are affected by endogenous price changes as well as by direct interventions in agriculture and agricultural processing sectors. We examine the effects of technical progress in corn, and of a capital subsidy to the rice and corn milling sector. Using the nutrient replacement cost method, we calculate the value of changes in land degradation rates and compare them with GDP, government expenditures and other aggregates used by policy makers.

Description
Keywords
Common markets, Economic policy, Environmental impacts, Economic impacts, Technological progress, Economic welfare, Economic structure, Income distribution, Corn production, (APEX) Applied General Equilibrium Model, Agricultural growth, Economic policy, Environmental quality, Land degradation, Farm/Enterprise Scale Governance
Citation
Agriculture and Applied Economics Staff Paper no. 384