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... Een ander voorbeeld is de stelling dat het gangbare kader slechts een beperkt domein van de maatschappelijk relevante preferenties en instituties serieus neemt. Hierdoor zouden voor de milieuwaardering cruciale aspecten onvoldoende tot hun recht komen, zoals voorkeuren voor milieugoederen (Vatn en Bromley, 1994) of de eigendomsrechten van toekomstige generaties (Bromley, 1989a). Van hier is het nog maar een kleine stap naar kritiek op het gangbare kader als zou dit gebonden zijn aan specifieke ethische oordelen, en daarom ruimere of zelfs alternatieve ethische kaders voor de evaluatie van milieuspecifieke waarden rechtvaardigt (Sagoff, 1994). ...
... De belangrijkste genoemde redenen zijn dat onvoldoende aandacht uitgaat naar motieven of preferenties die op andere wijze dan via de markt tot uitdrukking worden gebracht, en naar instituties die de afloop van het economisch proces beïnvloeden (Sen, 1977;Langlois (red.), 1986;Hodgson, 1998). Ten aanzien van de toepassing op milieuvraagstukken geldt dit bijvoorbeeld voor specifieke kenmerken, zoals de effecten van hedendaagse vervuiling op toekomstige generaties, het belang van biodiversiteit of de eigendomsrechtenverdeling tussen generaties (Bromley, 1989a;Vatn en Bromley, 1994). Als het gangbare kader voor de bestudering van specifieke preferenties of instituties die voor een adequate (milieu)waardering cruciaal zijn inderdaad onvoldoende ruimte laat, is alsnog sprake van een fundamentele inperking waartegen critici terecht bezwaar maken. ...
... Veel minder ver gaat de zwakke variant van de stelling dat het gangbare kader tekortschiet voor milieuwaardering omdat dit bij de evaluatie gebonden is aan een te beperkte ethische norm. Een voorbeeld is Vatn en Bromley's stelling dat gangbare economische analyse tezeer gepreoccupeerd is met (het achterhalen van) individuele preferenties als norm voor een efficiënte allocatie bij milieuvraagstukken (Vatn en Bromley, 1994). Individuen zijn doorgaans slecht geïnformeerd over de hier in het geding zijnde complexe terugkoppelingen, hebben te weinig oog voor de lange tijdshorizon waarop deze terugkoppelingen zich voordoen, en hun oordelen zijn contextrelatief. ...
Dit boek onderzoekt de bestaande kritiek op en de twijfels over de bruikbaarheid van het gangbare kader voor economische analyse bij de bestudering van milieuvraagstukken nader te structureren. De conclusie van deze studie is dat de discussie over de bijdrage van economische analyse aan de bestudering van milieuvraagstukken beter over haar praktische toepassing in specifieke gevallen kan gaan, dan over haar vermeende algemene, meer principiële beperkingen. Veel van de principiële bezwaren blijken vooral retorisch. Dat in specifieke gevallen niet voldaan is aan de vereisten voor zinvolle toepassing levert geen principieel bezwaar op tegen gangbare analyse als zodanig. Niettemin geeft de kritiek op haar praktische bruikbaarheid wel degelijk aanleiding tot relevanter milieueconomisch onderzoek, met name daar waar zij ook aanknopingspunten voor alternatieven biedt. Dit zal met name in het tweede deel van deze studie expliciet worden geïllustreerd. Hier wordt het belang van de verdedigde alternatieve gezichtspunten duidelijk, met name bij de afleiding van beleidsaanbevelingen in een specifieke context. Veel kwesties binnen het milieueconomisch onderzoek zijn echter nog onopgelost en verdienen daarom nadere economische studie
... Some people will therefore refuse to bargain for 'psychological or sociological' reasons. 5 As Vatn and Bromley (1994) put it, the moral dimension intrudes into the presumed clarity of economic choice. This means that people may value something highly, but be unwilling to pay for it because they do not consider it appropriate to pay for something to which they believe they have an entitlement. ...
... Also, and relatedly, Vatn and Bromley (1994) emphasise that individuals may be unwilling to pay to preserve the environment because they consider it incongruous to treat environmental 'goods and services' in the same way as commodities. The authors refer to survey evidence, in which people say that species diversity is very important for non-instrumental reasons, which shows that they value it highly. ...
... In the case of a complex system like the environment, the consequences of relying on ex post governance may be very serious. An apparently small externality may result in catastrophic consequences where a particular species or other aspect of the environment is functionally transparent in the sense that its contribution to the complex system as a whole is not known until it is removed (Vatn and Bromley 1994). If the regulator refrains from constructing the facts, leaving the matter to those concerned, any bargaining process will also have to confront both transaction costs and the costs of fact production. ...
We propose that corporations should be subject to a legal obligation to identify and internalise their social costs or negative externalities. Our proposal reframes corporate social responsibility (CSR) as obligated internalisation of social costs, and relies on reflexive governance through mandated hybrid fora. We argue that our approach advances theory, as well as practice and policy, by building on and going beyond prior attempts to address social costs, such as prescriptive government regulation, Coasian bargaining and political CSR.
... Markets create further distributional injustice when accounting for nonparticipants. Markets facilitate and reward imposing costs on third parties [105,106]. Competition drives market actors to shift burdens onto the public [107]. This process most affects those without the political or economic power to prevent others from taking resources from or dumping wastes on their environments [108]. ...
... To be sure, policy can create artificial market mechanisms that govern the use and maintenance of ecological systems whose benefits to humanity are not tradable private property. Yet treating ecosystem structures and functions as market goods is a risky abstraction because ecosystems provide a complex multiplicity of interrelated attributes that benefit people in critical ways we often cannot comprehend until they fail [55,106,125,126]. At the very least, economic actors will respond to market-based environmental policy by perpetually shifting costs elsewhere, onto nature or people that have little or no market value. ...
... Such an arrangement, internalizing every externality, is not remotely possible, anyway, since many of nature's values are neither compatible with property rights nor straightforwardly quantifiable, much less commensurable with dollar values [67,69]. Monetary valuation of environmental goods and services can never capture all of the relevant information for decision making [106]. Some scholars, furthermore, argue that the market system would fail if capitalists were to have to pay the full social costs of production [120]. ...
Markets dominate the world’s food systems. Today’s food systems fail to realize the normative foundations of ecological economics: justice, sustainability, efficiency, and value pluralism. Drawing on empirical and theoretical literature from diverse intellectual traditions, I argue that markets, as an institution for governing food systems, hinder the realization of these objectives. Markets allocate food toward money, not hunger. They encourage shifting costs on others, including nonhuman nature. They rarely signal unsustainability, and in many ways cause it. They do not resemble the efficient markets of economic theory. They organize food systems according to exchange value at the expense of all other social, cultural, spiritual, moral, and environmental values. I argue that food systems can approach the objectives of ecological economics roughly to the degree that they subordinate market mechanisms to social institutions that embody those values. But such “embedding” processes, whether through creating state policy or alternative markets, face steep barriers and can only partially remedy food markets’ inherent shortcomings. Thus, ecological economists should also study, promote, and theorize non-market food systems.
... One of the major issues with accounting around ES is that to financially value ES and make them tradeable, we must separate or "unbundle" them from each other and place boundaries over them (Boyd and Banzhaf 2007;Duke et al. 2012). However, in the physical world, ecosystem functions are interconnected and interdependent, and often cannot be separated in a meaningful way (Kosoy and Corbera 2010;Vatn and Bromley 1994). Compressing complex realities into a simple metric of financial worth is likely to result in a non-trivial loss of information (Vatn and Bromley 1994). ...
... However, in the physical world, ecosystem functions are interconnected and interdependent, and often cannot be separated in a meaningful way (Kosoy and Corbera 2010;Vatn and Bromley 1994). Compressing complex realities into a simple metric of financial worth is likely to result in a non-trivial loss of information (Vatn and Bromley 1994). The NE consists of huge numbers of not always discrete processes and feedback loops maintaining balance as matter and energy flow through it (Vatn 2000). ...
Management theory is a diverse field where multiple theoretical perspectives coexist and coevolve, leading to conceptual pluralism. While conceptual pluralism is useful for grasping different aspects of the complex reality we live in, it may limit the further development of knowledge on elemental concepts. In this article, we focus on knowledge on the natural environment (NE) in management theory. We argue that management scholars and practitioners often rely on theoretical lenses that tend to reify the NE, thereby limiting the conceptualization of some of the essential properties of the NE. Drawing on the example of the conceptual development of the ecosystem services (ES) at the intersection of economics and biology, we identify the advantages and the limits of interdisciplinary theory-building and testing. Finally, we discuss how tools from the philosophy of science can be useful for proposing a way forward for integrating reliable knowledge on the natural environment in management theory.
