Geo-Agricultural Database as a Platform for Mechanism Design

In order to facilitate interdisciplinary design and appraisal of agricultural policies, a comprehensive database covering both geophysical and socioeconomic information related to agricultural production has been constructed for all 3,773 agricultural communities in Japan's Chiba Prefecture. The database covers four categories of information layers: (a) current and historic data on agricultural production (the "dependents"); (b) data on geophysical factors affecting agricultural production (the "unchangeables"); (c) data on man-made infrastructures affecting agricultural production (the "long-term changeables"); and (d) data on other socioeconomic factors affecting agricultural production (the "short-term changeables"). Three applications using the database are also introduced.