The primary objective of the study is to evaluate transaction costs, giving special consideration to cross compliance under the Swiss direct payment system. Due to the relationship between the regulations governing the proof of ecological performance (ÖLN) for the farm’s eligibility to receive direct payments and the ecological compensation programmes, the latter will also be taken into account in the evaluation.
The primary objective can be sub-divided into three sections, or tasks:
1. Selection of suitable methods for the evaluation of transaction costs;
2. Representation of the current direct payment system and the individual payments, giving due consideration to the regulations relevant for the farms, overall cross compliance on the farms, as well as the existing implementation and control institutions;
3. Evaluation of transaction costs under the existing direct payment system at federal and cantonal levels, as well as at the level of the implementation and control institutions and the farms.
The evaluation of transaction costs is limited to those costs arising from the implementation and control of the respective policy measures. The investigation of transaction costs is limited to two case study Cantons in Switzerland, Grisons and Zurich.