Is the Grass Greener on the Other Side of the Fence?: Environmental Sociology as Seen by an Environmental Economist

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  • 隣の芝生は青いか――環境経済学者がのぞいた環境社会学――
  • トナリ ノ シバフ ワ アオイ カ カンキョウ ケイザイガクシャ ガ ノゾイタ カンキョウ シャカイガク

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Abstract

<p>Environmental sociology and environmental economics are neighbors in the field of social sciences dealing with environmental problems, and just like some neighbors in real life, they have their difficulties and disputes. Among the social sciences, economics is known as the most formal discipline with strictly observed research procedures, and with narrow specialized research fields. It is often accused of doing nothing but solve mathematical puzzles by sampling out reality for the benefit of researchers. Likewise, environmental economics shares this feature somewhat, especially in the study of environmental valuation that the author specializes in. However, the current methodology of economics is yet to be refined, considering its goal; thus far it has only reached a starting point towards the goal of clarifying causality in society based on observation. In fact, it has been a kind of taboo to ask a question of causality in the study of statistics, upon which sciences depend as a tool for scientific inference. It is only recently that a framework, which enables researchers to deal with causality in observational data, has started to receive the recognition it is entitled to.</p><p>This paper deals with research on the valuation of “Programs of Direct Payment for Paddy- and Upland-Field Farming” by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan. Introduced in 2000, these programs are landmarks in the history of agricultural policy in that they have redesigned the direct payment method, commonly practiced in European countries as a supportive policy for disadvantageous regions, to fit the Japanese situation. In doing so, they attempt to rectify the disadvantageous conditions and retain the multi-functionality of agriculture in mountainous areas. Under these programs, farmers are subsidized in the form of almost un-earmarked cash payments, provided they have concluded a community agreement stipulating prevention of abandoned cultivatable land within the farmland of the signees. These programs feature the taxpayers’ endorsement as a precondition, and strict conditions such as retroactive repayment of the subsidies. Program evaluation is a research activity that aims at collection, analysis, interpretation and communication of information relative to the function of public policy and its effect. Through the case study of program evaluation, this paper attempts to consider environmental sociology from the perspective of an environmental economist ‘across the fence’, while taking into account the development of its methodology, including formulation of causality for the analysis of society, and the transition from randomized field experiment to non-randomized quasi-experiment.</p>

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