| Nitrogen is an important input to agricultural production but also detrimentally affects the environmental quality of air, soil and water. Identifying the determinants of nitrate pollution and in turn defining sensible performance indicators to design, enforce and monitor regulatory policies is therefore of utmost importance. Using data on more than 1000 Austrian municipalities, we provide a detailed econometric analysis of (1) the determinants of nitrate concentration in groundwater, and (2) the predictive abilities of one of the most commonly used agri-environmental indicators, the Nitrogen Balance. We find that the proportion of cropland exerts a positive effect on the nitrate content in groundwater. Additionally, environmental factors such as... |
