Offering agri-environmental payments to address the various positive and negative environmental nonmarket effects of European Union agriculture might be an efficient way of dealing with market imperfections. However, the complex interaction between farming practices and agri-environmental...

Most bid evaluation systems in conservation auctions consider both the proposed payment and the environmental attributes. When auctioneers have a more comprehensive understanding of the conservation benefits than bidders do, information becomes a central element of the auction design. Concealing...

This paper analyses the cost-effectiveness of agri-environmental auctions that solicit two-dimensional bids consisting of conservation activity and compensation payment. Taking a self-selecting contract schedule as a benchmark, an optimally designed auction has the potential to reduce government...