Research

Analysis of the presence of an organic farmland premium price. [Available on request]

The European "Green Deal" sets a goal of 25% of land in organic agriculture by 2030, compared to currently 8.5%. However, the transition to organic agriculture is not encouraged because it does not generate additional income for farmers. This lack of monetary incentive slows the conversion dynamics of farmers in France.

In order to solve this problem, we are looking to identify other sources of income allowed by organic farming. We are assuming here the existence of a "premium" for organic farmland (organic land would be sold at higher prices than conventional land), allowing the farmer to realize a capital gain. The existence of this premium is justified as the payment for the relatively more numerous ecological services on conventional land (reduction of erosion, improvement of soil water storage capacity, etc.). In this study, we compare the sales prices of 460000 lands sold between 2017 and 2020 (41000 of which are organic). The results, based on a MCO regression with control of Ricardian rent and residential rent determinants, show that organic land is sold at the same price as conventional land (see 15% cheaper in 2018). This can be explained by a spatial mismatch between the supply and demand of organic land. If an organic farmer wants to buy farmland, he will have a conventional opportunity about 3km from his farm compared to 7km for an organic opportunity. This average difference of 4km allows us to understand the non-difference in prices between the two types of land.

Organic or Conventional Farmland Database was created from Graphic Parcel Register database (non-anonymous version available via CASD) and Demand for land value (Open Access and available online)

Analysis of the impact of the protection of water catchments area on the local dynamism of the development of organic farming  [Available on request]

Since 2009, in response to water pollution problems in France, a policy to Protect Water Catchments Area (PWCA) has been implemented with the aim of preserving and decontaminating these water reserves and preventing them from being abandoned. One of the highlighted actions is the development of organic farming, an agricultural practice that excludes the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. 

This study aims to determine whether PWCA effectively contributes to the development of organic agriculture in France. The study focuses on the 1215 PWCA currently defined in France. Two levels of analysis are employed here, at the PWCA level and at the individual farmer. The recent econometric progress in Difference- in-differences with multiple time periods (Callaway and Sant’Anna, 2021) indicate that this policy may counterintuitively slow down the development of organic farming compared to neighboring untreated areas. 

The analysis, involving over 350 000 farmers in France (French LPIS database 2016-2021), allows us to observe changes in agricultural practice following the use of a portion of these lands within a PWCA. The modeling (logistic with individual effects, based on Stammann et al. (2016)), reveals patterns of leaders and free riders. Indeed, farmers with a significant portion of their lands in PWCA, or where these lands are predominant, are encouraged to make environmental efforts. On the contrary, in PWCA of significant size, the influence of each farmer is diluted, pushing them toward free rider behaviors.

Spatial factors influencing the territorial gaps of organic farming in France, with Phu Nguyen Van and Anne Stenger 

Starting from organic farming ratios of municipalities in France in 2019, the objective of this paper was to identify local conditions for the development of organic farming. We began by identifying four characteristics that explain the heterogeneous development of organic farming practices in France using a Spatial Durbin Model to control the spatial autocorrelation of organic practices. This study shows that the protected designation of origin label has some ambiguous impacts on practices (i.e., positive for wine labels and not significant for livestock labels). The proximity of a high demand for organic products, instrumentalised by the number of organic shops (Two-Stage Least Squares), influences organic farming. Also, municipalities with low quality land and a high share of forest participate in the development of organic farming.