... A distinctive feature of Ecological Economics as a meta paradigm, open and transdisciplinary, beyond initial disputes on its focus is incommensurability (Carpintero Redondo, 1999;Martinez-Alier, Munda, & O'Neill, 1998). Although monetary valuations are sometimes used, notably for communicative purposes with other schools of thought or individuals that are external to Economics, there is a widespread consensus about the unsuitability of prices to make future decisions (Vatn & Bromley, 1994). ...
This thesis explores the socioeconomic effects of energy transitions towards renewable sources, their implications for justice, and potential courses of political action based on the Welfare States to provide just energy transitions.
Initially, we explicit the goals of the research and the hypotheses under study and disclose the theoretical and methodological frameworks that support our work. Afterwards, we present the literature review findings, which determine the potential effects of renewable technologies on employment and income distribution and delimit gaps to propose a research agenda. Most studies find a positive, yet small, effect on employment levels and some negative effects associated with the difficulties in the reconversion of some jobs and the scarce labour mobility of certain sociodemographic profiles. Concerning income, analyses conclude negative effects through rising electricity prices and regressive subsidies. Nonetheless, there is a margin to enrich the status of the literature. We suggest as high priority tasks furthering the availability and complexity of studies about income distribution, with a focus on the need and design for fiscal countermeasures to compensate for regressivity, widening the methods applied to employment, introducing degrowth scenarios, varying the number and typology of cases, and observing a gender dimension. Additional tasks comprise the exploration of systemic tools, broadening the scope of models, and introducing subjective perceptions in quantitative techniques to orientate decision-making and assessments.
Subsequently, we dive into the Leonese case study, a restructuring from coal mining and thermoelectric production of electricity to wind, solar, and biomass power. We estimate the consequences of such a shift for employment levels and land requirements through a systemic modelling exercise inspired by System Dynamics. Additionally, we show the gaps between the theoretical framework of just energy transitions, the findings of the review, and the current political proposals for León. The model indicates that the preferential installation of the current renewable tenders in the province compensates for the jobs at risk in the short term. Notwithstanding, renewable sources cannot keep the population in the areas, so the restructuring should be complemented by alternative activities, such as rural tourism, agroindustry, and a “silver economy” around care. Furthermore, the model detects relevant shares of required land for the installation of renewable technologies and sensitive trade-offs between the promotion of employment and the modification of land uses. These insights could enhance the current processes of just transition, which show shortcomings in their concept and design, diagnosis, and mechanisms of public participation.
Finally, we increase the scale in our approach to analyse the capacity of Welfare States to ease the transition through the hypothesis of eco-social synergy, which results rejected under a comparable methodology that seeks to avoid past shortcomings in the literature through the joint application of Ward’s hierarchical clustering algorithms in squared Euclidean distances and Thorndike’s criterium of optimality in a sample of 23 European countries from 2008 to 2016. The results illustrate that the paradigmatic Nordic countries fail to mobilise local resources sustainably and are responsible for the worst environmental performances. Parallelly, Liberal and Conservative regimes tend to display better environmental results, although worse social situations. However, there is not a clear correspondence between the typologies of welfare regimes, the social dimension, and the environmental status. Despite the rejection, some traits of Social-democratic regimes motivate a discussion about Sustainable Welfare and its downscaling to local levels. Specifically, there is a relevant potential in the implementation of Conservation Basic Incomes and Services.
This thesis contributes to the current state-of-the-art and political processes on multiple lines. First, the literature review offers an overview for researchers interested in engaging on this topic or updating their knowledge, as well as for policymakers to consider the most recurrent effects of their political initiatives. Second, the Leonese case promotes research about neglected local rural scales and addresses the specific situation of the area under study, which has not received attention from academia. Meaningful parallelisms can be established for comparative and prescriptive purposes with other declining fossil-dependent areas in developed countries under intense destruction of industrial networks in recent decades. Third, the modelling is an easy exercise to potentially promote mutual understanding among stakeholders and reinforce procedural justice in the processes of just energy transition. We additionally show that data shortages are an avoidable problem under our methodological proposal. Four, the literature review and the simulation exercise illustrate the negative effects of the transition to renewable energy sources and contrast with the ambition of political plans. Finally, we shed light on the functioning of the hypothesis of eco-social synergy by screening and discussing indicators, applying a methodology to reduce conditioning assumptions, and pointing to precise courses of action to implement a potentially facilitating public welfare system.
... Many types of information are required to support land-use decision making such as budgets, details of social, political and equity concerns, and understanding of how decisions result in benefits to the beneficiaries and wider stakeholders, often in a constrained time period (Rogers et al., 2015). Decision makers have often lamented that results from valuation studies are not sufficiently relevant to inform socially optimal decisions (Vatn and Bromley, 1994;Torres and Hanley, 2017). The lack of uptake of valuation outputs can be further exacerbated by decision makers' lack of familiarity in the language and axioms of ecosystem service valuation (Laurans et al., 2013). ...
Mangrove forests in Southeast Asia are continuously declining as a result of unsustainable practices, partly due to limited recognition of the value of mangrove services in land use decision making. Valuation practitioners have assumed that monetary valuation should inform local and national decision makers to ensure sustainable management of mangrove resources. For ecosystem service valuation to be of use to decision makers, best practices should be adhered to such as having straightforward policy questions and strong stakeholder engagement from the onset of valuation studies, suitable choice of valuation methodologies, and the ability to effectively demonstrate causal links between drivers of ecosystem health, change, and resource users. This study, focusing on the Malaysian case study, assessed the effectiveness and challenges of local ecosystem service valuation studies in informing mangrove management decisions against a set of global best practices. A systematic review approach was undertaken to identify relevant Malaysian mangrove ecosystem service valuation studies. Of 184 studies identified, only 17 provided monetary values for mangrove ecosystem services. These studies valued nine different mangrove ecosystem services, with the cultural ecosystem services of tourism being the most frequently valued. Most of the valuation studies were designed to raise awareness of the value of ecosystems (64.7%). Other intended uses included determining appropriate charging rates for mangrove uses (17.6%), comparing the costs and benefits of different environmental uses (11.8%), and providing a justification and support for certain decision making (5.9%). Overall, mangrove valuation studies in Malaysia were characterized by weak multi-stakeholder engagement, non-standardized valuation units across the whole country, limited dissemination of the valuation outcome, and cursory references to the potential use of mangrove ecosystem services. Most of the studies did not exert apparent influence on mangrove management. Future valuation studies in Malaysia and the Southeast Asian region should aim to build more robust engagement between valuation practitioners and key stakeholder groups, especially decision makers, at all stages of the study process and incorporate a clear dissemination strategy for sharing results.
... Such definitions are usually accompanied by a list of functions associated with healthy soil, generally including supporting the lives of associated organisms ranging in complexity from viruses to humans, controlling water movement over and through the soil, removing and breaking down aqueous contaminants, cycling nutrients and carbon (C), and controlling atmospheric gas exchange. Though a healthy soil supposedly carries out all functions simultaneously, skeptics pointed out that measures of soil health almost always focus on one or two functions, and that there are almost no common valuation schemes representing combined functions (Creamer and Holden 2010;Doran 2002;Sojka and Upchurch 1999;Sojka et al. 2003;Vatn and Bromley 1994). Lehmann et al. (2020) recently claimed that of over 500 studies they analyzed, only 5 provided a single-value index attempting to include all functions. ...
Over the past 25 or so years soil health has been broadly studied, sometimes justly criticized, but commonly accepted and appreciated by stakeholders. Rather than follow the approach from over the last 10 to 15 years of concentrating on details of soil health indicators and agglomerated indices, recent publications have instead begun to analyze broader questions that have never really been satisfactorily answered, including questions about the rationale, limitations, and true meaning of soil health. This article joins the trend toward deeper analysis by examining the literature to propose the following: (1) why soil health is important, whether approached from a critical zone perspective or some other viewpoint; (2) more closely linking soil health and a critical zone approach to material fluxes, thereby informing how, where, and when soil health should be measured; (3) a clearer definition of the meaning of soil health in local relative terms; and (4) a stronger linkage between soil health and sustainability. The goal of this proposal is not to develop a specific conceptual model, but rather to spur further discussion leading to a more solid definition and description, which may in turn lead to more robust and broadly applicable approaches to understanding and measuring soil health.
... Kellert, 1984) which is why respondents to stated preferences surveys tend to state willingness-to-pay (WTP) for species protection in accordance with how similar species are to humans (Gunnthorsdottir, 2001;Caro and Girling, 2010). Similar to how respondents to stated preferences surveys may search for ways to simplify their decision-making (Vatn and Bromley, 1994;Scarpa et al., 2009) respondents may be prone to simply prioritize the species most familiar to them when faced with valuation tasks that include multiple species with various scientific attributes. ...
