Assessing the role of economic actors in the production of private and public goods in three EU agricultural landscapes

The study analyses the contribution of relevant economic actors to the provision of private and public goods in agricultural landscapes. A method consisting of a multi-sectoral perspective and an integrated approach based on the analytic network process (ANP) and the use of selected local stakeholders is applied. The usefulness of the method is demonstrated in three European case studies in Austria, Italy and Spain. The results show that agriculture and tourism are the sectors that contribute the most and the least, respectively, to the provision of goods and services in agricultural landscapes. Moreover, the results underscore that policy instruments towards such provision need to be targeted differently in different areas and must take into account the different roles of the local actors involved.     

Pragmatics of Policy: The Compliance of Dutch Environmental Policy Instruments to European Union Standards

Despite a general decrease in Dutch environmental emission trends, it remains difficult to comply with European Union (EU) environmental policy targets. Furthermore, environmental issues have become increasingly complex and entangled with society. Therefore, Dutch environmental policy follows a pragmatic line by adopting a flexible approach for compliance, rather than aiming at further reduction at the source of emission. This may be politically useful in order to adequately reach EU targets, but restoration of environmental conditions may be delayed. However, due to the complexity of today’s environmental issues, the restoration of environmental conditions might not be the only standard for a proper policy approach. Consequently this raises the question how the Dutch pragmatic approach to compliance qualifies in a broader policy assessment. In order to answer this question, we adapt a policy assessment framework, developed by Hemerijck and Hazeu (Bestuurskunde 13(2), 2004), based on the dimensions of legitimacy and policy logic. We apply this framework for three environmental policy assessments: flexible instruments in climate policy, fine-tuning of national and local measures to meet air quality standards, and derogation for the Nitrate Directive. We conclude with general assessment notes on the appliance of flexible instruments in environmental policy, showing that a broad and comprehensive perspective can help to understand the arguments to put such policy instruments into place and to identify trade-offs between assessment criteria.     

节能环保产业政策工具评述与展望

节能环保产业是打赢污染防治攻坚战的重要支撑,也是推动经济发展的新兴绿色动能。本文利用瓦当设计的政策工具三分法,对当前节能环保产业政策工具进行了分类研究。当前,影响节能环保产业政策的工具主要包括管制型工具、经济型工具、信息型工具三个类型。管制型工具包括指标控制、强制性标准和监督考核等;经济型工具包括财政支持、税收优惠、价格政策、金融政策等;信息型工具包括技术推广机制、产品推广机制等。尽管我国已经初步建立了政策支持体系,但当前政策工具仍然存在一系列不足,管制型工具、经济型工具、信息型工具都有较大的改进调整空间,应当进一步形成规范、合理的管制型制度,以普惠为主而非补助为主的经济型制度,以提供信息服务为主的信息型制度,并以此促进节能环保产业健康、有序发展。     

Towards a re-evaluation of the role of finance in the causation of environmental degradation

This paper relates the long-neglected Douglas/New Age texts to contemporary concerns at the relationship between economic activity and environmental degradation. Although completed by the early 1920s, these texts anticipated the adverse social and environmental impacts of an increase of centralisation and globalisation of finance upon local policy formation.     

The future place of recycling in household waste policy: the case of France

To be rightly implemented, an environmental policy ought to set an institutional framework (goals, rules and instruments) which incents decentralised actors to adopt the appropriate range of technologies. In the household waste management policy, the development of valorisation techniques (and particularly recycling) must be supported by convenient instruments and incentives. The paper analyses the problems encountered with the French household waste policy to ensure the takeoff of recycling techniques. At the moment, a rather under-proportioned institutional setting leads to favour the adoption of incineration with energy recovery at the expenses of recycling. This tends to create a structural bias in favour of incineration.     

Discourses on sustainable forest management and effects of Natura 2000: a case study of Catalonia,NE Spain

This study analyzed discourses influencing the meaning of Sustainable Forest Management in Catalonia (Spain) and the effects of the European Natura 2000 policy on these discourses. It focused on the Montseny area and on the Administration and Practitioner stakeholder groups. Based on literature review and interviews, we found six discourses influencing the meanings of Sustainable Forest Management. Two of these discourses underwent changes due to the effects of Natura 2000 implementation while the others did not, showing the substantial role played by local elements and actors in shaping the discursive framework of Sustainable Forest Management. Based on empirical findings, the study provided conclusions valid at European level: (1) implementing Natura 2000 does not mean revolutionizing local nature conservation systems, but rather adapting them to European requirements; (2) in order to increase local policy impact, the implementation of European environmental policies needs to be backed up by economic compensation of local actors.     

