Pollution without subsidy? What is the environmental performance index overlooking?

Agriculture is heavily subsidized in most Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, and environmental externalities can occur due to pollution caused by protectionist policies. This study examines the structure of agricultural protection in OECD countries from a chronological and comparative perspective. In addition, the policy–environment interaction is scrutinized to better explain the environmental implications of agricultural policies in the era of globalization. This paper critically evaluates the environmental performance index and recommends that this index includes polluting inputs in future calculations.