Abstract
The goal of this article is to understand strategies by which both the environmental and poverty alleviation objectives of PES programs can be achieved cost effectively. To meet this goal, we first create a conceptual framework to understand the implications of alternative targeting when policy makers have both environmental and poverty alleviation goals. We then use the Grain for Green program in China, the largest PES program in the developing world, as a case study. We also use a data set from a survey that we designed and implemented to evaluate the program. Using the data set we first evaluate what factors determined selection of program areas for the Grain for Green program. We then demonstrate the heterogeneity of parcels and households and examine the correlations across households and their parcels in terms of their potential environmental benefits, opportunity costs of participating, and the asset levels of households as an indicator of poverty. Finally, we compare five alternative targeting criteria and simulate their performance in terms of cost effectiveness in meeting both the environmental and poverty alleviation goals when given a fixed budget. Based on our simulations, we find that there is a substantial gain in the cost effectiveness of the program by targeting parcels based on the “gold standard,” i.e., targeting parcels with low opportunity cost and high environmental benefit managed by poorer households.
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Acknowledgments
Senior authorship is shared between Gauvin and Uchida. The authors are grateful for the assistance in survey design, data collection and entry by Michael Bennett, Yazhen Gong, Zhigang Xu, Fujin Yi, and other members of the Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The authors would like to thank Huixia Zhao, Yuyu Zhou, and Xiangzhang Deng for their support in translation and data handling. The authors acknowledge the support from Ford Foundation and the National Science Foundation of China (70024001). Crystal Gauvin acknowledges support from the NSF IGERT grant (DGE-0504103) to the University of Rhode Island Coastal Institute and the URI Undergraduate and Graduate Research Grant Program. Emi Uchida acknowledges the support from the Chinese Academy of Sciences International Young Scholars Fellowship and Agricultural Extension Service of Rhode Island (AES#5156) for their financial assistance.
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Gauvin, C., Uchida, E., Rozelle, S. et al. Cost-Effectiveness of Payments for Ecosystem Services with Dual Goals of Environment and Poverty Alleviation. Environmental Management 45, 488–501 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-009-9321-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-009-9321-9