Fracking the Debate: Frame Shifts and Boundary Work in Dutch Decision Making on Shale Gas

The meaning of hydraulic fracturing for shale gas is contested worldwide: is it an energy game changer, a transition fuel, or a technology that poses severe environmental problems? In the Netherlands, a policy controversy developed in which fracturing was reframed from ‘business as usual’ to a potential environmental risk. This article theoretically and empirically describes this shift by arguing that the technology of hydraulic fracturing for shale gas is a boundary object that created a sphere of engagement for all sorts of actors. In this sphere, they negotiated a common but soft meaning of this technology. These negotiations consisted of frame contests. As part of those contests, the discursive strategies of framing and boundary work enabled opponents to create uncertainty about economic benefits and environmental impact. The shift in meaning transformed the issue from an economic one with standard governmental rules and regulations into a planning issue that needs more precaution.     

Designing a policy package for the promotion of servicising: A case study of vineyard crop protection in Galicia (Spain)

The servicising approach in vineyard protection is considered a valid alternative to achieve decoupling between the economic and environmental performance of viticulture. In this paper, a policy package is designed to promote the uptake of a servicised model of vineyard protection in an area of smallholding viticulture. In doing so, a specific methodology based on a step by step protocol has been followed that aims to come up with a package that is effective, implementable and socially as well as politically acceptable. The paper concludes on the importance of combining several policy instruments in a policy package to realise the political objective. The proposed viable policy package includes incentives that support the companies’ shift towards offering crop protection solutions, further development of IPM solutions and instruments that encourage farmers to reduce the use of pesticides and collectively hire crop protection services.     

Economic instruments for sustainable community development

Abstract

In recent years there has been increasing interest in the use of so‐called ‘economic instruments’ in environmental policy. Economic instruments influence the behaviour of economic agents by providing financial incentives for environmentally improved behaviour, or disincentives for damaging behaviour. This paper explores the use of economic instruments in the field of sustainable community planning and development. It does so in the wider context of how environmental economic policy is made. The focus of this paper is to examine the role of policy instruments in community planning, and to review the different types of instruments that are available to policy‐makers. Numerous examples of the various instruments at the community level are described. It is widely believed that policy making should occur at the lowest or most local level possible while maintaining effectiveness. A system of government that does not give adequate legal power to local governments, and does not allow local governments considerable flexibility in the use of funds, cannot be expected to achieve all community objectives. Central governments must give local governments permission to take measures towards sustainable community planning, even though that requires giving them power to address broader issues. At the same time, when issues that should be addressed at national and international levels are not addressed, local governments may be able to take action individually. Given the general reluctance (and perhaps inability) of governments at all levels today to consider non‐economic and, particularly, non‐market policy instruments, it is pragmatic as well as timely to improve our understanding of economic instruments for sustainable community development.     

Why pollution standards are preferred by industries: pragmatism and rent-seeking behaviour

Regulatory instruments in environmental policy have strongraison d'etre. They still dominate the instruments selected by policy makers. Even with the growing interest in the use of economic instruments, in theory, empirical studies and policy, industries tend to prefer command-and-control as a practical instrument in pollution control. Polluters often assume they have more influence on regulation than on setting effluent charge levels. The industry can be better off under the regulatory standard than an imposed effluent charge when the total cost of abatement to the industry is considered. The higher costs to the industry make effluent charges less attractive. In practice, generally a mixed environmental policy is used in which regulations dominate. This choice has been based on effectiveness, economic efficiency and political acceptability. By simulating the abatement cost function, it was found that marketable permits offer an attractive system of pollution control when the scope of variation in abatement levels is evident. Unfortunately, at higher levels of abatement, the benefits of this system are small and insufficient to justify any regulatory reform. Thus, with a pragmatic approach coupled with a rent-seeking behaviour of the polluters, a shift to the use of economic instruments is neither likely nor desirable even when administrative and transactions costs are not considered.Dr Khalid Abdul Rahim is currently a lecturer in the Faculty of Economics and Management at the Universiti Pertanian Malaysia. He is also a visiting Fellow at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia, in Kuala Lumpur, and the Thematic Network Coordinator in the UNEP Network for Environmental Training at tertiary Level in Asia and the Pacific (NET-TLAP).     

