With a mandate, U.S. policy of ethanol tax credits designed to reduce oil consumption does the exact opposite. A tax credit is a direct gasoline consumption subsidy with no effect on the ethanol price and therefore does not help either corn or ethanol producers. To understand this, consider...

We show how leakage differs, depending on the biofuel policy and market conditions. Carbon leakage is shown to have two components: a market leakage effect and an emissions savings effect. We also distinguish domestic and international leakage. International leakage is always positive, but...

This paper analyzes the impact of an ethanol import tariff in conjunction with a consumption mandate and tax credit. A tax credit alone acts as a subsidy to ethanol producers, equally benefiting exporters like Brazil. If an import tariff is imposed to offset the tax credit, world prices of...

This paper develops a general equilibrium framework to determine the optimal set of internalizing policies under multifunctionality and relates these policies to trade. When agriculture generates both amenity benefits and pollution, a welfare maximum can be achieved through a combination of a...

Sustainability standards for biofuel production calculated via life cycle accounting (LCA) require a certain reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions relative to gasoline. Recently it has been shown that LCA gives biased results and should be extended to incorporate indirect land use change...

A model is developed that derives optimal pollution levels and determines the welfare economics of pollution reduction, differentiating between abatement and output reduction. It is suitable to analyze alternative policy instruments aimed to reduce external costs of agricultural production. The...

To date, much of the policy and research debate on contingent valuation mode effects has relied on experiences drawn from other research disciplines. This study provides the first contingent valuation phone-mail comparison that meets current standards for response rates, draws from a general...

The New York City Watershed Agricultural Program (NYCU7AJP) seeks to reduce the potential for phosphorus movement from farms to surface waters. Toward this objective, a "Phosphorus Index for Site Evaluation" P-Index) provides planners in the NYCWAP with a tool for identifying problems and...

The analysis is based on an integrated climatic, agronomic and economic model of grain production in the midwestern region of the U.S. The model represents a typical farm and the objective is to select an optimum combination of cultivars for four crops (maize, soybean, wheat and sorghum)...

A real option analysis of dry-grind corn ethanol plants compared to a standard net present value analysis (NPV) shows that the option values increase entry prices and lower exit prices of investment and disinvestment considerably. For a large plant, the gross margin of ethanol price over the...