| 1. |
- Ahlborg, Helene, 1980, et al.
(författare)
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Provision of electricity to African households : The importance of democracy and institutional quality
- 2015
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Ingår i: Energy Policy. - : Elsevier BV. - 0301-4215 .- 1873-6777. ; 87, s. 125-135
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- How can differences in per capita household electricity consumption across African countries be understood? Based on theories that highlight the importance of democracy and institutional quality for provision of public goods, the aim of the paper is to analyse the degree to which the level of per capita household electricity consumption in African countries can be attributed to the countries’ democratic status and their institutional quality. We rely on regression analysis employing a pooled data set for 44 African countries over the time period 1996–2009. The analysis shows that democracy and institutional quality both have significant positive effects on per capita household consumption of electricity. Our results have implications for how energy sector reforms are promoted in developing countries. At a more general level they illustrate that institution-building policy efforts are relevant also in areas where contemporary debates have tended to primarily centre on economic development, financial prerequisites and ownership issues.
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| 2. |
- Jernnäs, Maria, et al.
(författare)
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Cross-national patterns of governance mechanisms in nationally determined contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement
- 2019
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Ingår i: Climate Policy. - : Taylor & Francis. - 1469-3062 .- 1752-7457. ; 19:10, s. 1239-1249
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The continuous submission and scaling-up of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) constitutes a key feature of the Paris Agreement. In their NDCs, states propose governance mechanisms for implementation of climate action, in turn distinguishing appropriate roles for the state in climate governance. Clarity on Parties’ suggested roles for the state makes explicit assumptions on the premise of climate policy, in turn contributing to enhanced transparency in negotiations on the scaling-up of NDCs. This also speaks to ongoing debates on roles for the state in climate governance literature. This article identifies the governance mechanisms proposed by states in their NDCs and the roles for the state envisioned by those governance mechanisms, and also examines how cross-national patterns of roles for the state break or converge with conventional patterns of international politics. The analysis shows that states propose a plurality of roles, which to different extents may be complementary or conflictual. We conclude that income, region, and the Annexes under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) are important for understanding suggested roles for the state, but that there are nuances to be further explored. We argue that this paper has three key findings: i) a majority of states rely on market mechanisms to implement their NDCs while rules on implementation and assessment of market mechanisms are still an outstanding issue in the negotiations, meaning that resolving this issue will be essential; ii) the process for evaluating and assessing qualitative governance mechanisms needs to be specified; and iii) increased awareness of differing views on the state’s roles makes explicit different perspectives on what constitutes an ambitious and legitimate contribution to combating climate change.
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| 3. |
- Lundmark, Carina, 1966-, et al.
(författare)
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Monitoring the effects of knowledge communication on conservation managers' perception of genetic biodiversity : a case study from the Baltic Sea
- 2019
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Ingår i: Marine policy. - : Elsevier. - 0308-597X .- 1872-9460. ; 99, s. 223-229
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Despite the attention given to genetic biodiversity in international agreements such as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Strategic Plan and the Aichi Targets, previous research points at a “conservation genetics gap,” indicating that scientific insights into genetic biodiversity are poorly integrated into practical management. Both researchers and managers call for platforms for knowledge exchange between science and practice. However, few scientific studies on the potential effects of such knowledge transfer have been conducted. The present study is a follow-up to Lundmark et al. (2017), which identified significant effects of two forms of knowledge communication on conservation managers’ concerns and beliefs in regard to Baltic Sea genetic biodiversity. This study departs from Lundmark et al. (2017) and explores (a) whether the identified alterations in knowledge and beliefs persist over time, and (b) whether potential stability differs between different types of policy beliefs as well as between two types of knowledge communication (lecture and group deliberation). The results of this follow-up study show that the positive impacts on managers’ self-assessed knowledge remained, while the effects on policy beliefs largely had vanished a few months after the knowledge communication. Thus, changes in beliefs seem perishable, suggesting that continuity is more important than the form of educational efforts.
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| 4. |
- Ek, Kristina, et al.
(författare)
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Challenges in Swedish hydropower : politics, economics and rights
- 2017
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Ingår i: Research Ideas and Outcomes. - : Pensoft Publishers. - 2367-7163. ; 3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Two systems working in parallel have contributed to implementation difficulties in Swedish water governance. While the old system is designed to be predictable and stable over time, the new system is intended to be transparent and holistic, guided by the principles of Integrated Water Resource Management. The paper disentangles the challenges in Swedish water governance and proposes a blueprint for future research. The proposed research project is unique in the sense that it explores the imbalances between the new and the old water governance systems from a multi-disciplinary perspective, elaborating upon the clashes between the traditional, nationally based regulatory system and the new holistic water governance system from legal, political and economic perspectives.
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| 5. |
- Harring, Niklas, 1979, et al.
(författare)
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Higher education, norm development, and environmental protection
- 2020
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Ingår i: Higher Education. - : Springer. - 0018-1560 .- 1573-174X. ; 79:2, s. 291-305
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- There is a debate on whether higher education in the social sciences generates stronger democratic and environmental norms among students. In our study, we focus on students’ perceptions about legitimate rule in the case of environmental protection. We contribute to this debate by using a unique longitudinal data set from seven universities and university colleges in Sweden. Our results show that higher education in the social sciences does not generate stronger democratic or environmental norms, at least not in the case of environmental protection. We discuss why this is the case and refine our results further by looking at individual-level factors, such as gender and ideology.
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| 6. |
- Harring, Niklas, 1979, et al.
