1. |
- Carlsson-Kanyama, Annika, et al.
(författare)
-
Food and life cycle energy inputs : consequences of diet and ways to increase efficiency
- 2003
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Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 44:03-feb, s. 293-307
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Food consumption is one of the most polluting everyday activities when impacts during product life cycles are considered. Greenhouse gas emissions from the food sector are substantial and need to be lowered to stabilise climate change. Here, we present an inventory of life cycle energy inputs for 150 food items available in Sweden and discuss how energy efficient meals and diets can be composed. Energy inputs in food life cycles vary from 2 to 220 MJ per kg due to a multitude of factors related to animal or vegetable origin, degree of processing, choice of processing and preparation technology and transportation distance. Daily total life cycle energy inputs for diets with a similar dietary energy consumed by one person can vary by a factor of four, from 13 to 51 MJ. Current Swedish food consumption patterns result in life cycle energy inputs ranging from 6900 to 21,000 MJ per person and year. Choice of ingredients and gender differences in food consumption patterns explain the differences. Up to a third of the total energy inputs is related to snacks, sweets and drinks, items with little nutritional value. It is possible to compose a diet compatible with goals for energy efficiency and equal global partition of energy resources. However, such a diet is far from the Swedish average and not in line with current trends.
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2. |
- Carlsson, Lars
(författare)
-
Book review: Protecting the commons : a framework for resource management in the Americas
- 2002
-
Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 40:3, s. 457-458
-
Recension (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Review of: Protecting the commons. A framework for resource management in the Americas Edited by Joanna Burger, Elinor Ostrom, Richard B. Norgaard, David Policansky and Bernard D. Goldstein, Island Press, Washington DC, 2001, ISBN 1-55963-738-2
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3. |
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4. |
- Gudmundsson, Henrik, et al.
(författare)
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Sustainable development principles and their implications for transport
- 1996
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Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 19:3, s. 269-282
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- 'Sustainable mobility' has been adopted as an overall objective for European transport policy, and similar intentions are expressed in other parts of the world. However, little has been done to define what 'sustainable mobility' would actually imply for our understanding and assessment of transport. We suspect that this much used term could merely end up acting as a lubricant to the very development it was meant to challenge: The ever increasing movement of people and goods. In this article we attempt to place transport in the context of sustainable development principles. We emphasise the need to include principles of development (increasing well-being and equity) as well as sustainability (preserving natural and man-made capital). Four such principles are suggested, taking inspiration from Herman Daly and others. We then turn to explore the main features of transport, establishing a comprehensive transport concept. The concept combines a systems perspective with a service perspective. Omitting either one would disable a complete consideration of sustainable development. Our confrontation of the four principles with the reality of current transport trends gives rise to several critical implications. The most important of which relate to the contribution of transport to depleting natural capital and quality of life. Moreover, we are also forced to challenge the value of increasing mobility itself, if other forms of access may provide relevant substitutes. The article thereby outlines some conceptual foundations for a transport policy that could qualify as sustainable.
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5. |
- Gustafsson, Bo
(författare)
-
Scope and limits of the market mechanism in environmental management
- 1998
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Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 24:2, s. 259-274
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper tries to evaluate the role of the market mechanism in environmental management and warns against reductionist views on the causes and remedies of environmental damages. According to some of these views, proper pricing of the environment and extensive use of market mechanisms in environmental management would solve environmental problems. But various conditions tell against such simplifications, namely: the complex causality behind environmental damages; the complexity of the functions and values of nature; as well as limitations of the market mechanism in coping with the functions and services of nature. Several of those limitations—the difficulties of defining and enforcing property rights to nature's functions and services; the pervasiveness of externalities conditioned by the public goods characteristics of many environmental functions and values; the difficulties in enticing, processing and using information about environmental goods; and the high transaction costs caused by all these circumstances—often rule out contracts and trading of environmental services. It is less known that the basic cause of market existence and extension, namely specialization and division of labour, have negative environmental effects. With respect to environmental policy, conceptual problems are analyzed. While all kinds of environmental management mechanisms have a regulatory function, only quantity mechanisms, as a subset of incentive mechanisms, are market mechanisms. The choice of relevant environmental policy instrument is conditioned by many considerations. The issue of the superior efficiency properties of market mechanisms in environmental management is not yet settled satisfactorily; extensive empirical tests are still lacking.
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6. |
- Hammer, Monica, et al.
(författare)
-
Enhancing transdisciplinary dialogue in curricula development
- 2001
-
Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - : Elsevier. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 38, s. 1-5
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- A crucial step towards realizing transdisciplinary understanding is to address transdisciplinary issues in university curricula, and to train students in critically analyzing and understanding disciplinary metaphors. We present an experimental exercise at Stockholm University with the aim of finding a constructive way to introduce transdisciplinary elements in disciplinary courses and thus increase student awareness of disciplinary metaphors. The exercise required a minimum of formal university decision procedures and thus circumvented the institutional barriers that tend to obstruct the establishment of full transdisciplinary programs.
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7. |
- Rönnbäck, Patrik, et al.
(författare)
-
Illuminating the need for ecological knowledge in economic valuation of mangroves under different management regimes — a critique
- 2000
-
Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - Amsterdam : Elsevier. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 35:2, s. 135-141
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This is a commentary on a paper by Gilbert and Janssen (Gilbert, A.J., Janssen, R., 1998. Ecol. Econ. 25, 323–346) that deals with valuation of management alternatives for the Pagbilao mangroves, Philippines. Our main critique focuses on the undervaluation of fisheries as well as the inability to quantify the value of ecological services and internalize aquaculture’s environmental costs. In addition, the sustainability criteria set up for the aquaculture management alternatives is open to debate. These weaknesses affect the result of Gilbert and Janssen’s analysis so that the value of the unexploited mangrove forest is underestimated, and the value and sustainability of converting the forest into aquaculture ponds are overestimated. If applied to decision-making, the erroneous results from this partial cost–benefit analysis may have dire consequences for the mangroves and coastal communities of Pagbilao.
