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Valuing the Changes in Herbicide Risks Resulting from Adoption of Roundup Ready Soybeans by U.S. Farmers: A Revealed-Preference Approach

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 January 2015

Olha Sydorovych  and
Michele Marra
Olha Sydorovych
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
Michele Marra
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
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Abstract

A revealed-preference–based approach is proposed for valuation of the environmental and human impacts of pesticides. It is assumed that farmers reveal their willingness to pay for improved pesticide safety by selecting a specific product out of the set of available alternatives based on their costs, effectiveness, and safety. The approach is applied to estimate the welfare impact of changed patterns of herbicide use on Roundup Ready soybeans. The results indicate that farmers associate positive values with safety improvements. The aggregate welfare impact of the reduced risk for the U.S. soybean farmers was estimated to be $90.3 million in 2001.

Keywords

pesticide human and environmental risks, revealed preferences, Roundup Ready soybeansQ51
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics , Volume 40 , Issue 3 , December 2008 , pp. 777 - 787
Copyright
Copyright © Southern Agricultural Economics Association 2008

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