Easily recognizable species are often used as so-called ‘flagship’ species to raise awareness and funding for conservation action, but this practice has been criticized for neglecting low-profile species. One component of biodiversity is the geographic distribution of where species live, with species that live in only one habitat being endemic to that particular habitat. This study investigates how respondents to a discrete choice experiment ascribe value to the conservation of five different fish species with one species being non-endemic to the study area and familiar to most respondents while another, much lesser-known species, is endemic to the study area. We use a latent class model to investigate possible distance decay effects in which species respondents prioritize for economic valuation. Results suggest individuals who live relatively close to unfamiliar species may be among those who are more likely to value such species higher relative to more familiar substitute species.
... It has been argued that the elicitation process itself may define the values being uncovered and so methods such as cost benefit analysis and others are themselves value articulating institutions -i.e., these processes and methods play a key role in forming the value itself (Vatn, 2005;Marshall et al., 2011). The elicitation process may be not just uncovering existing values but helping to form values through a sort of social learning process (Vatn and Bromley, 1994). ...
... Bateman et al., 2014), yet pointing to the vagueness in the term insurance value (Brouwer et al., 2013). At the same time, articles addressing insurance value of ecosystems make limited reference to the critical warnings about ecosystem and ecosystem service valuation generating illusionary and non-applicable simplifications (Bromley and Vatn, 1994;Funtowicz and Ravetz, 1994;O'Neill, 1997), and actually not of great interest or use for environmental decision-makers (Primmer et al., 2018). ...
The notion of insurance value of ecosystems has both conceptual and practical appeal. However, the operationalisation of the concept does not yet match the typical assumptions about the governance of ecosystems and ecosystem service provision. The articles in this special section provide the first comprehensive effort to address this challenge by offering conceptualizations and examples of metaphorical, analytical and operational applications of the concept of insurance value. Together with this introduction, the articles exemplify the varied uses of the concept of insurance value and the ways in which it is positioned in relation to governance. This introduction highlights that when designing governance solutions for the provision of insurance value from ecosystems, the state of the ecosystem and the activities through which its insurance value generation will be targeted should be clear. The introduction also highlights the importance of considering the assumptions and framings regarding how insurance value is generated in the ecosystems, through preservation, sustainable use or restoration, or through a combination of these strategies. Because of the distinct analytical and governance implications of these strategies, future research should specifically address the institutional conditions for applying any one of them.
... By assessing eleven ecosystem services in the Donana region (SW Spain), they found that a particular field defines service trade-offs and divulges altered ecosystem service trade-offs between conservation and development priorities. Various other studies confirmed similar results to this study and proposed incorporating value-domains in ecosystem service assessments for informed decision-making (Vatn and Bromley 1994;Jacobs 1997;Vatn 2000;Brondizio et al. 2010;Groot et al. 2010a, b;Gómez-Baggethun and Ruiz-Perez 2011). ...
The paper aims to identify the gaps in the assessment and modeling of ecosystem services to help researchers, resource managers, and decision-makers develop a holistic understanding of the ecosystem service assessments' foundations. This review proposes that to efficiently assess the ecosystem services, methodologies that are region-specific and standardized in the terminologies are useful in determining the valuation component in the ecosystem services assessments' goal to explain trade-offs between development and conservation priorities for implementation of conservation policies. Ecosystem service assessments are critical for the sustainable future of Earth. Numerous scholarly studies have been conducted in the field of ecosystem services (ES) that have laid down the foundation of their valuation, mapping, and quantification. We reviewed 103 peer-reviewed publications using the SCOPUS database, perhaps the most extensive database of peer-reviewed research literature as well WoS, PUBMED, and Google Scholar databases based on certain criteria. Our review revealed that different definitions of the ES concept and the non-standardization of the economic concepts for assigning market values to the ecosystem services had shown conflicting results. Further, we also found that ES assessment methodologies depend upon the evaluation purpose and vary from qualitative approaches to modeling and integrated ones. ES assessment has considerable implications in understanding the earth's surface processes and the pursuing benefits in the form of balanced trade-offs between sustainability and development. To attain sustainable development goals, we propose shifting towards a green economy to balance the trade-off between conservation and development.
... There seems to be a growing interest in perceived wellbeing and happiness among economists (Stiglitz et al. 2009), as well. However, the tendency to transform values attached to forests into the language of utility, particularly into economic terms, has also been recognized by Vatn & Bromley (1995) and Bromley & Paavola (2002). The novel concept of a bioeconomy may be a logical consequence of the same thinking, in which all benefits from nature are summed up, including benefits from recreation and nature tourism, see the Finnish Bioeconomy Strategy (Ministry... 2014) and the Finnish forest statistics of bioeconomy in Vaahtera (2018: 164-175), and also Pülzl et al. (2014), Ollikainen (2014), Kleinschmit et al. (2017), Peltomaa & Kolehmainen (2017), and Mustalahti (2018). ...
... CV consists in administering a questionnaire to people in order to know the willingness to pay (WTP) for an improvement in an ecosystem service or the willingness to accept (WTA) the loss of this ecosystem service (Pascual et al., 2010). FER Theoretically, the WTP and WTA should be similar; however, studies have shown that for similar ecosystem services, the WTA exceeds the WTP (Vatn and Bromley, 1994). CV provides results that are directly dependent on the hypothetical markets assumed for the suggested service (Mavsar et al., 2014). ...
Purpose
Lebanon has been subject to important reforestation activities which resulted in the establishment of several cedars, pine and other mixed forest stands on communal lands. These stands are not designated for timber production but rather for nonwood forest products (NWFPs), landscape restoration and for environmental services. The study aims at valuating old reforested sites from the perspective of rural communities neighboring those reforested stands.
Design/methodology/approach
To assess the non-timber goods and services provided by these forest ecosystems, 13 reforested sites located in different regions in Lebanon were selected. The socioeconomic assessment was done using questionnaires distributed to locals that have close interactions with the neighboring forests; it included, among others, a double-bonded dichotomous contingent valuation (CV) related to their willingness to pay (WTP) for reforestation and forest management activities.
Findings
Results of the goods and services assessment revealed that the forests have multifunctional uses with ecotourism as a major activity in all forest types. The CV showed that 75% of respondents did express a WTP. Most of the respondents did so, thus giving a great importance to intrinsic values of the forests. Lower income did not negatively affect the WTP of respondents but rather age and the educational level did. Other factors such as forest type, forest surface and the biodiversity status of the sites did not have an impact on WTP.
Practical implications
These results are very informative for governmental policies seeking funds to perform reforestation programs for environmental objectives, involving local communities in co-funding these programs would help insure the sustainable conservation of reforestation sites.
Social implications
Despite their relative low income, poor communities are willing to pay to sustain forests and their ecosystem services.
Originality/value
It is the first time that a CV is used for ecosystem services regenerated from 50–60 years old reforested sites in a semiarid region, where trees are not planted for timber production. It is one of the few examples were lower income did not affect the WTP for forests providing environmental services on communal lands.
... Informed by these frames environmental problems elicit technical and managerial solutions that discount issues of power, justice and contestation (e.g. Vatn and Bromley 1994;Spangenberg and Settele 2010;Lohmann 2016). The most popular interventions for sustainable consumption, for example, focus on changing consumer behavior through education programs, labelling, economic incentives, and more subtle forms of 'nudging'. ...
Despite widespread recognition of the need to transition toward
more sustainable production and consumption and numerous initiatives to
that end, global resource extraction and corresponding socio-ecological
degradation continue to grow. Understanding the causes of this persistent
failure is a necessary step towards more effective action. This article
contributes to that understanding by synthesizing theory and evidence
that links unsustainable production-consumption systems to power and
inequality. While sustainable consumption and production research and
action mostly focuses on technological or behavioral change, the socioecological
inequalities driving production-consumption systems built into
the organization of our global political economy, remain largely
overlooked. In response, we propose a structural political economy
orientation that seeks explicitly to reduce these inequalities and
advance environmental justice and, thus, create the conditions for
sustainable production-consumption systems. We then propose three
important arenas of research and action towards sustainable productionconsumption
systems: justice, governance, and co-production of knowledge
and action. These arenas, collectively and individually, can serve as
entry points to study and act on the dynamics of (un)sustainable
production-consumption systems. This can be done at the micro level, with
respect to specific commodity chains or systems of provisioning, or at
meso and macro levels with respect to national and global production
networks. Our proposed orientation helps distinguish research and
practice proposals into those emphasizing management and compensation
resulting often in persistence of unsustainability, from those proffering
structural changes in unsustainable production-consumption systems. We
invite critique and collaboration to develop this research and action
agenda further.