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8. |
- Rönnbäck, Patrik
(författare)
-
The ecological basis for economic value of seafood production supported by mangrove ecosystems
- 1999
-
Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - Amsterdam : Elsevier. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 29:2, s. 235-252
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The undervaluation of natural products and ecological services generated by mangrove ecosystems is a major driving force behind the conversion of this system into alternative uses. This trend of undervaluation is partly due to the difficulty involved in placing a monetary value on all relevant factors, but lack of ecological knowledge and a holistic approach among those performing the evaluation may be even more important determinants. This article identifies and synthesizes ecological and biophysical links of mangroves that sustain capture fisheries and aquaculture production. Fish, crustacean and mollusc species associated with mangroves are presented and the ecology of their direct use of this system is reviewed. Through a coastal seascape perspective, biophysical interactions among mangroves, seagrass beds and coral reefs are illustrated. The life-support functions of mangrove ecosystems also set the framework for sustainable aquaculture in these environments. Estimates of the annual market value of capture fisheries supported by mangroves ranges from US$ 750 to 16 750 per hectare, which illustrates the potential support value of mangroves. The value of mangroves in seafood production would further increase by additional research on subsistence fisheries, biophysical support to other ecosystems, and the mechanisms which sustain aquaculture production.
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9. |
- Sundkvist, Åsa, et al.
(författare)
-
Strengths and limitations of localizing food production as a sustainability-building strategy : - an analysis of bread production on the island of Gotland, Sweden
- 2001
-
Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - : Elsevier. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 37:2, s. 217-227
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this paper we analyze the environmental consequences of local small-scale versus centralized large-scale bread production and the potential for self-sufficiency in bread in a Swedish island community. Mills and bakeries located on the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea were compared with large-scale production systems on the Swedish mainland. The results show that bread production in local bakeries requires more total energy input per kilogram of bread than the industrial bakery, mainly due to inefficient technology. On the other hand, the analysis shows that emissions of CO2, SO2 and NOx are smaller from bread produced in the small local bakeries than from big bakeries on the Swedish mainland. This is because the transportation routes are much shorter for bread from the small bakeries and because oil is more frequently used for heating the ovens in large and medium sized bakeries. The present local production of flour on Gotland does not satisfy the local demand, but there is a potential for increased self-sufficiency. Farms on the island produce large amounts of bread grain, but only a small fraction (2%) is used in local flour production, while the rest is exported or used as animal fodder. Thus the region has a large potential to produce enough flour for its local population and thus to become less dependent on imports. However, using more locally produced bread grain to produce flour in local mills, improving energy efficiency in small-scale mills and bakeries, changing consumer behavior and internalizing environmental costs of transportation are crucial measures in achieving this goal.
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10. |
- Söderbaum, Peter, 1937-
(författare)
-
Actors, ideology, markets : Neoclassical and institutional perspectives on environmental policy
- 1994
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Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - : Elsevier. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 10:1, s. 47-60
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This essay is a critical examination of three well-known textbooks of neoclassical environmental economics concerning their treatment of environmental policy. Dynamic efficiency in the sense of Cost-Benefit Analysis of a monetary kind is not the value-neutral instrument to project and policy evaluation it purports to be. Measuring willingness-to-pay and other market values does not solve many problems if the issue is one of world view, ideology and life-styles. As an alternative to conventional approaches. a more open attitude to various ideological standpoints in society is recommended.Neoclassical textbooks emphasize the government as the main agent in environmental policy and classify policy instruments as either belonging to the command-and-control or the economic incentives category. A broadening of perspective is here suggested in the sense ofincluding many more agents of environmental policy; for instance business companies and public interest groups. Environmental policy starts rather at the level of individuals than governments. A distinction is made between monetary and non-monetary incentives and disincentives as ways of influencing behavior, and alternatives to the neoclassical view of man, business, markets are suggested for purposes of understanding social change.
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11. |
- Söderbaum, Peter, 1937-
(författare)
-
Neoclassical and institutional approaches to development and the environment
- 1992
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Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - : Elsevier. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 5:2, s. 127-144
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Institutional economics is suggested as a more fruitful approach to environmental problems than the now dominant neoclassical paradigm. The historical background of institutionalism in the United States and Europe is given as well as th main characteristics of this approach, i.e. holism, emphasis on institutional arrangements, pattern modelling and emphasis on the political element of economics. Differences between neoclassical and institutional economics are elaborated with respect to the concept of economics (reductionist versus holistic), the approach to decision-making (aggregated versus highly disaggregated), and the view of social and institutional change (public choice versus actor-network approach).
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12. |
- Söderbaum, Peter, 1937-
(författare)
-
Values, ideology and politics in ecological economics
- 1999
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Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - : Elsevier. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 28:2, s. 161-170
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Ecological economics is built on a value-commitment to study environmental issues and to contribute constructively to a more sustainable development path. However, many ecological economists still hesitate, it appears, to depart too much from other scholars by openly addressing issues of value and ideology. In this essay, the role of the scholar's orientation with respect to values and ideology is addressed. It is observed that not only scholars but also actors in society are guided by their 'ideological orientation'. This leads to the idea that some of the weaknesses of Economic Man and 'profit maximizing firm' assumptions can be mitigated by introducing a Political Economic Person and a Political Economic Organization.
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13. |
- Söderholm, Patrik, et al.
(författare)
-
Pricing environmental externalities in the power sector: ethical limits and implications for social choice
- 2003
-
Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 46:3, s. 333-350
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- During the last decade, a series of valuation studies have made attempts at estimating the external environmental costs of various power generation sources. The purposes of this paper are: (a) to explore some of the ethical limits of the economic valuation of environmental impacts; and (b) to analyze what the implications are of these limits for the social choice between different electric power sources. Environmental valuation based on welfare economic theory builds on restrictive behavioral foundations and can only partly model moral values, although such values are an essential part of people's preference towards the environment. In addition, public preferences are seldom exogenously given as is commonly assumed in economic theory, but are instead formed in public discourse. For this reason, the range of electricity externalities where economic valuation (and thus cost–benefit analysis) should be applied is likely to be narrower than often assumed. After analyzing the scope, methodology and the results of the so-called ExternE project, the paper concludes that many power generation externalities are either inherently ‘new’ or inherently ‘complex’. In these cases, the initial challenge lies not in ‘discovering’ private preferences, but in specifying the conditions for public discourse over common ways of understanding what the pertinent issues are about. This implies that research on the environmental externalities of power generation must, in addition to refining the theory and the applications of existing non-market valuation techniques, also address the instruments and content of political and moral debate.
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14. |
- Aaheim, Asbjørn, et al.
