Análisis de los niveles Séricos de cortisol

If a specific level of environmental and resource use is given as a policy target, what would be the lowest cost solution to achieve this level and what level of organic farming would be part of the solution?

The first two questions raised do not take cost as a variable into account. In these cases, the variable 'cost' is irrelevant. Economists as a group always seem to be preoccupied with cost and tend to look at organic farming not as an end in itself but as a means to reach certain environmental goals. But which farming system or which combination of farming systems respectively can provide a targeted level of environmental performance at least cost (Table 5-1)? This means, if other farming systems can reach the aspired level of environmental performance cheaper than organic farming, then organic farming should not play a role in the economist’s view.

Unfortunately, there is almost no direct empirical evidence for answering this question, only some theoretical reasoning is possible.

On the basis of the material reviewed in this report, organic farming’s contribution to achieving a defined level of environmental and resource use goals at lowest cost cannot be identified.

If the economist’s question is asked, it is often assumed that it is unlikely that organic farming as a ”fixed system” coincides in respect to

environmental performance with the aspiration level of society for each indicator (Alvensleben 1998). This point of view follows the ”Tinbergen rule” of economic theory that tells us that the number of policy instruments chosen should at least equal to the number of targets set (Ahrens and Lippert 1994, Henrichsmeyer and Witzke 1994). This is theoretically sound if the following prerequisites are given:

ƒ the environmental indicators are measurable and the cost of measurement zero (or low);

ƒ the interaction between the indicators can be quantitatively specified; and

ƒ transaction cost (cost of implementation and administration) of a multitude of political instruments is zero (or low).

In reality, not every indicator can be measured easily. For environmental indicators which are difficult to measure, measuring can cause substantial cost. Furthermore, detailed agri-environmental policy measures might be quite costly to administer. The interactions between different environmental indicators are not fully understood. In many cases, scientific knowledge of these interactions is purely qualitative. This means, of course, that an optimal mix of policies cannot be quantitatively specified.

Due to these reasons, this suggests relying on indicators which can be measured easily, can be administered at low cost and cause no negative side effects on any valued environmental attribute. Accordingly organic farming could be regarded as such an environmental indicator. Of course, other environmental indicators might be better suited in a specific situation to the problem at hand. However, the ”cost” of missing detailed targets using a broad environmental indicator must be balanced with the

transaction costs saved in measuring detailed indicators and administering a multitude of policies. Thus, on the basis of this theoretical reasoning, the implementation of organic farming as a broad environmental indicator could indeed be both an effective and an economically efficient element in agri-environmental policy.

Conclusions

Table 5-1 summarises the typologies of the policy relevant questions asked above.

Table 5-1: Typology of policy relevant questions

Environmentalist’s question Food security proponent's question Economist's question Policy relevant question to be asked ? Change in the environmental performance of agriculture? ? Change in the environmental performance of agriculture?

? Change in the organic agricultural area? Given policy decision À Organic agricultural area À Organic agricultural area À Level of environmental performance of agriculture Fixed at today's level À Total agricultural land area À Total food production À Public budget (least cost)

The environmentalists’ question concentrates on the environmental effects per unit of land, while the food security proponent’s question focuses on the effects per unit of output. The economists are concerned with lowest cost solutions for reaching a given target.

To express an environmental variable on a per unit of land basis is reasonable in those cases in which the decision has been made that

agricultural land is fixed. The only question is whether to use it with organic or conventional technology. On the other hand, weighting the

environmental variable in relation to unit of output is appropriate if the quantity of food to be produced is given, while farmland is variable, e.g. it might be devoted to other purposes. The per unit of output approach is more difficult to interpret because one would have to also consider whether the change in the agricultural area has positive or negative effects.

Economists are usually searching for efficient allocations. One way to do this is to look for cost-efficiency in reaching a given target level. This view adds the cost issue and the need to set target values for environmental indicators to the discussion.

Comparing organic and conventional farming on a per hectare basis makes sense in the current political environment of the EU as can be seen from the above discussion. The environmentalist’s question is politically relevant as answered on the basis of empirical research for most indicators used. There is not sufficient information to answer the two other questions in detail,

based on the empirical research. However, for policy purposes the question of whether there are other agri-environmental means that might be cheaper than organic production of achieving a desired level of environmental and resource performance is of high relevance. A tentative answer to this question can only be based on theoretical reasoning. There are convincing arguments that the support of organic farming can be a useful part of the agri-environmental tool box. Further more specific instruments are also needed. Organic farming seems especially useful if broad environmental concerns are to be addressed, because it leads to improvements in most environmental indicators.