A comparison of new economic methods in USSR environmental policy with western approaches

Previous comparative studies on environmental policies in the East and West mainly focused on relating differing features of environmental management to different political, social/economic, and ideological conditions in both systems. The present article attempts to identify common experiences. In this respect, an obvious similarity can be seen in the fact that environmental management in the East and West emerged as a regulatory “command and control” approach, which was supplemented later by economic incentives. The 1988 USSR Resolution “On the Radical Transformation of the System of Natural Conservation” introduces a set of economic instruments as one of its main elements. This is less a radical change of environmental policy than a determined acceleration of previous approaches. Existing and newly designed economic methodologies provoke a comparison with similar approaches in market economies. The economic methods designed in the 1988 resolution include charges for the use of natural resources and the emission of pollutants, which are notable for their firm commitment to reduce emissions even below set regulatory standards. While experiences with this approach may be of great interest for Western countries, liability regulations of the United States can be of great use for designing relevant provisions implementing the USSR resolution. A number of bilateral treaties have demonstrated already the political relevance of an East-West exchange of experience in environmental management.     

Economic and policy instrument analyses in support of the scrap tire recycling program in Taiwan

Understanding the cost-effectiveness and the role of economic and policy instruments, such as the combined product tax-recycling subsidy scheme or a tradable permit, for scrap tire recycling has been of crucial importance in a market-oriented environmental management system. Promoting product (tire) stewardship on one hand and improving incentive-based recycling policy on the other hand requires a comprehensive analysis of the interfaces and interactions in the nexus of economic impacts, environmental management, environmental valuation, and cost-benefit analysis. This paper presents an assessment of the interfaces and interactions between the implementation of policy instruments and its associated economic evaluation for sustaining a scrap tire recycling program in Taiwan during the era of the strong economic growth of the late 1990s. It begins with an introduction of the management of the co-evolution between technology metrics of scrap tire recycling and organizational changes for meeting the managerial goals island-wide during the 1990s. The database collected and used for such analysis covers 17 major tire recycling firms and 10 major tire manufacturers at that time. With estimates of scrap tire generation and possible scale of subsidy with respect to differing tire recycling technologies applied, economic analysis eventually leads to identify the associated levels of product tax with respect to various sizes of new tires. It particularly demonstrates a broad perspective of how an integrated econometric and engineering economic analysis can be conducted to assist in implementing policy instruments for scrap tire management. Research findings indicate that different subsidy settings for collection, processing, and end use of scrap tires should be configured to ameliorate the overall managerial effectiveness. Removing the existing boundaries between designated service districts could strengthen the competitiveness of scrap tires recycling industry, helping to reduce the required levels of product tax and subsidy. With such initial breakthroughs at hand to handle the complexity of scrap tire recycling technologies, there remains unique management and policy avenues left to explore if a multi-dimensional solution is to be successful in the long run.     

From policy mix to policy networks: assessing climate and land use policy interactions in Mato Grosso,Brazil

ABSTRACT

In the climate and land use fields, policy mixes are complex in terms of the levels of governance, actors, and roles. They consist of policy instruments that target different actors and address multiple goals across several policy sectors and levels. The analysis of these complex arrangements extends beyond purely technical efficiency criteria, as several sources of tension between instruments may be identified, such as conflicting interests, goals, and approaches to implementation. The proliferation of governance networks complicates the understanding of actors’ interactions, the types of authority influencing the outcomes of policy mixes, and importance of different levels of governance. This article provides a framework to address these analytical challenges, particularly the interconnected networks of policy actors and policy instruments. It draws on polycentric governance literature to analyse how power matters in policy networks. This includes identifying distinct types of power, actors’ position, and variables that explain patterns of conflict, competition, convergence, and divergence in policy choices and outcomes. The framework is applied to the climate and land use policies implemented in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil. Several methods were used to clarify these variables and to characterise policy mixes being implemented in the region, including social network analysis.     

Policy design,spatial planning and climate change adaptation: a case study from Australia

There are gaps in the existing climate change adaptation literature concerning the design of spatial planning instruments and the relationship between policy instruments and the sociopolitical barriers to adaptation reform. To help address this gap, this article presents a typology of spatial planning instruments for adaptation and analyses the pattern of instrument choice in Australian planning processes in order to shed light on contextual factors that can impede adaptation. The analysis highlights how policy design can amplify the barriers to adaptation by arranging policy actors in ways inimical to reform and stripping decision makers of the instruments necessary to make and sustain desired policy changes.     