(författare)
-
Requirements to metrics of greenhouse gas emissions, given a cap on temperature
- 2017
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Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - : Elsevier. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 131, s. 460-467
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The literature on metrics to measure contributions to climate change from emissions of different greenhouse gases divides into studies that highlight physical aspects and studies that show the importance of economic factors. This paper distinguishes the physical aspects and implications of economic factors by asking what is demanded from physically based metrics if used for a specific policy objective. We study the aim of maximizing the welfare of emissions generated by consumption when there is a limit to the increase in global mean temperature. In that case, metrics ought to change over time, with increasing weight on short-living gases before the temperature limit is met. Metrics for short-living gases increase also with increasing uncertainty. Adjustments to new information spur higher metrics for short-living gases if it reduces the expected allowable emissions before the target is met, and lower metrics in the opposite case. Under a binding target, metrics refer to the instantaneous impact on radiative forcing multiplied by the lifetime of the respective gases, and adjusted by the attitude to risk.
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15. |
- Agneman, Gustav, et al.
(författare)
-
On the nexus between material and ideological determinants of climate policy support
- 2024
-
Ingår i: ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS. - : Elsevier. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 219
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study explores how rising economic costs of climate mitigation policies differentially shape climate policy support among the political left and right. To this end, we randomly manipulate how much consumption costs increase as a result of four different climate mitigation policies and study how different cost scenarios influence policy support among a sample of 1,597 Swedish adults. We find that more costly climate policies induce greater climate policy polarization, since right -leaning participants display both lower baseline and more cost -sensitive climate policy support. In addition, we investigate how policy costs affect participants' concerns about the climatic consequences of consumption. While inconclusive, the results indicate that rightleaning participants, in some instances, display less concern about the climatic consequences of consumption when policy costs rise. This pattern can be understood through the lens of motivated disbelief, which holds that people adjust their beliefs in order to support their preferred actions. The present study provides novel insights as to how and when material conditions influence climate policy preferences.
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16. |
- Ahlroth, Sofia, et al.
(författare)
-
Sustainable energy prices and growth : Comparing macroeconomic and backcasting scenarios
- 2007
-
Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 63:4, s. 722-731
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- How do results from the sustainability research world of backcasting relate to the macroeconomic scenarios used for policy evaluation and planning? The answer is that they don't, mostly - they come from different scientific traditions and are not used in the same contexts. Yet they often deal with the same issues. We believe that much can be gained by bringing the two systems of thinking together. This paper is a first attempt to do so, by making qualitative comparisons between different scenarios and highlighting benefits and limitations to each of them. Why are the pictures we get of the energy future so different if we use a macroeconomic model from when using a backcasting approach based on sustainable energy use? It is evident that the methods for producing those two kinds of scenarios differ a lot, but the main reason behind the different results are found in the starting points rather than in the methods. Baseline assumptions are quite different, as well as the interpretations and importance attached to signals about the future. in this paper, it is discussed how those two types of scenarios differ and how they approach issues such as energy prices and growth. The discussion is based on a comparison between Swedish economic and sustainability scenarios. The economic scenarios aim at being forecasts of the future and are used as decision support for long-term policies. But are the assumptions in the economic scenarios reasonable? The sustainability scenarios are explicitly normative backcasting scenarios. They do not take the issue of growth and consumption fully into account. Could they be developed in this respect? The comparison between the scenarios is also used to look closer at the issue of energy prices in a society with sustainable energy use. One of the questions raised is if a low energy society calls for high energy prices. Moreover, the effects of tradable permits versus energy taxes is analysed in the context of how energy use could be kept low in a growing economy.
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17. |
- Alfredsson, Eva, et al.
(författare)
-
Real capital investments and sustainability : - The case of Sweden
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - : Elsevier. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 161, s. 216-224
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Real capital investments are important for a transition to a more sustainable economy and for the continuous process of creative destruction and economic development. At the same time investments have negative environmental effects. In this paper we analyze to what extent the current investments in real capital (i.e.,buildings, machinery and infrastructures) in Sweden are sustainable in regard of the most important resources used in investments and in terms of CO2 emissions. This is evaluated based on Sweden's share of a sustainable use of these resources and our share of the remaining carbon budget for achieving the Paris agreement. In the analysis we have used best publicly available data and methods to indicatively establish sustainable levels of resource use and emissions. We find that 1 million invested SEK (US$ 110,000) generate 15–75 tonnes of CO2 emissions and use 80–260 MWh of energy, and on average 4.8 tonnes of iron, 0.2 tonnes of aluminum, 260 tonnes of gravel and sand and 6 tonnes of timber. Our analysis shows that within 50 years current investment would use up Sweden's CO2 budget available for achieving the Paris agreement, leaving no room for emissions from consumption. The use of timber, gravel and sand is above Sweden's share of a global yearly sustainable production. The current use of iron and aluminum can be maintained for 20–50 years, but approaches the sustainability criteria with a 200 year perspective.
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18. |
- Andersson, Anna, et al.
(författare)
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The effect of eco-certification on demand: The case of MSC-certified Norway lobster
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 204
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We investigate if Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified Norway lobster fishing vessels in Sweden got higher prices and sold larger quantities after certification was introduced in 2015. Using detailed daily panel data and exploiting the fact that the same fishing water contains both certified and non-certified vessels, we use a difference-in-difference model for analysing demand effects of MSC-certification. We find a price premium the first months after the launch of the certification scheme for the initial adopters. However, this price premium dissipates over time and is mainly found for trawler vessels. For trawlers, we also find a negative effect on sold quantities the first months after certification but a positive effect a few years after certification. Creelers, on the other hand, got a positive effect on quantities sold both immediately after certification and after a few years. No general effect of MSC certification is found on neither prices nor quantities when the entire period January 2012 – January 2018 is investigated.
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19. |
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20. |
- Angelstam, Per
(författare)
-
Choice experiment assessment of public preferences for forest structural attributes
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 119, s. 8-23
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Combining the approach used in landscape research with non-market valuation techniques, the aim of this study is to document human habitat selection for recreational purposes in a gradient of forest naturalness. The results indicate that respondents prefer older stands with vertical layering, irregularly spaced trees and a greater number of tree species. Our study thus indicates that forests that are managed (or left unmanaged) for biodiversity purposes are also likely to be attractive to humans. To conclude, while greater management intensity was associated with higher disutility regardless of the model employed, we do not perceive a risk of conflict between forest management designed to protect biodiversity and management targeting recreational value. Consequently, there is a need for spatially differentiated forest management that discriminates among different functions. The state ownership of all larger Polish forest massifs makes this zoning approach feasible. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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21. |
- Arora Jonsson, Seema
(författare)
-
Does resilience have a culture? Ecocultures and the politics of knowledge production
- 2016
-
Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 121, s. 98-107
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Culture, that for long had been a neglected concept in resilience thinking, has gained prominence in recent times, especially in the notion of ecocultures/ecocultural resilience to be achieved through transdisciplinary projects. In this paper, I conceptualize the relation of science with society and culture that resilience scholars propose as part of a larger agenda of the integration of science with different knowledge and epistemologies. In order to understand how resilience thinking relates to culture, I investigate the culture of resilience itself. Using the lens of cultural and science studies, I go back to the history and context of resilience and transdisciplinarity, examine some of the central tools and concepts in resilience thinking and its entanglements in the politics of the past and present. In light of the discussion, I argue that we need to 'situate' rather than 'integrate' our knowledge production. This entails not only recognizing our own culture but also being open to different ways of knowing and to be able to transgress resilience. Moving away from integration and embracing ambivalence and humility can open up to experimental practices and trading places' in order to engage with nature and others justly. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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22. |
- Bagliani, Marco, et al.
