摘要：Per-unit costs for conservation investments in the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) are determined by market prices for conservation practices and payment cost-share rates. This study examines the relative importance of these factors in determining the size of the most common conservation investment in EQIP. Results suggest that per unit costs have a significant but inelastic impact on the size of conservation investment; as expected, higher per-unit costs are associated with smaller investments. This effect is largely due to variation in market prices of conservation practices for the majority of farmers. However, cost-share rates may play a role for some limited resource farmers.