... or social impacts of EAB regulatory efforts. Although environmental and social values associated with EAB regulation are likely to be of interest to decision makers, we omitted them for numerous reasons: they were difficult to quantify, often variable across stakeholders and hence likely to be controversial (e.g., Bromley and Vatn 1994). Examples of these values may include the loss of ash in forest habitats (generating impacts on species composition and nutrient cycles (NRCan 2019), and consequences for homeowners, communities, and First Nations (declines in property value, community aesthetics, and culturally important species). ...
The Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) was likely introduced to North America in the early 1990s and has since become a highly destructive invasive forest pest. From 2002 onwards, federal quarantines have regulated the movement of at-risk ash commodities in both Canada and the United States (U.S.). Despite these regulations, the EAB has spread rapidly from Michigan and southern Ontario to much of eastern North America, leaving millions of dead ash trees in its wake. As of 2019, the EAB was present in 36 states in the U.S. and 5 Canadian provinces, including Manitoba, Ontario, Québec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The U.S. recently evaluated the effects of removing domestic EAB quarantine regulations. In this context, our study examined the costs and benefits of EAB regulations in Canada. We estimated the cost of EAB regulation by combining applicable Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) administrative costs and program compliance costs faced by participating wood product mills.
The benefits of regulation were determined as the value of slowing its spread by delaying damage to high-valued street ash trees in communities and to rural trees. The model focused on the economic costs associated with the EAB and did not include an estimate of the environmental and social impacts of EAB regulation. An analysis of these non-monetary values would complement the current study and could be explored in future research but was not required to justify the regulatory efforts on allocative efficiency grounds.
We assessed the economic costs and benefits of EAB regulation by simulating differences in expected damage with and without quarantine regulations in place. The actual effectiveness of regulation was uncertain and difficult to quantify. We, therefore, explored a wide range of possible effectiveness levels to ensure that we captured the true level of regulation effectiveness. We did not comment on the effectiveness of current (and past) EAB regulations since this was beyond the scope of our analysis.
Estimated annual regulatory management costs to the CFIA were approximately $441,634,
while estimated annual regulatory costs to industry varied between $0.39 million and $2.37 million. Street and rural tree damage cost estimates due to the EAB ranged from $1,422 million under a no regulation simulation to $1,170 million under a regulation with 95% effectiveness over this period. Results suggest if regulatory measures have even a 10% effect in slowing EAB spread to places not already affected, then the effort could be economically efficient, although the regulations as modeled did not stop EAB movement. It follows that the value of delayed damage of ash street trees and rural ash alone is large enough in most cases to justify continuing EAB regulation.
... This thinking is somewhat dissonate to the method of contingent valuation. One of the fundamental problems with the economic approach is that the spatial scales of definition commanded by the consumer are likely to be arbitrary and demarked to an aesthetic nature, rather than demarked by community structure (Vatn and Bromley 1994). ...
This thesis aims to explore insights from Habermasian critical theory for environmental decision-making processes. Though traditionally such decision-making has relied upon scientific criteria, it is now widely recognised that the justification and legitimisation of environmental management requires the representation of public values. The thesis argues that market based approaches which claim to capture the full range of public values for the environment can be unsatisfactory, particularly in terms of utility maximisation as a sufficient model of rational action. In this respect, the model of communicative action developed by the German philosopher Jurgen Habermas is considered to provide a more adequate understanding of rationality. Despite the epistemological challenges of 'speaking for nature' within such a theoretical framework, it is argued that communicative action offers a promising means for engaging wider publics in environmental decision-making. The thesis centres around two main premises. The first of these is that it is important to gain an epistemological understanding of the concept of nature within the historical complexity of the Enlightenment. The thesis aims to mediate a view of the natural world that is neither romantic nor positivist, but rather based in the validity claims and understandings of ordinary people. In this way, an ecological rationality may derive through the development of the communicative dimensions of social life. Second it is argued that through examining the sociological problems of how to conceive rationality, action and society, communicative action provides a programme through which participatory processes may be both developed and assessed. The thesis examines the merits and shortcomings of a various applied Habermasian approaches to participatory processes for decision-making within the environmental and planning literature. Finally, an empirical examination of two case studies will demonstrate the insights to be gained from critical theory. A tension is highlighted between institutional concerns for substantive outcomes and consensus, against more procedural benefits of engaging in the methods themselves. In conclusion it is argued that while such methods represent an advance upon solely economic means of valuing nature, evaluation is needed to assess how legitimate these forms are in practice. Critical theory, it is contended, provides such a perspective.
... Markets thwart pluralism by organizing economies in pursuit of monetary exchange value at the expense of all other social, spiritual, moral, aesthetic, environmental, and use values. Market prices can never fully represent these weakly comparable values as single pieces of quantitative information (Martínez-Alier et al., 1998;Vatn and Bromley, 1994). ...
Non-market practices and institutions make up much of every economy. Even in today's most developed capitalist societies, people produce things that are not for sale and allocate them through sharing, gifts, and redistribution rather than buying and selling. This article is about why and how ecological economists should study these non-market economies. Historically, markets only emerge when states forcibly create them; community members do not tend to spontaneously start selling each other goods and services. Markets work well for coordinating complex industrial webs to satisfy individual tastes, but they are not appropriate for governing the production or distribution of entities that are non-rival, non-excludable, not produced for sale, essential need satisfiers, or culturally important. Moreover, we argue, markets do not serve justice, sustainability, efficiency, or value pluralism, the foundations of ecological economics. We sketch an agenda for research on economic practices and institutions without markets by posing nine broad questions about non-market food systems and exploring the evidence and theory around each. By ignoring and demeaning non-market economies, researchers contribute to creating markets' dominance over social life. Observing, analyzing, theorizing, supporting, promoting, creating, and envisioning non-market economies challenges market hegemony.
... • Le taux de diminution doit être mis au regard des coûts de mise en conformité de deux types : les coûts de production classiques et les coûts de transaction privés (Vatn, Bromley, 1995). Ces derniers pourraient expliquer certaines difficultés d'acceptation par les agriculteurs. ...
Avec la généralisation de la conditionnalité des aides et son caractère désormais obligatoire, la réforme de la Politique Agricole Commune de juin 2003 fait un pas de plus dans le renforcement de la promotion d’une agriculture respectueuse de l’environnement. Parmi les différents champs couverts par la conditionnalité, l’article s’intéresse à la mesure visant à la mise en place de bandes enherbées dans les exploitations pratiquant des cultures arables. Combinant enquêtes de terrain et modélisation, les auteurs étudient deux systèmes de production (élevage bovin et grandes cultures) dans deux régions françaises (Pays de la Loire et Midi-Pyrénées) pour dégager les enjeux et les conséquences économiques et environnementales de cette mesure. Ils montrent ainsi qu’étant donné le poids des aides dans le revenu des exploitations et le relativement faible coût de la mise en place des bandes enherbées, les pénalités encourues en cas de non respect des nouvelles exigences se révèlent effectivement dissuasives, conduisant bien à l’amélioration de la performance environnementale des exploitations.
... • Le taux de diminution doit être mis au regard des coûts de mise en conformité de deux types : les coûts de production classiques et les coûts de transaction privés (Vatn, Bromley, 1995). Ces derniers pourraient expliquer certaines difficultés d'acceptation par les agriculteurs. ...
Avec la généralisation de la conditionnalité des aides et son caractère désormais obligatoire, la réforme de la Politique Agricole Commune de juin 2003 fait un pas de plus dans le renforcement de la promotion d’une agriculture respectueuse de l’environnement. Parmi les différents champs couverts par la conditionnalité, l’article s’intéresse à la mesure visant à la mise en place de bandes enherbées dans les exploitations pratiquant des cultures arables. Combinant enquêtes de terrain et modélisation, les auteurs étudient deux systèmes de production (élevage bovin et grandes cultures) dans deux régions françaises (Pays de la Loire et Midi-Pyrénées) pour dégager les enjeux et les conséquences économiques et environnementales de cette mesure. Ils montrent ainsi qu’étant donné le poids des aides dans le revenu des exploitations et le relativement faible coût de la mise en place des bandes enherbées, les pénalités encourues en cas de non respect des nouvelles exigences se révèlent effectivement dissuasives, conduisant bien à l’amélioration de la performance environnementale des exploitations.