(författare)
-
A consumption-based approach to environmental Kuznets curves using the ecological footprint indicator
- 2008
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Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 65:3, s. 650-661
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Recent research suggests that consumption-based measures offer an insightful perspective on the debate on the relationship between economic growth and the environment. In this article we deepen the consumption-based line of inquiry by investigating the empirical evidence in support of the environmental Kuznets hypothesis using 2001 ecological footprint data for 141 countries. We perform Ordinary Least Squares and Weighted Least Squares analysis on linear, quadratic and cubic functions, in standard and logarithmic specifications, as candidate models to represent the relationship between per capita income and environmental pressure. We replicate the cross country analysis also by estimating the regression function directly, through a nonparametric regression. In our analyses, with and without weighing data by population, the results do not show evidence of de-linking. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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23. |
- Bali Swain, Ranjula, et al.
(författare)
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Regulation, governance and the role of the informal sector in influencing environmental quality?
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - : Elsevier. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 173
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We investigate the effect of the informal sector and a range of governance indicators on both global and local pollutants for a panel of 58 countries during 1996-2011. The analysis employs a fixed effects-instrumental variable generalized method of moments approach. We find that the size of the informal sector has a significant impact on environmental quality, which is conditional on the level of economic development. For developing countries, the informal sector has a significant positive impact on local pollutants, whereas for the developed countries the informal sector has a significantly negative effect on global pollutants. The findings also reveal that the impact of governance depends on the type of governance measure, the level of economic development and type of pollutant. Control of corruption emerges as the single most important factor especially in the non-OECD countries in improving environmental quality. We argue that the efficacy of an environmental policy for a country with a large informal sector will be low if the policy measures do not address governance, size of the informal sector and environmental policy targets.
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24. |
- Barthel, Stephan, 1968-, et al.
(författare)
-
The potential of ‘Urban Green Commons’ in the resilience building of cities
- 2013
-
Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - : Elsevier. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 86, s. 156-166
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- While cultural diversity is increasing in cities at a global level as a result of urbanization, biodiversity is decreasing with a subsequent loss of ecosystem services. It is clear that diversity plays a pivotal role in the resilience building of ecosystems; however, it is less clear what role cultural diversity plays in the resil- ience building of urban systems. In this paper we provide innovative insights on how common property sys- tems could contribute to urban resilience building. Through a review of recent findings on urban common property systems and the relevant literature, we deal with urban green commons (UGCs) and discuss their potential to manage cultural and biological diversity in cities. We describe three examples of UGCs, i.e. col- lectively managed parks, community gardens, and allotment areas, with a focus on their institutional characteristics, their role in promoting diverse learning streams, environmental stewardship, and social– ecological memory. We discuss how UGCs can facilitate cultural integration through civic participation in urban land-management, conditions for the emergence of UGCs, the importance of cognitive resilience building, and what role property-rights diversity plays in urban settings. We conclude by elucidating some key insights on how UGCs can promote urban resilience building.
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25. |
- Barthel, Stephan, 1968-, et al.
(författare)
-
Urban gardens, agriculture, and water management : Sources of resilience forlong-term food security in cities
- 2013
-
Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - Amsterdam : Elsevier. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 86, s. 224-234
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Food security has always been a key resilience facet for people living in cities. This paper discusses lessons for food security fromhistoric and prehistoric cities. The Chicago school of urban sociology established amodernist understanding of urbanism as an essentialist reality separate from its larger life-support system. However, different urban histories have given rise to a remarkable spatial diversity and temporal variation viewed at the global and long-term scales that are often overlooked in urban scholarship.Drawing on two case studies fromwidely different historical and cultural contexts – the Classic Maya civilization of the late first millennium AD and Byzantine Constantinople – this paper demonstrates urban farming as a pertinent feature of urban support systems over the long-term and global scales. We show how urban gardens, agriculture, and water management as well as the linked social–ecological memories of how to uphold such practices over time have contributed to long-term food security during eras of energy scarcity. We exemplify with the function of such local blue–green infrastructures during chocks to urban supply lines. We conclude that agricultural production is not “the antithesis of the city," but often an integrated urban activity that contribute to the resilience of cities.
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26. |
- Barthtel, Stephan, 1968-, et al.
(författare)
-
Urban Gardens, Agricultures and Waters : Sources of Resilience for Long-Term Food Security in Cities
- 2013
-
Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 86, s. 224-234
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Food security has always been a key resilience facet for people living in cities. This paper discusses lessons for food security from historic and prehistoric cities. The Chicago school of urban sociology established a modernist understanding of urbanism as an essentialist reality separate from its larger life-support system. However, different urban histories have given rise to a remarkable spatial diversity and temporal variation viewed at the global and long-term scales that are often overlooked in urban scholarship. Drawing on two case studies from widely different historical and cultural contexts - the Classic Maya civilization of the late first millennium AD and Byzantine Constantinople - this paper demonstrates urban farming as a pertinent feature of urban support systems over the long-term and global scales. We show how urban gardens, agriculture, and water management as well as the linked social-ecological memories of how to uphold such practices over time have contributed to long-term food security during eras of energy scarcity. We exemplify with the function of such local blue-green infrastructures during chocks to urban supply lines. We conclude that agricultural production is not "the antithesis of the city," but often an integrated urban activity that contribute to the resilience of cities.
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27. |
- Bengtsson, Jan, et al.
