Agriculture and Public Goods (PDF)

The aim of this book is analyzing the role of collective action in the provision of agri-environmental public goods through agriculture at EU level, as well as providing policy recommendations regarding agri-environmental strategies based on collective and collaborative approaches. 

The European debate on the future orientation of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is increasingly shaped by the role of agriculture in providing agri-environmental public goods, and there is a broad consensus that this approach will be particularly relevant in legitimating the EU policy intervention in agriculture in the future. Nevertheless, in the institutional and academic debate it is not clear to what extent collective action could be taken into consideration as a valuable alternative to market or state regulation to increase the environmental performance of agriculture, and to what extent it is possible to design and implement agricultural policies that incorporate a collective approachfor the provision of agri-environmental public goods.

Could collective action be an important driver of workable solutions regarding the provision of agri-environmental public goods through agriculture? Which are the main drivers that stimulate the participation of farmers into collective action? How can government stimulate collective action? At which level of government collective action can be better stimulated? What kinds of policies are necessary to promote collective action?