... However, the risk discourse tends to mostly focus on financial analyses and asset insurance considerations that merely consider economic losses resulting from everyday mishaps or disasters of all scales. The broader impacts on humans, and the often critical losses suffered by poorer households, whether through everyday mishaps or larger events, are often overlooked (Vatn and Bromley, 1994;Hallegatte et al., 2017). A justice focus would reorient urban governance towards identifying which types of risk are to be prioritised and mitigated, and what outcomes ought to be avoided. ...
Understanding risk
in Karonga Town,
Malawi
... However, the risk discourse tends to mostly focus on financial analyses and asset insurance considerations that merely consider economic losses resulting from everyday mishaps or disasters of all scales. The broader impacts on humans, and the often critical losses suffered by poorer households, whether through everyday mishaps or larger events, are often overlooked (Vatn and Bromley, 1994;Hallegatte et al., 2017). A justice focus would reorient urban governance towards identifying which types of risk are to be prioritised and mitigated, and what outcomes ought to be avoided. ...
... Uncited references p0285 Carpentino, 2013;Faith et al., 2010;Gowdy and McDaniel, 1999;Spash, 2011;Stern, 2007;Thaler and Sunstein, 2003;Vatn and Bromley, 1994. ...
Limits to growth’ and recognition of the interdependencies between economic and ecological systems have given rise to the field of ecological economics as a new field of study. Ecological economics has played a leading role in developing the ecosystem services approach that has been viewed in different ecological–economics perspectives. An urban ecosystem can be understood as a superorganism that has various metabolic processes, whose survival is uncertain, and its functions result in the creation of various externalities. There has been an unprecedented pace of urbanization and associated with it are land cover changes, increasing imported emergy and carbon source effect of cities that have raised questions on sustainability and carrying capacity of the urban ecosystem. This chapter attempts to explain valuation of ecosystem services and provides various ways of measurement of such values, viz. ecological, sociocultural and monetary. The recent methodologies adopted by ecological economists are also discussed. This chapter also explains various methods that can be adopted to take care of colossal rise of carbon emissions through various processes such as carbon budgeting and carbon credits, taxing externalities, planning smart cities, transport management, etc., along with their feasibilities in various contexts.
... Our analysis of governance of nr-ts is strongly inspired by conventional TCE which usually takes a static comparative perspective. The approach allows us to construct a broader range of hypotheses about suitable governance structures, avoiding the notion that markets would always be the best way for regulating these effects (Bromley, 1991;Vatn and Bromley, 1994;Hagedorn et al., 2002;Paavola and Adger, 2005;Hagedorn, 2008). ...
... In the existing literature, B t could be measured by its biodiversity from different hierarchical categories. World Resources Institute et al. (1992) divided biodiversity into three hierarchical categories: genetic diversity, species diversity, and ecosystem diversity (Vatn and Bromley, 1994;Mainwaring, 2001). ...
... In economic jargon, that corresponds to saying that the social preferences that traditional monetary valuation methods (e.g., contingent valuation, travel cost method, hedonic prices) pretend to reveal through objective and neutral techniques are not exogenous, as economic theory presupposes, but rather endogenous to the method applied (Lockwood, 1999, p. 396;Sagoff, 1998, p. 222). Therefore, the goal of SA cannot be to reveal hidden exogenous preferences, but rather to construct such preferences in the most pertinent and transparent way (Bromley & Paavola, 2002;Godard, 2004;Schkade & Payne, 1994;Vatn & Bromley, 1994). In terms of Gregory et al. (1993, p. 179), sustainability evaluators should not act as "archaeologists" looking for pre-existing values so much as "architects" building up contingent and controversial preferences. ...
This chapter presents a comparative analysis of four Participatory Multi-Criteria Approaches (PMCAs) usually applied in sustainability assessments (SMCE, MCM, 3-SPM, and INTEGRAAL). Such approaches are presented in detail and subsequently compared to each other according to three elementary yet crucial questions: who assesses?; what is assessed?; and how is it assessed? The results outline potential synergies and theoretical incompatibilities between the four approaches. The analysis also supports future PMCA applications when choosing one particular approach according to: key meta-principles (i.e., epistemological stance, methodological emphasis); logistical constraints (e.g., time, budget); local idiosyncrasies (e.g., pertinent geographical scales, power asymmetries); and organisational factors.
... However, the risk discourse tends to mostly focus on financial analyses and asset insurance considerations that merely consider economic losses resulting from everyday mishaps or disasters of all scales. The broader impacts on humans, and the often critical losses suffered by poorer households, whether through everyday mishaps or larger events, are often overlooked (Vatn and Bromley, 1994;Hallegatte et al., 2017). A justice focus would reorient urban governance towards identifying which types of risk are to be prioritised and mitigated, and what outcomes ought to be avoided. ...
... However, the risk discourse tends to mostly focus on financial analyses and asset insurance considerations that merely consider economic losses resulting from everyday mishaps or disasters of all scales. The broader impacts on humans, and the often critical losses suffered by poorer households, whether through everyday mishaps or larger events, are often overlooked (Vatn and Bromley, 1994;Hallegatte et al., 2017). A justice focus would reorient urban governance towards identifying which types of risk are to be prioritised and mitigated, and what outcomes ought to be avoided. ...
... However, the risk discourse tends to mostly focus on financial analyses and asset insurance considerations that merely consider economic losses resulting from everyday mishaps or disasters of all scales. The broader impacts on humans, and the often critical losses suffered by poorer households, whether through everyday mishaps or larger events, are often overlooked (Vatn and Bromley, 1994;Hallegatte et al., 2017). A justice focus would reorient urban governance towards identifying which types of risk are to be prioritised and mitigated, and what outcomes ought to be avoided. ...
Research on cross-scalar risk communication and disaster risk governance was carried out in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The research revealed that while there is considerable potential for communities to measure and communicate risk and to prioritise actions, there
is little actual scope for them to influence disaster risk governance. Although disaster risk management (DRM) has been devolved in Tanzania, it has not gone deep enough to transfer adequate powers and financing to the sub-wards - the lowest level of government, which is at the frontline of managing the majority of everyday risks. Effective communication of risk upwards from communities to higher levels of governments and of DRM policies and
opportunities downwards to communities and across sectors is crucial to overcoming the communication gaps. If communication is participatory and collaborative, there is scope for local actors to reflect on the need for action and be recognised across governance scales to ensure communication plays a key role at and among all levels.
... However, the risk discourse tends to mostly focus on financial analyses and asset insurance considerations that merely consider economic losses resulting from everyday mishaps or disasters of all scales. The broader impacts on humans, and the often critical losses suffered by poorer households, whether through everyday mishaps or larger events, are often overlooked (Vatn and Bromley, 1994;Hallegatte et al., 2017). A justice focus would reorient urban governance towards identifying which types of risk are to be prioritised and mitigated, and what outcomes ought to be avoided. ...
... However, the risk discourse tends to mostly focus on financial analyses and asset insurance considerations that merely consider economic losses resulting from everyday mishaps or disasters of all scales. The broader impacts on humans, and the often critical losses suffered by poorer households, whether through everyday mishaps or larger events, are often overlooked (Vatn and Bromley, 1994;Hallegatte et al., 2017). A justice focus would reorient urban governance towards identifying which types of risk are to be prioritised and mitigated, and what outcomes ought to be avoided. ...
... 14 EC)). 15 Despite sustained and wide-ranging critique, criticism has tended not to focus upon the effectiveness of economic prescriptions for arresting environmental problems (e.g., Vatn and Bromley 1994). Among commentators who attempt such an evaluation, there is a tendency toward a degree of partiality. ...
... 14 EC)). 15 Despite sustained and wide-ranging critique, criticism has tended not to focus upon the effectiveness of economic prescriptions for arresting environmental problems (e.g., Vatn and Bromley 1994). Among commentators who attempt such an evaluation, there is a tendency toward a degree of partiality. ...
... Obviously, monetization enables to assess the importance of a project or policy in comparison with another and provides a rational to support decision. Choices made without monetary valuations are not necessarily inferior, as long as there is clear specification of the conditions of disclosure over what is worth valuing (Vatn and Bromley, 1994). The primary argument against non-monetary type methods is that they provide no way to ex-ante assess the relative performance of alternative scenarios. ...
... Arguments in favour of economic valuation have largely focused on its capacity to increase the likelihood of conserving highly valued ES, both through knowledge accumulation about the economic value of their losses and integration into decision-making apparatus, such as cost-benefit analysis (Myers, 1997;Atkinson and Mourato, 2008;Dixon et al., 2013). Critics who have argued against the use of economic valuation have tended to voice three main contentions: (1) that valuing impacts to ES using economic information has not led to increased conservation of resources (Heal, 2000;Simpson, 2014); (2) that economic information does not furnish decision-makers with sufficient information to make coherent and consistent choices about the environment (Vatn and Bromley, 1994;Spash and Hanley, 1995;Primmer and Furman, 2012) and (3) that economic information is unsuitable in certain societal contexts due to the specifics of value formation (Chan et al., 2012;Martín-L� opez et al., 2014). Often the debate about the merits of economic valuation has been heated and seemingly driven by ideological fervor (Cook et al., 2017). ...
