Small Farms, Externalities, and the Dust Bowl of the 1930s
Small Farms, Externalities, and the Dust Bowl of the 1930s
复制标题
小农场、外部性和 20 世纪 30 年代的沙尘暴
DOI：
--
复制
发表时间：
2004
影响因子：
8.2
通讯作者：
G. Libecap
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Zeynep K. Hansen;G. Libecap
我们提供了一个新的和更完整的分析，20世纪30年代的沙尘暴，在北美最严重的环境危机之一，在二十世纪世纪的起源。1930年，严重的干旱和风蚀袭击了大平原，并持续到1940年。1950年代和1970年代也有类似的干旱，但没有可比的风蚀程度。我们解释原因。20世纪30年代小农场的盛行限制了私人解决方案控制与风蚀相关的顺风外部性。从未受保护的田地里飘来的沙子破坏了邻近的农场。小农户耕种的土地更多，与大农户相比，他们不太可能投资于水土流失控制。1937年后由政府建立的土壤保护区帮助协调侵蚀控制。这种集体行动的“统一”解决办法类似于在其他自然资源/环境背景下使用的办法。
We provide a new and more complete analysis of the origins of the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, one of the most severe environmental crises in North America in the twentieth century. Severe drought and wind erosion hit the Great Plains in 1930 and lasted through 1940. There were similar droughts in the 1950s and 1970s, but no comparable level of wind erosion. We explain why. The prevalence of small farms in the 1930s limited private solutions for controlling the downwind externalities associated with wind erosion. Drifting sand from unprotected fields damaged neighboring farms. Small farmers cultivated more of their land and were less likely to invest in erosion control than larger farmers. Soil conservation districts, established by the government after 1937, helped coordinate erosion control. This “unitized” solution for collective action is similar to that used in other natural resource/environmental settings.