Economic instruments for sustainable community development

In recent years there has been increasing interest in the use of so-called 'economic instruments' in environmental policy. Economic instruments influence the behaviour of economic agents by providing financial incentives for environmentally improved behaviour, or disincentives for damaging behaviour. This paper explores the use of economic instruments in the field of sustainable community planning and development. It does so in the wider context of how environmental economic policy is made. The focus of this paper is to examine the role of policy instruments in community planning, and to review the different types of instruments that are available to policy-makers. Numerous examples of the various instruments at the community level are described. It is widely believed that policy making should occur at the lowest or most local level possible while maintaining effectiveness. A system of government that does not give adequate legal power to local governments, and does not allow local governments considerable flexibility in the use of funds, cannot be expected to achieve all community objectives. Central governments must give local governments permission to take measures towards sustainable community planning, even though that requires giving them power to address broader issues. At the same time, when issues that should be addressed at national and international levels are not addressed, local governments may be able to take action individually. Given the general reluctance (and perhaps inability) of governments at all levels today to consider non-economic and, particularly, non-market policy instruments, it is pragmatic as well as timely to improve our understanding of economic instruments for sustainable community development.     

The effect of environmental regulation on firms' competitive performance: the case of the building & construction sector in some EU regions

There is a considerable debate on the effects of environmental regulation on competitive performance. Based on survey data, this paper analyzesthe two main research questions, derived from literature, on the links between environmental regulation and competitiveness, by focusing on firms operating in the building and construction sector, i.e.: 1) whether environmental policy stringency affects the competitive performance of firms in the building and construction sector 2) and how a specific form of environmental regulation (direct regulation, economic instruments and soft instruments) affects this performance? By applying a regression analysis, we find that a more stringent environmental regulation, measured by inspection frequency, provides a positive impulse for increasing investments in advanced technological equipment and innovative products and on business performance. Moreover, a well-designed “direct regulation” appears to be the most effective policy instrument for prompting the positive impact of environmental policies on innovation and intangible performance while economic instruments do negatively affect business performance.     

Policy Strategies to Reduce Nutrient Leaching from Agriculture and Forestry and their Local Implementation: A Case Study of the Laholm Bay,Sweden

This paper examines the use of policy instruments to reduce nutrient loading to water systems. A case study is made in the Laholm Bay on the west coast of Sweden, where an action programme was launched in 1986. However, while point sources have now largely been dealt with, diffuse pollution is still increasing. We apply implementation theory to discuss how public and private actors use regulative, market and communicative policy strategies in an attempt to combat this pollution. Despite consensus between the actors on the policy problem per se, disputes remain on the means for implementation and how the costs should be borne.     

Incentives to improve farm management: EMS, supply-chains and civil society

This paper focuses on impediments to environmentally sound management practices and how these might be overcome, with an emphasis on the role of environmental management systems, supply chains and civil society. It argues that: Farmers are under increased pressure to cut costs and improve production but with little opportunity to increase prices. Commonly short-term economic interest has damaging environmental implications. Current government policy, in Australia and in many other jurisdictions, relies heavily on voluntary arrangements, education and information, as the main policy instruments through which to persuade farmers to adopt better environmental farm management - e.g. the recent push to encourage the use of voluntary environmental management systems. However, there is good evidence to suggest that these can only make a valuable contribution when combined with a range of other policy instruments, including positive and negative incentives, intervention by third parties and in some cases, an underpinning of regulation. Arguably, what is needed is a strategy that builds on the strengths of voluntary environmental management arrangements while compensating for their weaknesses by combining them with other, complementary policy instruments. If so, we must engage with a range of questions that have not so far figured substantially in the policy debate. Although the principal focus has been on the role of government in bringing about on-farm change in management practices, supply chain pressure (at least in respect of agricultural chemicals and practices which threaten food safety) and civil society action are also potentially powerful mechanisms for bringing about change. Government can and should play a role in harnessing such forces in the interests of improved environmental on-farm practices.     

国家环境经济政策进展评估报告2019

本年度国家环境经济政策进展评估报告采用实地调研法和政策分析法,对2019年我国重点环境经济政策的进展进行了系统评估,总体结论认为环境经济政策在污染防治攻坚战和生态环境质量改善中发挥了积极作用,生态环境保护的市场经济政策机制在不断健全,但是环境经济政策体系尚需进一步完善优化,亟须通过深化改革助推生态文明和现代环境治理体系建设。