PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Roberts, Michael J.
AU  - Lubowski, Ruben N.
TI  - Enduring Impacts of Land Retirement Policies: Evidence from the Conservation Reserve Program
AID  - 10.3368/le.83.4.516
DP  - 2007 Nov 01
TA  - Land Economics
PG  - 516--538
VI  - 83
IP  - 4
4099  - http://le.uwpress.org/content/83/4/516.short
4100  - http://le.uwpress.org/content/83/4/516.full
SO  - Land Econ2007 Nov 01; 83
AB  - We examine the persistence of cropland retirements induced by the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), the largest U.S. conservation program. We analyze micro data on observed land-use choices following CRP contract expiration over 1995–1997 and predict that 42% of CRP acres would not have been returned to crops within a year if the program had expired in 1997. These results indicate that temporary cropland retirement payments under CRP generate land-use changes that often extend beyond contract periods. The analysis suggests that targeted signing bonuses for first-time enrollees would increase the longer-term impacts of CRP and perhaps other incentive-based land-use programs. (JEL Q24)