... They include value-pluralist 'social ecological economists' (Røpke, 2005) challenging the reductionism of economic-utilitarianism (e.g. Gómez-Baggethun & Martín-López, 2014; Martínez-Alier, Munda, & O'Neil, 1998;Vatn & Bromley, 1994); neoclassicists adhering to economic-utilitarian value ontology whilst seeking a more realistic treatment of ecological constraints on economic activity and the incorporation of non-market ecosystem service values (Dasgupta, 1996;Mäler, 1990); as well as political ecologists who are less concerned with the substance of value than with distributional injustices arising from the privileging of particular value ontologies (Martínez-Alier, 2002). In light of these distinct value ontologies, many ecological economists adopt a methodologically pluralist outlook and reject the notion that a single 'language of value' is sufficient for the subject matter of ecological economics (e.g. ...
We examine the origins and development of the concept of ‘ecosystem services’ from 1950 to the present, tracing the impact of distinct epistemic communities at different historical moments on the form that the concept takes in environmental policy debates today. Our politically and historically sensitive approach (a ‘conceptual biography’) stresses the intellectual, political and strategic context in which concepts are developed and the political implications of their underlying ontological commitments concerning the fundamental nature of value (their ‘value ontologies’). Over the course of three periods (1950s–1970; 1970s–1990s; 2000-the present), we trace the origins and emergence of two epistemic communities that have been pivotal in the concept’s development, and examine the value ontologies through which they frame ecosystem services and the value of nature more broadly. We chart milestones in the debate that has unfolded between them, and the growing salience of an inclusive ‘value-pluralist’ epistemic community alongside the earlier neoclassical-infused ‘economic utilitarian’ perspective. Treating each value ontology as a form of political strategy by which academics seek to promote the value of conservation in policy debates, we conclude by considering the capacity of each to enhance reflexivity in environmental governance.
... One of the major ecological economic limitations of the conventional compensation based logic of internalizing environmental externalities, by pricing them into decisions, whether through taxation, regulation or property rights allocations, is that it fails to address the fact that these shifted-costs are often trivial, when measured in monetary units (Vatn and Bromley, 1994), as compared with the income that can be secured through exploitation of, for example, a gold (Silva-Macher and Farrell, 2014) or carbon mine (Cardoso, 2015). Purely academic estimates of externalities, in the absence of taxation, share this compensatory logic and are supported only by moral sanction, which may well be of little importance to investors. ...
In the current financial climate, there is an opportunity for surplus capital to incentivize ecological economic production. Markets and financial products created in response to this surplus include investments in the maintenance of biologically viable natural systems and the development of sustainability transformation technologies. In this paper we critically examine their potential for supporting conservation and socio-ecological
transformation. Using Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen's flow-fund theory, we take sovereign wealth fund (SWF) investments as a case in point and ask: according to what principles might it be possible to ensure that SWF investments are directed toward producing new economic processes compatible with the transformation to an ecological economy? Employing the flow-fund theory concepts of economic Anschauung and process-funds, we specify a flow-fund fiduciary responsibility associated with ensuring that an economic process is designed so that its final cause, or purpose, can be realized sustainably and sustained over time. We illustrate the generalizability of these fiduciary criteria by applying them to the two very different potential target investments: mangrove forest recuperation and conservation and the roll-out of the electric vehicle transport sector. We conclude with reflections on the general applicability of this approach and recommendations for further research.
... Однак у соціоекологічному контексті епохи антропоцену очевидною стає неефективність цього інституту, адже досліджуючи ЕЕС, економісти зосереджуються на економічних аспектах і використовують економічні методи та інструменти, необґрунтовано залишаючи поза увагою ефекти емерджентності, притаманні цим системам. І хоча грошові оцінки незамінні в аналізі витрат і вигід (sartori, Catalano, Genco, Pancotti, sirtori, Vignetti, & Bo, 2014, Zahvoyska & shvediuk, 2016, підміна цінності суспільних благ їхніми грошовими оцінками призводить до нетривіальної втрати інформації, а відтак -до неефективної алокації ресурсів та ігнорування інтересів майбутніх поколінь (Vatn & Bromley, 1994). ...
Проаналізовано методологічні обмеження мейнстриму економічної теорії ХХ ст. у сфері дослідження еколого-економічних систем (ЕЕС) у соціо-екологічному контексті антропоцену. ЕЕС розглянуто на засадах постнекласичної наукової парадигми як органічну і динамічну єдність екологічної та економічної систем, пов’язаних обміном речовини, енергії та інформації, для яких характерна сильна нелінійна взаємодія структурних елементів і колективна (виникаюча, емерджентна) поведінка. Особливу увагу зосереджено на таких особливостях досліджуваних систем, як нелінійність, стохастичність і генераційність, а також на таких особливостях прийняття рішень стосовно управління цими системами, як плюралізм вартостей (цінностей), суб’єктивність оцінок і суджень, контекстуалізм рішень, релевантність неакадемічних знань і партисипативність самого процесу прийняття рішень.
Обґрунтовано напрями трансформування теоретико-методичних підходів до дослідження ЕЕС у межах постнекласичної наукової парадигми для усунення методологічних некоректностей сучасної економічної науки шляхом теоретизування на засадах екологічної економіки і теорії економічної складності, обмеженої раціональності і теорії економічного оцінювання. Аргументовано застосування нових інструментів дослідження еколого-економічних систем, а саме: нексусний підхід, деліберативні методи, імітаційне моделювання (агентне і системно-динамічне), методи оцінювання економічної вартості та ін.
... Subscriber: OUP-Reference Gratis Access; date: 26 June 2019 controversial when it comes to stated preference methods, which are based on surveybased elicitation of preferences for hypothetical decisions. The criticism comes both from the outside (e.g., Sagoff, 1988) and from within the economic profession (Diamond & Hausman, 1994;Hausman, 2012;Sen, 1995;Vatn & Bromley, 1994). The former usually emphasizes the democratic quality and legitimacy of economic valuation studies; the lat ter focuses on the validity of stated preference methods. ...
While economic values of nonmarket ecosystem goods and services are in high demand to inform decision-making processes, economic valuation has also attracted significant criticism. Particularly, its implicit rationality assumptions and value monism gave rise to alternative approaches to economic nonmarket valuation. Deliberative monetary valuation (DMV) originated in the early 2000s and gained particular prominence after 2010, especially in the context of the United Kingdom National Ecosystem Assessment (UK NEA). It constitutes a major methodological development to overcome the limitations of conventional nonmarket valuation methods by incorporating deliberative group elements (information provision, discussion, time to reflect in a group setting) in the valuation process.
DMV approaches range from those that focus on facilitating individual preference formation for complex and unfamiliar environmental changes and stay close to neoclassical economic theory to those that try to go beyond methodological individualism and monetary valuation to include a plurality of different values. The theoretical foundation of DMV comprises a mix of economic welfare theory, on the one hand, and various strands of deliberative democratic theory and discourse ethics, on the other. DMV formats are mostly inspired by deliberative institutions such as citizens’ juries and combine those with stated preference methods such as choice experiments. While the diversity of approaches within this field is large, it has been demonstrated that deliberation can lead to more well-informed and stable preferences as well as facilitate the inclusion of considerations going beyond self-interest. Future research challenges surrounding DMV include the exploration of intergroup power relations and group dynamics as well as the theoretical status and the validity of DMV results.
... Ici, le modèle standard du consommateur n'est donc pas remis en cause. La seconde réinterroge sur la pertinence même de ce cadre de référence face à l'importance des motivations psychologiques et sociales des choix (Vatn et Bromley, 1994), et dont la recommandation est l'abandon de l'indicateur monétaire. Les auteurs avancent ainsi la nécessité de recourir à d'autres mesures du bien-être (Kahneman et Sugden, 2005), ou le développement d'un autre modèle théorique qui soit compatible avec les comportements observés (Shogren et Taylor, 2008). ...
