Disegno degli strumenti di condizionalità ambientale in presenza di asimmetria informativa

The effects of cross-compliance, introduced with the reform 2003 of the CAP, depends on the strategies of participation/ compliance of farmers, as well as on the ability of public administration to govern such phenomena through appropriate mechanisms of control and sanction. The objective of this paper is to elaborate a preliminary reference framework for the analysis of cross-compliance under asymmetric information and to test the empirical relevance of the problem. The methodology is based on a behavioural model applied to data from the province of Bologna. The results show how, in the present conditions of control and sanctions, almost no farm is interested in complying with cross-compliance. An improvement may be obtained through an increase of control or sanctions, or through a targeting of controls. The latter option, while interesting in terms of efficiency, opens the problem of an equitable treatment of different groups of farmers, as well as of the identification of clear priorities of territorial development of farming.