Cost of abating excess nitrogen on wheat plots in France: An assessment with multi‐technology modelling

Abstract

We use a multi‐equation model of polluting technologies to evaluate excess nitrogen's marginal abatement cost (MAC). The MAC is estimated using the convex non‐parametric quantile regression. The empirical application is conducted at the plot level for wheat production in France in 2017. Results show a median shadow price for excess nitrogen of about €21 per kilogram. If the current European Union's Nitrates Directive (which sets a 170‐kg constraint on organic nitrogen per hectare) were extended to mineral nitrogen, this would allow a reduction of total excess nitrogen by 9.5%, but this would be accompanied by a 3.1% decrease in wheat revenue.