La thèse a pour objectif d’explorer différentes formes de mécanismes (réparations, incitations, modes de négociation, etc.) permettant de répondre aux revendications locales autour des projets d’implantation des infrastructures de transport d’électricité (ITE). A partir d’un cadre théorique basé sur le raisonnement en termes d’externalités et de droits de propriété, la thèse se structure autour de trois axes de recherche, mobilisant les enseignements de la littérature académique récente autour des projets d’infrastructures et environnementaux : l’économie spatiale pour mieux cibler l’impact sur l’économie locale (méthode des prix hédoniques) ; l’analyse stratégique sur les modalités d’interactions entre les différents porteurs d’enjeux (théorie des jeux) ; l’économie comportementale sur le rôle des mécanismes compensatoires et leur mise en œuvre (méthode des expériences de choix). L’originalité de ce travail de thèse est de sortir d’une approche des revendications locales en termes de conflits d’aménagement, pour aboutir à une formalisation plus complète des mécanismes qui favorisent (ou non) la coopération entre les différents porteurs d’enjeux, dans la mise en œuvre d’un projet d’ITE à l’échelle locale. 1. Evaluation économique des impacts des ITE Nous étudions comment les impacts supposés ou réels des projets d’ITE peuvent se diffuser au sein de l’économie locale, à travers des critères objectifs tels que les prix immobiliers. Nous procédons à deux évaluations empiriques. Tout d’abord une étude comparative de l’impact de la présence d’éoliennes et de lignes à haute tension (dont les implantations sont coordonnées) dans les territoires ruraux. Ce travail se focalise sur l’économie touristique à travers l’observation des variations des tarifs de locations de gites ruraux. Dans un deuxième temps, nous évaluons l’impact résiduel de l’annonce d’un projet d’ITE au sein des communes traversées par le réseau, et les mécanismes par lesquels les effets externes se matérialisent sur le marché immobilier (effets d’anticipation). 2. Logiques de partage autour des mécanismes compensatoires dans les projets d’ITE Il s’agit de comprendre les logiques guidant le partage des mécanismes compensatoires au sein d’un territoire. Pour cela nous étudions les modalités que revêtent les négociations autour des mécanismes compensatoires entre les communes accueillant les ITE et le gestionnaire du réseau. L’objectif est double. D’une part, il s’agit de montrer comment un 'accord coasien' peut émerger de différentes procédures de négociation, et analyser les équilibres en résultant pour chacune des parties. D’autre part, nous intégrons à la réflexion le cadre de régulation au sein duquel le gestionnaire réalise les investissements dans les ITE. Cela nous permet de relier la mise en œuvre de la compensation à l’ensemble des bénéficiaires des ITE (i.e. les consommateurs d’électricité). 3. Demande sociale pour des mécanismes compensatoires Enfin nous explorons différents mécanismes permettant de favoriser l’insertion territoriale des projets d’ITE. Nous étudions la pertinence opérationnelle de ces mécanismes au regard des préférences des habitants. Afin de disposer d’une base d’appréciation empirique des réponses à donner aux attentes sociales, nous proposons de traiter la problématique des mécanismes compensatoires en termes de demande de «programmes d’accompagnement» des territoires (composés de mesures d’insertion paysagère des ouvrages, de préservation de l’environnement, de fourniture de biens et services locaux, de financement de projets privés portés par les habitants). Une enquête est menée mobilisant la méthode des expériences de choix à travers une approche « délibérative ». Les résultats doivent permettre d’apprécier l’efficacité de la mise en œuvre des mesures d’accompagnement, et de mettre en concordance les attentes des populations locales avec les choix réalisés au cours des négociations par leurs représentants (cf. axe 2).
... Among them, ecological compensation ("eco-compensation" for short) is an essential mechanism for environmental protection and poverty reduction via government-sponsored fiscal payments to ecosystem service providers to maintain certain ecosystem services [3][4][5]. By encompassing many incentive-based approaches to environmental conservation [6], eco-compensation coordinates interests between shareholders by using public finances [7], and has been widely carried out in the Sustainability 2019Sustainability , 11, 2548 2 of 18 United States [8], European Union [9], China [10], and other countries [11]. However, the existing compensation projects also have faced varies challenges, especially in terms of project sustainability [5]. ...
Eco-compensation is an important mechanism when applying the theory of ecosystem services to practical development, which translates the external and non-market value of the environment into real financial incentives for local actors. Scientifically formulating feasible and credible compensation standards is the most critical and key step to adjusting the benefits received by environment protectors and beneficiaries. The Inner Mongolia agro-pastoral zone is an important ecological area with an undeveloped economy in Northern China. The implementation of eco-compensation policies contributes to ecological restoration and poverty alleviation. Taking Horqin Left Back Banner, Inner Mongolia, China as a study case, a quantitative model of a non-point source pollution eco-compensation program was established by using emergy synthesis—a thermodynamics-based method in ecological economic systems—to create a comprehensive eco-compensation standard. The results showed that the eco-compensation amounts for non-point source pollution were generally below 10% of the regional gross domestic product (GDP). A 11–20% reduction in fertilizer would be accepted according to the field investigation and the optimal eco-compensation strategy reduced the phosphate fertilizer application by 20% with a compensation standard of $379.63/ha/year, which was similar to the farmers’ willingness to accept compensation. For the accurate creation of a non-point source pollution eco-compensation program, the emergy synthesis overcomes the inconsistency in the quantification of the material flow, ecological flow, and economic flow, guaranteeing the sustainable implementation of non-point source pollution eco-compensation projects.
This book explains how people, families, and businesses navigate the complex
dance of choice-making in a world of scarcity. Microeconomics examines how
small economic units behave and how supply and demand affect market structure.
The idea of elasticity, the theory of consumer choice, the mechanics of production,
and costs have been discussed. It has been thoroughly investigated how buyers
and sellers interact in a variety of market arrangements, from ideal competition to
monopoly. An old human custom known as trade has developed into the basis of
contemporary economic interdependence. The mechanics of international trade are
examined in this book, along with the benefits of specialization and comparative
advantage. We will also look at how trade restrictions like tariffs and quotas affect
international trade. In addition, we will delve into the fundamentals of production
economics, including the ideas of productivity, efficiency, and the variables affecting the production process.
Our intent in writing this book is to motivate students and policymakers to
have in depth knowledge about various concepts of economics. I hope that the short extracts, book chapters will provide an impetus to the readers not only to read original texts, but also to demand well-stocked libraries. We anticipate that readers will find the knowledge and insights offered in this book to be both practical and inspiring and that they will be motivated to act to improve the world for both current and future generations.
As society is becoming increasingly urbanized, environmental quality is degrading and natural values, values that are irreplaceable, are endangered more than ever. The results of such processes may be practically irreversible, unless preventive measures are embedded in planning and development. The recent Covid-19 pandemic further inflated the urgent need to emphasise the importance of our collective health and quality of life as part of spatial planning policies and decision-making approaches. Societies now have a better understanding of the role that nature-based solutions (NBSs) could play in creating a sustainable, resilient and just urban environment, yet we still see a disjoint between theory and practice, with limited evidence of how NBSs are successfully embedded in spatial planning approaches. This chapter departs from an overview of the notion of healthy cities, as well as the historical development and current state of our urban environment. Nature-based planning solutions for a healthier future is accordingly considered, contextualised in terms of the environmental, economic and social benefits related to such NBSs. This framed the scope to understand the respective opportunities, and the challenges, in quest towards reclaiming global healthy cities. The chapter concludes with recommendations pertaining to nature-based planning solutions that could support and reclaim healthy cities.KeywordsHealthy citiesNature-based solutionsPlanningUrban environmentHealthSustainable development
Insect resistance management (IRM) involves understanding both the evolution of arthropods and the value of the evolved pest. This chapter focuses entirely on the issues of preference and value, of which most biologists have only a vague understanding. Management implies that decision makers have goals and that resources and labor will be allocated to achieve these goals. Also, time horizons over which programs will be implemented or evaluated must be selected. In this chapter, we describe the classification of economic goods that pertain to IRM and integrated pest management (IPM). We also discuss the valuation of pest density and of pest susceptibility at a single point in time. These attributes of pest quantity and quality are the primary factors in most discussions of IPM and IRM, as well as the critical variables in most economic models. Then we explain time preferences and the use of discounting of future values. Given that IRM requires management over multiple years, we must quantitatively compare values from different times to evaluate different strategies. We extend this value accounting to consider risk preferences by discussing methods commonly used to incorporate uncertainty into the decision-making process. An overview of economic IRM models is provided.