(författare)
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Public Support for Pro-Environmental Policy Measures: Examining the Impact of Personal Values and Ideology
- 2017
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Ingår i: Sustainability. - Basel : MDPI. - 2071-1050. ; 9:5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article explores the relationship between two major explanations of the formation of positive attitudes towards environmental policy measures. Ideological orientation and personal values have, in theory, significant overlaps in the sense that they collect general and cross-situational sentiments used to understand and evaluate a wide range of political issues. However, in the empirical literature, although they independently have been shown to have rather significant effects on pro-environmental policy attitudes, they are rarely tested together in order to explore whether they capture the same basic mechanisms. In this article, two data sets from Sweden are used to demonstrate both that ideological orientation and personal values independently affect pro-environmental policy support, as well as that these effects differ across different policy types.
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| 7. |
- Harring, Niklas, 1979, et al.
(författare)
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Should we trust in values? : Explaining public support for pro-environmental taxes
- 2013
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Ingår i: Sustainability. - : MDPI AG. - 2071-1050. ; 5:1, s. 210-227
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this paper we are concerned with what explains public acceptance and support of environmental taxes. We examine findings in environmental psychology emphasizing that people’s (environmental) value-orientation is the dominant driver determining individuals’ support for pro-environmental policy instruments. We introduce a complementary model, mainly drawing upon findings in political science, suggesting that people’s support for policy instruments is dependent on their level of political trust and their trust in other citizens. More specifically, we analyze whether political trust and inter-personal trust affect individuals’ support for an increased carbon dioxide tax in Sweden, while checking their value orientation, self-interest, and various socio-economic values. We make use of survey data obtained from a mail questionnaire sent out to a random sample of 3,000 individuals in 2009. We find that apart from people’s values, beliefs, and norms, both political trust and interpersonal trust have significant effects on people's attitudes toward an increased tax on carbon dioxide.
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| 8. |
- Hoff-Elimari, Eivind, et al.
(författare)
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Collective action problems: Disentangling possible feedback loops between government policies and the public’s value-change
- 2014
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Ingår i: European Journal of Government and Economics. - : Universidade da Coruna. - 2254-7088. ; 3:1, s. 24-46
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Solving collective action problems, such as poverty reduction or climate change, depends on interactions between governments' and voters' preferences regarding pro-social actions. This paper examines whether the overall direction of change in pro-social public policy precedes public value-change, rather than the other way around. We examine change in the public’s pro-social values in six European countries, as measured by the European Social Survey (ESS) during 2002-2012. In these countries, we conducted an expert survey to rate governmental policy that expresses these values over the same period, thereby examining value-change in governmental policy. The chronological comparison of value-change of the public with that of respective governments suggests that changes in pro-social government policies may drive public value-change rather than vice versa. This complements previous studies focused on the opinion-policy connection. Possible political implications are discussed. The promising findings of this initial study point to the importance of conducting larger-scale future studies.
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| 9. |
- Jagers, Sverker, et al.
(författare)
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Societal causes of, and responses to, ocean acidification
- 2019
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Ingår i: Ambio. - : Springer. - 0044-7447 .- 1654-7209. ; 48:8, s. 816-830
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Major climate and ecological changes affect the world's oceans leading to a number of responses including increasing water temperatures, changing weather patterns, shrinking ice-sheets, temperature-driven shifts in marine species ranges, biodiversity loss and bleaching of coral reefs. In addition, ocean pH is falling, a process known as ocean acidification (OA). The root cause of OA lies in human policies and behaviours driving society's dependence on fossil fuels, resulting in elevated CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere. In this review, we detail the state of knowledge of the causes of, and potential responses to, OA with particular focus on Swedish coastal seas. We also discuss present knowledge gaps and implementation needs.
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| 10. |
- Jagers, Sverker, et al.
(författare)
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Testing the Importance of Individuals’ Motives for Explaining Environmentally Significant Behavior
- 2017
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Ingår i: Social Science Quarterly. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0038-4941 .- 1540-6237. ; 98:2, s. 644-658
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- ObjectiveThis article explores how different motives affect behavior, and attempts to explain how the causal chain of values and beliefs forms our understanding of and motives for private-sphere environmentally significant behaviors (ESBs). As a point of departure, we postulate that traditional models focusing primarily on individual-level motivation as a driver for ESB should benefit significantly from making a distinction in the dependent variable between: (1) behaviors that are explicitly pro-environmental, judging both by their outcomes and the individual's stated motives for undertaking them; (2) behaviors that have a positive environmental impact but that are connected to motives other than environmental ones; as well as (3) behaviors where both environmental and other motives coincide as drivers for ESB.MethodsIn order to answer our research questions, we use survey data collected from a random sample from the Swedish population register. The main dependent variable is the self-reported frequency of 12 different kinds of nonactivist, private-sphere behaviors. We employ ordinary least square regressions to analyze the explanatory strength of individual-level motivational factors for ESB when taking stated motives for behavior into account.Results and ConclusionThe results support our main assumption that to explain drivers for ESB, stated motives should be taken into account. For all of the 12 ESBs in the survey, a considerable share of the respondents do not perceive or motivate behavior as pro-environmentalism at all, and others provide multiple motives for their behavior, combining, for example, economic or health with environmentalism. Furthermore, when analyzing the relationship between a scientifically well-established model aspiring to explain pro-environmental behavior, and individuals’ behavioral perceptions and their stated behavior, we find that the explanatory power of this model is clearly sensitive to people's stated motives.
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