(författare)
-
Towards valuation of biodiversity in agricultural soils: A case for earthworms
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 159, s. 291-300
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Soil biodiversity is deteriorating in Europe due to an on-going intensification of agriculture, climate change and food production supporting measures of the European Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Nevertheless, the CAP tries to take biodiversity into account via proposing a range of agri-environmental measures. These ES contribute to food security, climate change mitigation, water retention and plant biomass growth. Healthy soils also help to prevent erosion, desertification, and landslides and to stabilise crop yields. The provision of ES by soil biota is a result of their impact on soil processes in interaction with soil conditions as well as soil management practices of the farmers such as tillage or crop rotations. Some taxa amongst soil biota play key roles in regulating soil processes. With respect to biocontrol of soil-borne pests, the earthworm species Lumbricus terrestris is known to play an important role in suppressing toxigenic plant pathogens, such as Fusarium culmorum and its mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON). We highlight the importance of earthworms for pest control to conceptualise and show how farmers' management practices influence soil ecosystem services and outline how this can be examined in a socio-ecological context by providing a concrete example of an economical evaluation of ES provided by earthworms.
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28. |
- Bergek, Anna, 1973-, et al.
(författare)
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The impact of environmental policy instruments on innovation : A review of energy and automotive industry studies
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - : Elsevier. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 106, s. 112-123
-
Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Various types of policy instruments have been implemented to reduce local and global emissions, but the impact on innovation of different instruments has received less attention. This paper reviews empirical studies of the innovation impact of four main types of policy instruments in two high-emitting sectors. The conclusions are threefold. (1) Policy plays a key role for the development and diffusion of environmental innovation in the studied sectors. (2) Different types of instruments promote different types of innovations: general economic instruments has primarily encouraged incremental innovation, general regulatory instruments has enforced improvements based on modular innovation, and technology-specific instruments appears to have been needed to support the development and deployment of radically new technologies. (3) All types of policy instruments face challenges in design and implementation: understanding the selection impact of the chosen instruments, implementing increasing stringency levels, committing to an appropriate scale, and safeguarding policy stability.
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29. |
- Berglund, Christer
(författare)
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The assessment of households' recycling costs : the role of personal motives
- 2006
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Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 56:4, s. 560-569
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper analyzes households' perceptions of recycling activities in a municipality in northern Sweden, Piteå. The purpose of the paper is to analyze whether moral motives matter for the assessment of households' waste sorting costs. Data were gathered using a mail-out survey to 850 randomly chosen individuals in the municipality of Piteå, Sweden. We employ an economic model of moral motivation and econometric techniques. The main result that follows from the analysis is that the results support the notion that moral motives significantly lower the costs associated with household recycling efforts.
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30. |
- Bergquist, Ann-Kristin, et al.
(författare)
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Command-and-control revisited : environmental compliance and technological change in Swedish industry 1970-1990
- 2013
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Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 85, s. 6-19
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper addresses the issue of environmental policy instrument choice for achieving deep emission reductions in the industrial sector. Specifically, it provides: (a) a theoretical and empirical review of the conditions under which performance standards can provide efficient incentives for deep emission reductions and technology adoption; and (b) an analysis of the design and the outcomes of the standards-based regulation of industrial pollutants in Sweden during the period 1970–1990. Our empirical findings suggest that the Swedish regulatory approach comprised many key elements of an efficient policy-induced transition towards radically lower emissions in the metal smelting and pulp and paper industries. The regulation relied solely on performance standards, thus granting flexibility to firms in terms of selecting the appropriate compliance measures. These standards were implemented in combination with extended compliance periods. R&D projects and the new knowledge that was advanced incrementally in interaction between the company, the environmental authorities and research institutions provided a direct catalyst to the regulatory process. In these ways the Swedish regulatory approach provided scope for creative solutions, environmental innovation, and permitted the affected companies to coordinate pollution abatement measures with productive investments.
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31. |
- Bostedt, Göran, 1966-, et al.
(författare)
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Accounting for cultural heritage : A theoretical and empirical exploration with focus on Swedish reindeer husbandry
- 2010
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Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 69:3, s. 651-657
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of this paper is to explore some of the theoretical and empirical aspects of an economy which includes cultural capital. We use a simple dynamic growth model and the concept of a social accounting matrix (SAM) to illustrate how the addition of income flows and net changes of various natural and cultural resources can be incorporated into a broader measure of welfare. The Swedish reindeer industry, managed by the indigenous Sami people, is used as an example since it is generally regarded to have significant cultural heritage value, beyond its contribution to conventional national accounts. We discuss a theoretically correct compensation to a cultural sector for preserving and maintaining a cultural heritage. Furthermore, we attempt to estimate the cultural value of the Sámi Reindeer sector in Sweden using a CVM survey. The results suggest that the willingness to pay (per year) to maintain cultural heritage at least at the current level may be quite substantive, estimates showing it can be several times the industry's turnover per year.
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32. |
- Bostedt, Göran, 1966-, et al.
(författare)
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Estimating cost functions for the four large carnivores in Sweden
- 2008
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Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - : Elsevier. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 68:1-2, s. 517-524
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Swedish carnivore policy goal for the four large carnivores – wolverine (Gulo gulo), wolf (Canis lupus), brown bear (Ursus arctos) and lynx (Lynx lynx) – is to ensure a minimum viable population on a long-term basis. To reach this goal the policy restricts population regulation activities, like hunting (prohibited for wolverine and wolf and restricted for brown bear and lynx) in Sweden. For owners of semi-domesticated (i.e. reindeer), and domesticated (livestock) animals this policy and the existence of individuals of these four species results in externalities associated with predation.This paper presents econometric estimates of the predation and the social costs for these four species, based on ecological models of functional response. The data on costs is based on compensation provided to livestock owners by the Swedish government. The paper also applies these econometric estimates to predict the social cost per species when the population goals of the Swedish carnivore policy are reached. Based on out our model the wolverine and the lynx will impose the highest marginal, as well as total costs on society, given the current policy goals. The wolf is an efficient predator, but due to its geographical distribution in Sweden, its social costs are less than anticipated. The brown bear is largely omnivorous, thus resulting in relatively low social costs.
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33. |
- Bryngemark, Elina, 1987-, et al.
