Plant Species Protection Contracts: Modelling Contract Choice for Specialised Dairy Farms and Mixed Dairy Pig Fattening Farms in the Netherlands

Proposals of the European Commission stress the future importance of agri-environmental payments within the rural development policy of the European Union. The aim of this paper is to present and discuss a model for choice for plant species protection contracts in the Netherlands. The model includes transaction costs, time and the possibility of lock-in situations related to contract choice. The approach discussed is flexible because it makes it possible to introduce all kinds of technical and institutional restrictions (differences in contract design).