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• Mardi 26 novembre 2019 - Sylvain Chabe-Ferret (TSE - INRA) - Porter Vindicated? Did the EU Nitrate Directive Improved Water Quality by Making Farmers More Efficient?"

Abstract: The Porter hypothesis claims that environmental regulation might increase the productivity of regulated industries by triggering the adoption of new innovations. The EU Nitrate directive, which made mandatory the use of innovative agronomic practices increasing Nitrogen use efficiency and aiming at decreasing the release of Nitrates in water, offers a favorable setting to test the Porter hypothesis. We leverage the geographical and temporal variation in the implementation of the Nitrate Directive to investigate its causal impacts on water quality and farmers’ practices and profits in a DID framework. We adapt the DID method to account for diffusion effects along the hydrographic network and to capture the effect of a treatment on non-point source water pollution, i.e. pollution emitted from multiple and non-identifiable sources. We find that the Nitrate directive decreased water pollution by Nitrates with a dose-effect relationship, meaning that when a larger share of an upstream watershed is regulated under the Directive, water quality improves more. We also find that the Nitrate directive triggered an improvement of water biological quality. Turning to farmers' behavior and practices, we find that the Nitrate directive improved nitrogen use efficiency and decreased nitrogen losses to the environment. We also find, in agreement with Porter’s hypothesis, that farmers boosted their yields while keeping the amount of nitrogen input unchanged. In ongoing analysis, we find suggestive evidence that the Nitrate directive may have enabled farmers to break even, improving the environment at zero cost, in agreement with a minimal version of the Porter hypothesis.

• Mardi 19 novembre 2019 - Maia David (Economie Publique) - "Glyphosate: Tax or ban?"

Abstract: In a two-fold choice experiment addressed to French farmers and to the general population in five European countries, we compare two alternative policies to regulate glyphosate use, namely a ban on glyphosate and a tax on glyphosate. We take into account account the effect on food prices of these policies, as well as the effect on the public image of the farming profession. We also consider different uses for the tax revenue in the case of glyphosate taxation.  

• Mardi 12 novembre 2019 - Arthur Silve (Université Laval) - "Trust and Specialization: Evidence from U.S. States » 

Abstract: We investigate the role of generalized trust on the specialization of U.S. states. Using production and exports at the state and industry-level and accounting for the endogeneity of trust behavior, we show that trust shapes comparative advantage. States with a high level of trust specialize in the production and exports of goods that require establishing contract-intensive input-output relationships to be produced.