AbstractBy introducing soil depth and soil loss into a simple model of agricultural production, this paper seeks to determine when the private path of erosion differs from the socially optimal path. Considering the depletion of soil only and abstracting from the environmental disruption caused by erosion, the paper argues that under most institutional arrangements the social and private rates of erosion are the same. The paper concludes that public policy should be directed toward reducing erosion only when it leads to significant pollution externalities.