(författare)
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The adoption of green public procurement practices: Analytical challenges and empirical illustration on Swedish municipalities
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - : Elsevier. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 204
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The objective of this paper is to investigate the determinants of the adoption of green public procurement (GPP) practices at the local authority level. A conceptual contribution of the paper is an analytical framework, which acknowledges that the adoption of green criteria in tenders should be modelled as a conditionally independent decision from the decision to rely on GPP strategies (guidelines). This approach can help provide novel insights into how various political, organizational, and individual characteristics influence GPP. The paper provides an empirical illustration by concentrating on the role of organizational size. This analysis is based on survey responses from civil servants representing 140 Swedish municipalities. The results are based on the bivariate ordered probit estimator and suggest that large municipalities are more likely to rely on GPP strategies but also less prone to adopt green criteria in tenders when controlling for the presence of such strategies. In large organizations, the centralization of the procurement implies efficiency gains, but it will often be accompanied with longer organizational distances between the procuring and the environmental departments. The paper also highlights the wider implications of the proposed framework, including how future research on GPP practices could approach the role of various political and individual factors.
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34. |
- Brännlund, Anton, et al.
(författare)
-
Power politics : How electric grievances shape election outcomes
- 2024
-
Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - : Elsevier. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 217
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We argue in this study that higher electricity expenditures increase voter support for the radical right because these parties oppose costly climate mitigation policies. We use data from Sweden, which experiences extremely high demand for heating energy during winter months. The demand for electricity differs greatly between geographical regions due to large temperature differences, from 0 in the southern regions to-50 Celsius in the north. We create our independent variable of electric grievances based on this variation, which increases faster with the spot price of electricity in neighborhoods with a low disposable income relative to the average electricity bill in that area. Using this setup, we find that electric grievances are associated with increased support for the radical right. We argue that soaring electricity prices tend to hurt parties with a mainstream profile since voters associate them them with more ambitious decarbonization policies, while the radical right gain support, since they tend to oppose costly solutions. Our results suggests that the transition to renewable energy can grind to a halt when electricity prices rise higher because voters may abandon the parties who push for the green transition.
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35. |
- Buch-Hansen, Hubert, et al.
(författare)
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Towards a science of deep transformations : Initiating a dialogue between degrowth and critical realism
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - : Elsevier. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 190
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Degrowth scholarship has enjoyed considerable momentum in recent times, resulting in a growing, diverse and vibrant field of research. Against this background, it becomes pertinent to reflect on the nature of degrowth science and on the philosophical assumptions underpinning it. Advocates of the degrowth perspective have so far largely abstained from engaging in such reflections and have yet to discuss degrowth in relation to established philosophy of science perspectives. The present paper puts degrowth in a discourse with critical realist philosophy of science to provide visions as to what degrowth as a science can see itself as and strive to become. A dialogue between the two perspectives that brings into focus ontology, epistemology and axiology is initiated. It is suggested that degrowth scholarship contains many elements that are consistent with critical realism, albeit arguably in a scattered manner. While degrowth aims to enact change in the real world, critical realism offers a deep account of the real world and proposes how knowledge of it can emerge and result in transformative practice. The paper proposes that degrowth scholarship can come to be practised in a more holistic manner and thus advance by engaging with critical realism.
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36. |
- Byrne, Conor, et al.
(författare)
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The Transitional Gains Trap in Grandfathered Individual Transferable Quota Fisheries
- 2024
-
Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 215
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Trade in freely granted individual rights has been speculated to gradually reduce the political feasibility of reallocation, as the initial recipients who enjoy windfall profits are replaced by rights holders who purchased their rights and would unfairly become loss-making if the rights were subsequently reallocated. This hypothesis, sometimes referred to as a Transitional Gains Trap, may be relevant when evaluating alternative methods of allocating rights. This paper presents a potential indicator for investigating the Transitional Gains Trap in grandfathered individual transferable quota fisheries, based on the cumulative amount invested in quota after allowing for offsetting windfall profits, relative to the total value of all quota. The indicator ranges between 0% and 100%, with higher values indicating more net investment and a greater threat of a Transitional Gains Trap. Illustrative calculations for Iceland's ITQ system, introduced in 1991, yield a value of 29% by 2016, suggesting that the Transitional Gains Trap is not a major constraint, although the results vary by species and are sensitive to assumptions. Finally, the indicator is shown to decrease over time under certain conditions, implying that the potential relevance of the Transitional Gains Trap is context-specific.
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37. |
- Cerin, Pontus
(författare)
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Bringing economic opportunity into line with environmental influence : A discussion on the Coase theorem and the Porter and van der Linde hypothesis
- 2006
-
Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 56:2, s. 209-225
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Environmental concerns and tightened environmental policy parameters have been associated with the notion of additional costs of compliance rather than with innovation and sustainability. The contrary, has also been suggested, claiming that strict environmental legislation merely serves as a catalyst for firms to retain obvious economic and environmental mutual gains-so called win-wins-laying around waiting to be collected. Such implications can be seen from the Porter and van der Linde writings, heavily criticised by Palmer et al. as being built on faulty examples. This paper supports that conclusion and uses property rights and transactions costs theories to find private incentives to explore the win-wins for those actors who have the largest potentials to diminish the pressure on our environment. By applying the Coase theorem, emphasising transaction costs and property rights, this paper argues that strong public support is needed to create private incentives for exploring economic and environmental win-win innovations. The public support suggested is to (A) extend producer responsibilities-where the same costs which may be neglected by the end consumers will, if transferred to the design owner, be viewed as a production cost-and to (B) enforce environmental public procurement. Both may be combined with a support to (C) actors (such as non-governmental organisations and consumer agencies) positioning themselves as information bridges by informing the consumers. The negative effects of asymmetric information among actors can, thereby, be diminished as well as the low interest to primarily care for the environment among common consumers.
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38. |
- Collentine, Dennis, et al.
(författare)
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Exploiting Decision Heuristics and IT in the design of a DSS for voluntary agri-environmental programs
- 2004
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Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 49:3, s. 303-315
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Low participation rates by farmers in voluntary agri-environmental programs may depend on rationally bounded ex ante estimates of the negative effect of program enrollment on farm income. Uncertainty and the presence of information transaction costs may lead to the use of heuristics by farmers to reduce adoption decision costs. This paper describes how LENNART, a net-based decision support system (DSS), has been designed to exploit the use of heuristics and provide low cost access to information. The model has been developed to evaluate the effects of agronomic measures on farm income and on the leaching of nutrients from cultivated fields. A subsidy program for catch crop cultivation in Southern Sweden served as the basis for development of the DSS and is used throughout the paper for purposes of illustration. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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39. |
- Cong, Ronggang, et al.
(författare)
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Managing ecosystem services for agriculture:Will landscape-scale management pay?
