Best Management Practices as a Means to Environmental Improvement: Fact or Fantasy

Regulatory best management practice (BMP) programs are developed in a negotiation environment. Committees of regulators and agricultural representatives develop sets of alternative management methods expected to improve an environmental problem. After program inception, regulated farms implement their preferred practices from the choice of program BMPs. This research gauges BMP program effectiveness from the standpoint
of negotiated outcomes by determining whether parties exercise bargaining power during program design. Data from committee participant interviews and farm expert surveys are applied to three conceptual two-party negotiation models to demonstrate that negotiations highly favor agricultural parties for two BMP programs in Arizona

David Bilby_Masters Thesis.pdf (2.22 MB)

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