Biodiversity Conservation and Productivity in Intensive Agricultural Systems

05/25/07

Biodiversity Conservation and Productivity in Intensive Agricultural Systems

Abstract: This paper explores the economic effects of biodiversity loss on marketable agricultural output for intensive agricultural systems, which require an increasing level of artificial capital inputs. A theoretical bio-economic model is used to derive a hypothesis about the effect of the state of biodiversity on the optimal crop output both in the longer run and in the transitional path towards the steady-state equilibrium. The hypothesised positive relationship between biodiversity stock and optimal levels of crop output is empirically tested using a stochastic production frontier approach, based on data from a panel of UK specialised cereal farms for the period 1989–2000. The results support the theoretical hypothesis. Increases in biodiversity can lead to a continual outward shift in the output frontier (although at a decreasing rate), controlling for the relevant set of labour and capital inputs. Agricultural transition towards biodiversity conservation may be consistent with an increase in crop output in already biodiversity-poor modern agricultural landscapes.

by Amani Omer 1, Unai Pascual 2 and Noel P. Russell 1
1. Department of Economics, University of Manchester.,
2. Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge, 19 Silver Street, Cambridge, CB3 9EP, UK; E-mail: up211@cam.ac.uk

Journal of Agricultural Economics via Blackwell Publishing www.Blackwell-Synergy.com
Volume 58, Issue 2; June, 2007; Pages 308–329.
doi:10.1111/j.1477-9552.2007.00091.x
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1477-9552.2007.00091.x

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