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

The impact on international competitiveness

verfasst von

U. Grote, C. Deblitz, S. Stegmann

Abstract

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.

Externe Organisation(en)

Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn

Typ

Artikel

Journal

Quarterly Journal of International Agriculture

Band

39

ISSN

0049-8599

Publikationsdatum

2000

Publikationsstatus

Veröffentlicht

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Geografie, Planung und Entwicklung, Entwicklung

Ziele für nachhaltige Entwicklung

SDG 13 – Klimaschutzmaßnahmen