Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/223345 
Year of Publication: 
2020
Citation: 
[Journal:] Agricultural Systems [ISSN:] 0308-521X [Volume:] 185 [Article No.:] 102940 [Publisher:] Elsevier [Place:] Amsterdam [u.a.] [Year:] 2020
Publisher: 
Elsevier, Amsterdam [u.a.]
Abstract: 
We examine the historical legacy of the Soviet Union on the current rate of human-induced soil erosion in its successor countries. We use a spatial regression discontinuity design and high-resolution soil erosion data. Our results suggest strong discontinuities in current soil erosion rates along the former border of the Soviet Union. We find that soil erosion in countries that were part of the former Soviet Union is 26% lower than in neighboring countries (0.77 tons per hectare and year). In contrast, we do not find such discontinuity in potential soil erosion under natural vegetation, underlining that this effect is man-made. We show that the main mechanism is a sharp discontinuity in forest dynamics, whereas general economic and demographic differences are less important.
Subjects: 
soil erosion
RUSLE
farmland abandonment
forest dynamics
historical legacies
spatial regression discontinuity
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
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Document Type: 
Article
Document Version: 
Published Version

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