TY - JOUR

T1 - Total costs and environmental standards for selected agricultural products in Brazil, Germany and Indonesia

T2 - The impact on international competitiveness

AU - Grote, U.

AU - Deblitz, C.

AU - Stegmann, S.

PY - 2000

Y1 - 2000

N2 - It is often supposed that the costs of higher environmental standards lead to unfair competitive disadvantages of countries. To test this hypothesis, a comparative study of the production and processing of vegetable oils, grain and broiler in Brazil, Germany and Indonesia was conducted. After identifying the relevant national environmental standards in these sectors, their cost implications were compared internationally. The study concludes that for the typical farms, the impacts of environmental standards on the production costs are relatively small. They can be relevant in the case of small profit margins (e.g. in broiler production). However, total cost differences due to the wage level, prices for land, machines, buildings and equipment are more significant and weaken this assumption. In the processing industry, the results are ambiguous. Further, it needs to be stressed that country-specific differences in environmental standards are not only determined by climate, but also by population density, national economic and social conditions as well as differences in the scarcity of environmental goods.

AB - It is often supposed that the costs of higher environmental standards lead to unfair competitive disadvantages of countries. To test this hypothesis, a comparative study of the production and processing of vegetable oils, grain and broiler in Brazil, Germany and Indonesia was conducted. After identifying the relevant national environmental standards in these sectors, their cost implications were compared internationally. The study concludes that for the typical farms, the impacts of environmental standards on the production costs are relatively small. They can be relevant in the case of small profit margins (e.g. in broiler production). However, total cost differences due to the wage level, prices for land, machines, buildings and equipment are more significant and weaken this assumption. In the processing industry, the results are ambiguous. Further, it needs to be stressed that country-specific differences in environmental standards are not only determined by climate, but also by population density, national economic and social conditions as well as differences in the scarcity of environmental goods.

KW - Environmental standards

KW - International competitiveness

KW - Liberalization of agriculture

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0034519471&partnerID=8YFLogxK

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:0034519471

VL - 39

JO - Quarterly Journal of International Agriculture

JF - Quarterly Journal of International Agriculture

SN - 0049-8599

IS - 3

ER -