In line with international frameworks and following the example of other countries, France conducted a national ecosystem services (ES) assessment in 2012. National assessments are intended to be both comprehensive and useful. In practice, these objectives are conflicting and difficult to reach, leading the experts in charge of the assessment to allocate effort according to their own priorities. In the case of the marine part of the French ES assessment, we consulted stakeholders at the national scale to better connect the assessment to the interest of the end-users. We implemented a participatory approach based on a combination of workshops and online questionnaires. We collected stakeholder’s perception of (i) ES bundle; (ii) hierarchization of issues; (iii) specific issues of concern; and (iv) research needs for different types of marine ecosystems and groups of species. The results of the consultation assisted the assessment process in selecting key issues that necessitate in-depth analysis, and identifying discrepancies between stakeholders’ perceptions and the scientific knowledge that need to be addressed. Stakeholders’ perceptions were also mobilized as an additional source of data to inform decision-makers regarding the state of ecosystems and their ES. In the end, this work underlines the importance of stakeholder’s consultation to support ES assessment and provides guidance for its implementation in the future. Our results can also inform research needs to support the conservation of marine ecosystems.
In public management, it is common to face conflicting objectives, particularly in relation to land use. Adequate land use management requires a valuation of land that incorporates the value of all its characteristics. That is, in addition to the traditional direct use value, it must incorporate the non-use value (existence and legacy), as well as the indirect use and option values. The analytic hierarchy process is used, firstly, to identify the priority values based on a panel of experts, and secondly, in assessment of use/non-use values, using market valuation techniques as support. As a result, we analyse the trade-offs among all values, and the respondent's consistency. At first, we observed that the soil with the highest protection had the lowest market value in terms of direct use. However, considering the weights of the panel of experts, we can conclude that the market value only represents 7.6% of the total value. Non-market values represent 92.4% of the total value. The underlying aim is to facilitate decision-making in the field of land management to increase social welfare and the resilience of landscapes.
This chapter starts from the angle of the necessity of an absolute reduction of the Global North’s use of Earth’s sink and source capacities due to the unchangeable biophysical limitations and assesses the instruments therefore available to different types of stakeholders. In terms of methodology, this subchapter applies in a hermeneutic manner the decision support framework of 3-D Sustainability, the analytical differentiation among stakeholders as the “players of the game” and institutions as the “rules of the game” and adds to these rule-focused instruments two further types of instruments, namely economic-incentive focused and information focused ones. The findings start with a distinction between substantial inter-national and intra-national finetuning when it comes to the implementation of this absolute reduction goal in the Global North and provides justifications therefore. Then, in a rough overview, the general availability of the three instrument types to three overall types of stakeholders – namely (1) governmental ones, (2) for-profit ones and (3) not-for-profit ones is presented and discussed. For the further analysis, governmental stakeholders are picked out due to their unique availability of rule-focused instruments. Then, the different extent of availability of these instruments to governmental stakeholders on three levels (national, regional and international) of the geopolitical scale is shown and analyzed. Afterwards, national stakeholders are selected for the further analysis due to their unique availability of those rule-focused instruments that allow raising taxes as own income source. In relation to all three types of instruments discussed, concrete national actions are presented that implement absolute reductions based on four of the six 3-D Sustainability criteria, namely sufficiency, eco-effectiveness, ecological equity and socio-effectiveness. Conclusions further emphasize the global relevance of the findings and point out potential future research directions.
This chapter comments on the role that environmental justice considerations can potentially play in a green economy, by pointing out the possibilities and challenges facing the world in the environmental policy domain. It explains how differences in the way environmental justice is framed—based on different empirical and theoretical approaches—could impact how green and just an economy is in practice. Insights from environmental justice movements and climate justice discussions are introduced to open up a platform for dialogue between the proponents and critiques of green economy. Overall, the chapter argues that focusing on environmental justice would be highly beneficial in shaping the type of economics to adopt for just sustainabilities.
The new EU sustainable finance agenda:
a. Is a political choice to subsidize private finance rather than curb environmentally harmful activities via binding environmental regulation, which would automatically make all financegreen.
b. Can be understood as the 4th piece of a jigsaw fostering an unprecedented financialization of the policy response to climate change and biodiversity loss.
c. Is arguably not compatible with what science tells us we need to do in terms of timing and ambition.
d. Could foster doomed policy tools such as carbon and biodiversity offsetting, which would worsen the issue.
e. Might increase inequalities by obfuscating the trade-offs being made under the unrealistic promise of sustainable growth, through the remodelling of the role of the State and via adaptation policies subcontracting natural disaster insurance to financial markets.
f. Will likely weaken financial stability, if it is to promote new procyclical assets classes on
carbon and biodiversity with highly uncertain valuations and a high risk of contagion to other asset classes and the broader economy. Green securitisation would create additional risks, as would a green supporting factor weakening EU banks’ solvency, unless matched by a brown penalizing factor.
g. Shifts the debate away from phasing out fossil fuels and towards finding the right
financial incentives for private finance. As sustainable finance’s role takes on greater
political importance, it is also likely to come instead of and not in addition to appropriate
environmental policies - deemed no longer necessary as markets take care of the issue.
h. Could arguably be described as a climate policy for the 25%. As its ambition is not
compatible with science and as it fosters broken policy tools, it is arguably unlikely to
meaningfully alter the current 3+°C degree trajectory. It could therefore arguably be
described as an implicit political choice to accept the human consequences of such a
trajectory over truly changing our way of life and risking an economic depression.
What makes environmental conflicts complex and difficult to solve? This question is increasingly important because, more and more, environmental problems are going to shape local, national, regional, and international politics. Not surprisingly, this question has generated a lot of scholarship. Most of the time, however, it has been approached through the lens of a global, macro normative theory. By normative, I intend a theory that explains how certain conflicts should be solved or certain social relations should be governed; by macro, I intend a theory that departs from certain normative principles and from there illuminates a number of practical consequences; finally, by global, I intend a theory that looks at environmental problems through the lens of what people and state across to the globe owe to each other. In this thesis, I argue that such standard approach is useful only in limited cases and seldom can explain environmental conflicts which are characterised by different understandings of what an environmental problem ultimately is, by competing views on market-based mechanisms to solve environmental problems, and where different actors hold opposing positions of what should be done to solve the problem. In Chapter I, I introduce a case-study to show how the standard approach can sometimes hide the complexity of a specific environmental conflict over the appropriate use of natural resources. In particular, I introduce the reader to the Yasunì-ITT Initiative of Ecuador. The Initiative proposed to relinquish oil profits from one of the country’s largest oil reserves (20% of its proven reserves) in the Amazonian Yasuní National Park in exchange for donations, equal to half of the opportunity costs lost, from the international community, to be paid to Ecuadorians to keep the oil underground. I then argue that the international debate that this Initiative has generated in terms of whether it was, or not, a case of environmental blackmail has framed the environmental conflict around the proper ways in which developing states can make use of their natural resources in terms of an international struggle between Correa and the prospective international donors in a way that has hidden the complex demands of the Ecuadorean population which had brought the Initiative on the international stage in the first place. As a consequence, I argue that to do justice to the practical and theoretical difficulties that these types of policy raise, and the enduring conflicts they create, a 'macro' account of environmental policies must give way to a 'meso-level' analysis which is responsive to contextual considerations The meso-level approach developed in my dissertation identifies the analysis of narratives as a better instrument to explain the complexity of environmental conflicts and to understand which ideas animate the different actors on the opposing sides of a conflict. In my dissertation, I introduce three environmental narratives - ecological modernization, civic environmentalism, and radical environmentalism - and I analyze them through the organising work of two different sets of categories (matrices). Ecological modernization is a narrative which promotes market solutions to environmental problems on the ground that there are still many unexploited synergies between economic growth and environmental protection. Civic environmentalism is a narrative which sees the role of the public and the stakeholders in general as important for environmental protection on the ground that those who are personally affected by a problem should have a say in devising solutions which relate to them. Radical environmentalism is a narrative which remains deeply skeptical both about the promise that market mechanism could provide viable solutions to environmental degradation and about the promise that institutions through which stakeholder governance is channeled could redress the inequalities produced by the employment of market mechanisms. The first matrix seeks to understand the normative presuppositions underlying the three matrices in terms of arguments on the ground of efficiency and arguments on the ground of justice. The second matrix seeks to uncover the clashes, the hidden continuities, and the blind spots of the normative presuppositions identified through the first matrix. Clashes refer to the elements which uniquely characterise each narrative. Continuities refer to shared fundamental assumptions which are then interpreted in different ways; blind spots refer to normative concerns which are sidelined in one narrative but not in others. In my reconstruction of three narratives, I portray ecological modernization as the attempt to assimilate justice to efficiency in environmental policy; civic environmentalism as the attempt to subsume efficiency under a broader conception of political justice; and radical environmentalism as the attempt to reject both the paradigms of efficiency and political justice in favour of a largely non-anthropocentric conception of justice. In light of this analysis, in the conclusion, I go back to the Yasunì-ITT Initiative, I associate each narrative to a set of positions held by the various actors in Ecuadorean politics and I briefly review the policy implications of my analysis.
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