A conceptual framework for measuring transaction costs in agri-environmental schemes : an application to the Dutch collective scheme

This research brings together insights from the literature on the measurement of transaction costs related to agri-environmental schemes (AES) and formulates a conceptual framework for measuring these transaction costs. The framework is then applied to the Dutch AES in which farmer collectives act as a mediator between farmer-members and the Dutch government. In particular, we study the distribution of private transaction costs in the collective scheme and compare this to the distribution under the former individual approach. Results show that transaction costs have increased substantially for... Mehr ...