Cross-border impact of agricultural fertilizer use: Environmental spillovers and healthcare costs in European countries
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Author(s)Aleksandra KuziorLink to ORCID Index: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9764-5320
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Stanislav VasylishynLink to ORCID Index: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5023-9878
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Vladyslav HreiLink to ORCID Index: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-9977-2346
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Maksym HuzenkoLink to ORCID Index: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-4128-4534
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Olena AkymenkoLink to ORCID Index: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0323-5978
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Oleksii SolohubLink to ORCID Index: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-7835-4068
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Tetiana VasylievaLink to ORCID Index: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0635-7978
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DOIhttp://dx.doi.org/10.21511/ee.16(2).2025.07
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Article InfoVolume 16 2025, Issue #2, pp. 84-103
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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This study empirically examines the cross-border environmental and health impacts of mineral fertilizer use in European countries by applying spatial panel models. Specifically, it evaluates how nitrogen and phosphate fertilizers affect public health expenditures and water quality within national borders and adjacent countries. To accurately capture transboundary influences, the analysis uses a spatial weights matrix based on shared land borders constructed from geospatial data (Natural Earth shapefiles), enabling the assessment of spillover effects between neighboring countries. The models cover the timespan 2006–2021 for 29 European nations, except those that do not have common land borders (island countries), with available and comparable data. The results confirm significant spatial effects. The spatial lag model revealed strong direct and spillover effects for health expenditure, particularly for nitrogen and pesticide use, indicating that increased agricultural intensity in one country can raise health costs in neighboring states. Phosphate and potash use were associated with reductions in health expenditure, though the interpretation may reflect regional differences in environmental management. In contrast, the spatial error model best explained unsafe drinking water outcomes, highlighting the role of unobserved, spatially correlated environmental pressures. Nitrogen and pesticide use were linked to increased water contamination, while phosphate showed a strong but context-dependent negative association.
- Keywords
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JEL Classification (Paper profile tab)Q15, Q18, I18, C33
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References52
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Tables10
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Figures1
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- Figure 1. Country-specific fixed effects from a spatial panel model of health expenditure per capita
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- Table 1. Variables and their sources
- Table 2. Results of the spatial panel fixed effects lag model of the estimation of the impact of fertilizer and pesticide use on current health expenditure per capita
- Table 3. Results of the spatial panel fixed effects error model of the estimation of the impact of fertilizer and pesticide use on current health expenditure per capita
- Table 4. Results of the spatial panel fixed effects lag model of the estimation of the impact of fertilizer and pesticide use on health expenditure as a percentage of GDP
- Table 5. Results of the spatial panel fixed effects error model of the estimation of the impact of fertilizer and pesticide use on health expenditure as a percentage of GDP
- Table 6. Results of spatial panel fixed effects lag model: Impact of fertilizer and pesticide use on unsafe drinking water (Environmental Performance Index)
- Table 7. Results of spatial panel fixed effects error model: Impact of fertilizer and pesticide use on unsafe drinking water (Environmental Performance Index)
- Table A1. Spatial spillover effects of agricultural fertilizers and pesticides on current health expenditure per capita
- Table A2. Spatial spillover effects of agricultural fertilizers and pesticides on current health expenditure (% of GDP)
- Table A3. Spatial spillover effects of agricultural fertilizers and pesticides on Environmental Performance Index: Unsafe drinking water
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Agricultural education in times of war: Strategic visions, leadership practices and post-war reconstruction
Olena Nifatova ,
Volodymyr Ladyka ,
Yuliia Hryshyna ,
Yuriy Danko
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.21511/ppm.21(2-si).2023.11
Problems and Perspectives in Management Volume 21, 2023 Issue #2 (spec. issue) pp. 87-97 Views: 556 Downloads: 268 TO CITE АНОТАЦІЯIn the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine, agricultural universities will provide the state with specialists capable of implementing the seamless integration of “green” benchmarks. The full-scale war has not only threatened the sustainable operation of all spheres of higher education institutions but also forced them to look for new ways of adaptation and development. This study aims to assess the readiness of higher education institutions in the agrarian sector to meet the personnel needs of the state in the medium-term of post-war reconstruction. The paper used a group of parameters with specific indicators: education (change in the number of graduates at the Bachelor’s and Master’s educational levels, the ratio of publicly-funded and fee-based education seekers, changes in the average entrance score), science (change in the number of articles published in Scopus and the corresponding h-index, the number of Erasmus grants received, the amount of budget funding for science), recognition (academic ranking of higher education institutions by the Webometrics and Top-200 Ratings), and financing (estimated amounts of funding from the general and special fund, and their ratio). The study offers a unique approach to calculating the Integrated Sustainability Index of higher education institutions. This index clearly illustrates how efficiently 15 agricultural higher education institutions have adapted to wartime transformations. For example, Sumy National Agrarian University and Lviv National Natural Resource Management University have this index exceeding 30%. The study draws attention to the problematic areas of university activity during the war and suggests extending the valuable experience of Sumy National Agrarian University.
Acknowledgment
The authors are grateful to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who are liberating the territory of Ukraine at the cost of their own lives, as well as to Ukrainian farmers, who, despite the war, are doing everything possible to prevent a food crisis in the world.
This study is co-funded by the European Union through the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) within the project “Europeanisation of Doctoral Studies in Line with the Innovative Doctoral Training Principles in Europe: Towards a Common Future” 101083493 - EDOCS - ERASMUS-JMO-2022-HEI-TCH-RSCH https://edocs.snau.edu.ua/en/