- 2014
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Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 99, s. 53-62
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Agriculture's reliance on ecosystem services creates economic and ecological interdependencies between crop production and biodiversity. Interactions with mobile organisms are particularly complex because they depend on the spatial configuration of habitat at large scales. As such conserving habitat is likely to benefit multiple farmers whereas conservation costs are born individually, creating potential interdependencies among farmers. We explore under what conditions landscape-scale management of ecosystem services is likely to benefit farmers compared to managing them at the farm-scale. To do this we develop an agent-based model (ABM) to predict the landscape configuration emerging from farm-scale management under different conditions: initial landscape, crop and pollinator characteristics. As a benchmark, the landscape configuration from landscapescale management is derived through a global optimization procedure. Not only do we find that efficiency improves with landscape-scale management, but also that all farmers would benefit from it (given dependence of crop yields on ecosystem services). However, we also find that the individual incentives to avoid maintaining habitat on one's own land are relatively high; therefore creating conditions for a Prisoner's Dilemma-type problem. On the other hand we also demonstrate that an incentive-compatible contract exists that can promote efficient landscape management (by combining side-payments with fines for defection).
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40. |
- Cong, Ronggang, et al.
(författare)
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Optimizing intermediate ecosystem services in agriculture using rules based on landscape composition and configuration indices
- 2016
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Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 128, s. 214-223
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Important intermediate ecosystem services (ES) such as crop pollination and biological control of pests, which underpin the final ES agricultural yields, are mediated by mobile organisms that depend on availability of habitat and its arrangement in the landscape. It has been suggested that landscape-scale management (LSM) of habitat in a multi-farm setting results in higher provisioning of such ES compared to farm-scale management (FSM). However, to achieve the LSM solution, farmers' land-use decisions need to be coordinated. To this end, we develop rules based on novel landscape composition and configuration indices. We model farmers' interdependencies through ES in an agent-based model (ABM) and optimize land use at both the farm and landscape scales for comparison. Our analysis is based on a simple artificial landscape with homogeneous soil quality and uses crop pollination as an illustrative ecosystem service. We consider habitat configuration at the field scale. Our rules demonstrate that the coordinated solution is characterized by a higher degree of habitat availability and a configuration of habitat that is dispersed rather than agglomerated. We tested these rules over a range of assumptions about ecological parameter values and suggest that such rules could be used to improve governance of ES in agricultural landscapes.
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41. |
- Crépin, Anne-Sophie, et al.
(författare)
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Coupled economic-ecological systems with slow and fast dynamics - Modelling and analysis method
- 2011
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Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 70:8, s. 1448-1458
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The purpose of this article is to contribute to the exploration of non-convex dynamics in coupled human-nature systems. We study welfare issues associated with the management of a human-nature complex adaptive system with a threshold and a stochastic driver. We exemplify with a specific system where we link changes in the number and diversity of birds to the abundance of a pest (insects) that causes damages to goods and services valuable to human beings. We present a method that simplifies the analysis and helps us discuss different management models that combine direct and indirect controls of the pest. This allows us to show that 1) the choice of control method depends in a highly non-linear way on biodiversity characteristics and 2) the socially optimal outcome may not be reachable using price instruments. Hence the price vs. quantity debate needs to be revisited using a complex adaptive system lens.
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42. |
- Daedlow, Katrin, et al.
(författare)
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Explaining institutional persistence, adaptation, and transformation in East German recreational-fisheries governance after the German reunification in 1990
- 2013
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Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 96, s. 36-50
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We investigated the capacity of a natural resource governance system to absorb a disturbance while maintaining its major structures and functions (defined as institutional resilience). Exemplified by East German recreational fisheries governance being disturbed by the German reunification, we studied why in five out of six East German states the former centralized governance system persisted while in one state a decentralized governance system was implemented. Based on resilience thinking and new institutional economics, three analytical steps were developed to assess: (1) the structure and function of the governance system, (2) the attributes of the disturbance and the reorganization process, and (3) human motivations. The centralized system persisted because leading managers wanted to preserve customary structures and functions, minimize transaction costs of change, and maintain powerful positions. This was possible because of their influential positions in the reorganization process. Our results suggest that in externally induced, fundamental, and rapid disturbances decision-makers tend to prevent transformations in their governance system. However, key managers in the sixth state faced the same disturbance but their lack of leadership and an emerging rivalry for fishing rights facilitated a transformation to decentralized governance. Thus, attributes of disturbances can be leveraged by actors' motivations in the reorganization process.
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43. |
- D'Amato, D., et al.
(författare)
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Integrating the green economy, circular economy and bioeconomy in a strategic sustainability framework
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 188
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The green economy, circular economy and bioeconomy are popular narratives in macro-level sustainability discussions in policy, scientific research and business. These three narratives offer three different recipes to address economic, social and ecological goals, thus promoting different pathways for sustainability transformations. We employ the well-known Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (The Natural Step Framework) to comparatively identify the relative and integrated contribution of the three narratives for global net sustainability. We conclude that none of the three narratives, individually, offer a comprehensive 'package' of solutions. However, when considered jointly as collaborative narratives, they point towards a society and economy based on renewable/reproductive and biodiversity-based/benign processes, delivering material and immaterial benefits that fulfil the economic and social requirements of all people now and in the future. While the complementary understanding of the circular economy, bioeconomy and green economy provides important guidelines for sustainability transformations post-Covid-19, there is a need for more holistic, systems-wide and integrative research work on potentially competing or supplementary sustainability narratives. This type of work of clarification and synthesis is relevant to a wide range of scholars and professionals, since the conceptual understanding of sustainability narratives informs practical implementation through strategies, actions and monitoring tools, in public and private decision-making.
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44. |
- Danley, Brian, et al.
(författare)
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Evaluating conceptual definitions of ecosystem services and their implications
- 2016
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Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 126, s. 132-138
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- “Ecosystemservices” is a phrasewithmanymeanings, yet very fewstudies have primarily focused on comparing different definitions of the term. Ecosystem services are now generally used in identifying an appropriatelywide range of environmental variables for policy andmanagement aswell as better understanding the benefits provided by those aspects of the environment. A review of the dominant definitions of ecosystem services reveals the term is comprehensive in its scope and requires further specification for most purposes. Analysis further reveals that there are four main categories of conceptual definitions. The paper concludes that ecosystem services can be identified at various points along the spectrumof nature-human interaction depending on which specific definition is chosen and that the term was not created to identify a novel set of environmental objects or processes
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45. |
- Danley, Brian, et al.
(författare)
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Evaluating conceptual definitions of ecosystem services and their implications
- 2016
-
Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - : Elsevier. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 126, s. 132-138
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- “Ecosystem services” is a phrase with many meanings, yet very few studies have primarily focused on comparing different definitions of the term. Ecosystem services are now generally used in identifying an appropriately wide range of environmental variables for policy and management as well as better understanding the benefits provided by those aspects of the environment. A review of the dominant definitions of ecosystem services reveals the term is comprehensive in its scope and requires further specification for most purposes. Analysis further reveals that there are four main categories of conceptual definitions. The paper concludes that ecosystem services can be identified at various points along the spectrum of nature-human interaction depending on which specific definition is chosen and that the term was not created to identify a novel set of environmental objects or processes.
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46. |
- Dikgang, Johane, et al.
(författare)
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The valuation of biodiversity conservation by the South African Khomani San "bushmen" community
- 2012
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Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 84, s. 7-14
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The restitution of parkland to the Khomani San "bushmen" and Mier "agricultural" communities in May 2002 marked a significant shift in conservation in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and environs in South Africa. Biodiversity conservation will benefit from this land restitution only if the Khomani San, who interact with nature more than do other groups, are good environmental stewards. To assess their attitude toward biodiversity conservation, this study used the contingent valuation method to investigate the economic values the communities assign to biodiversity conservation under three land tenure arrangements in the Kgalagadi area. For each community and land tenure arrangement, there are winners and losers, but the winners benefit by more than the cost that losers suffer. The net worth for biodiversity conservation under the various land tenure regimes ranged from R928 to R3456 to R4160 for municipal land, parkland, and communal land respectively for the Khomani San, compared to R25. 600 to R57. 600 to R64. 000 for municipal land, parkland, and communal land respectively for the Mier.
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47. |
- Downing, Andrea S., et al.
(författare)
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Unlocking the unsustainable rice-wheat system of Indian Punjab : Assessing alternatives to crop-residue burning from a systems perspective
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 195
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Crop residue burning in Indian Punjab emits particulate matter with detrimental impacts on health, climate and that threaten agricultural production. Though legal and technological barriers to residue burning exist – and alternatives considered more profitable to farmers – residue burning continues. We review black carbon (BC) emissions from residue burning in Punjab, analyse social-ecological processes driving residue burning, and rice and wheat value-chains. Our aims are to a) understand system feedbacks driving agricultural practices in Punjab; b) identify systemic effects of alternatives to residue burning and c) identify companies and financial actors investing in agricultural production in Punjab. We find feedbacks locking the system into crop residue burning. The Government of India has greatest financial leverage and risk in the current system. Corporate stakeholders have little financial incentive to enact change, but sufficient stakes in the value chains to influence change. Agricultural policy changes are necessary to reduce harmful impacts of current practices, but insufficient to bringing about sustainability. Transformative changes will require crop diversification, circular business models and green financing. Intermediating financial institutions setting sustainability conditions on loans could leverage these changes. Sustainability requires the systems perspective we provide, to reconnect production with demand and with supporting environmental conditions.
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48. |
- Ek, Kristina, et al.
(författare)
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Norms and economic motivation in the Swedish green electricity market
- 2008
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Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 68:1-2, s. 169-182
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The purpose of this paper is to provide an econometric analysis of the most important determinants of Swedish households' choice to pay a price premium for "green" electricity. We draw on recent developments in the literature on integrating norm-motivated behavior into neoclassical consumer theory, and assume that individuals have a preference for keeping a self-image as a morally responsible person. Consumer behavior in the "green market place" will then be heavily determined by how purchases of different goods affect this self-image. The analysis is based on postal survey responses from 655 Swedish households, which are analyzed within a binary choice econometric framework. The results indicate that the impact of choosing "green" on the household budget largely influences the choice between "green" and "brown" electricity, as does the degree of perceived personal responsibility for the issue and the felt ability to affect the outcome in a positive way. We find limited support for the notion that perceptions about others' behavior in general affect individual moral norms and ultimately expressed behavior, but this is also complemented by the influence of explicit social influence. The difficulty in observing others' purchases makes it however difficult to distinguish between social and moral norms in the case of "green" electricity.
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49. |
- Ek, Kristina, et al.
(författare)
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Wind farms - where and how to place them? : A choice experiment approach to measure consumer preferences for characteristics of wind farm establishments in Sweden
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - : Elsevier. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 105, s. 193-203
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper explores preferences among the general public in Sweden for attributes related to the establishment of wind power farms. The method applied is a choice experiment where people are asked to choose between two hypothetical wind farms characterized by different attributes. Five attributes are included in the experiment: (i) type of landscape, (ii) type of ownership, (iii) the degree of local participation in the planning process, (iv) the choice to transfer revenue to the society in a pre-specified way, and (v) a monetary cost in terms of an additional electricity certificate fee. The data are analyzed with multinomial logit, random parameter logit, and latent class models. The results indicate that consumers in Sweden are more likely to accept the higher renewable electricity certificate fee if: (a) wind power farms in areas used for recreational purposes are substantially avoided, (b) the establishment is anchored by whole or partial ownership in the local community and, (c) the locals are involved in the planning and implementation process. Our policy simulation exercise shows that respondents are willing to pay a higher electricity fee corresponding to about 0.6 Euro cents per kWh to avoid wind farms located in the mountainous area and private ownership.
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50. |
- Elofsson, Katarina, et al.
(författare)
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Ecological compensation of stochastic wetland biodiversity : National or regional policy schemes?
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - : Elsevier. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 204
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of this study is to compare policy schemes for ecological compensation applied at national and regional levels, using exploited inland wetlands as an example. We study whether uncertainty, due to natural variability and measurement difficulties, motivates compensation that is carried out in the same region as that of the exploited site, or whether it rather motivates nationwide compensation schemes. For this purpose, we develop an empirical, chance-constrained programming model of cost-effective wetland management. The model is spatially differentiated and accounts for heterogeneity in wetland quality across wetland types and regions. Wetland quality is defined by three alternative biodiversity indices: species richness, population-weighted species richness, and red-listed species richness, estimated from voluntarily reported data on breeding bird species observations. Results show that regional schemes are more expensive, in particular if the policy maker dislikes uncertainty and wants to prioritize uncommon species. Contrary to expectations from the theoretical analysis, regional schemes would lead to a higher risk-adjusted level of biodiversity at the national level. However, regionalization also implies that targets cannot be achieved if a high safety margin is imposed. Trading ratios are robust to the choice of wetland quality index.
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