Ecological Economics最新文献

{"title":"The evolution of the EU electronics market and its impact on direct material consumption: Lessons from the past","authors":"Marco Compagnoni ,&nbsp;Erica Santini","doi":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108630","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108630","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The direct material consumption of technological systems is connected to three challenges: the overall metabolism of the technological system; the growing material complexity of technologies; their reliance on critical or geologically scarce materials. These challenges are often examined in isolation, overlooking their interrelated nature. We propose a systematic, multi-level perspective, leveraging concepts from Ecology and Industrial Ecology, namely scale and product ecosystem. Indeed, when investigating empirically the material consumption of technologies, i.e. electronic products, it is essential to acknowledge their co-evolution and to explicitly define the boundaries of the scrutinized system. We exploit a dataset detailed in technology and material identification, to develop a longitudinal, bottom-up analysis disentangling the direct material consumption patterns at the market, functional group, and material levels over three decades in Europe. Results indicate that strategies improving the material consumption dynamics at one level of the system may have adverse effects at others. Reductions in materials consumption stem primarily from changes in the composition of the technological system rather than functional dematerialization. Notably, technological convergence, the shift from single-function to multi-functional devices, emerges as a significant contributor to reduced materials usage. However, the increasing functionality of technologies is at the same time the main risk of directing the electronic market towards a dependence from some specific critical and geologically scarce materials.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51021,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Economics","volume":"235 ","pages":"Article 108630"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2025-04-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143820258","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Pro-environmental behavior and environmentalist movements: Evidence from the identification with Fridays for Future","authors":"Daniela Flörchinger ,&nbsp;Manuel Frondel ,&nbsp;Stephan Sommer ,&nbsp;Mark A. Andor","doi":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108609","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108609","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper empirically tests the impact of pro-environmental identity on environmental behavior by priming study participants with their previously stated attitude towards the environmentalist movement <em>Fridays for Future</em>. On the basis of a large-scale survey experiment including the incentivized choice between a voucher for a flight or a train ride, we find evidence that respondents who receive such an identity prime are more likely to behave in line with the movement’s moral principles in that they take the train. The largest treatment effect is found for respondents with a negative attitude towards the movement, which is consistent with moral balancing. Our results suggest that pro-environmental behavior may be enhanced by reminding individuals of their attitude towards environmental matters.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51021,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Economics","volume":"235 ","pages":"Article 108609"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2025-04-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143816739","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Assessing individual and social values of cultural services of a protected area through online deliberation","authors":"Haojie Chen ,&nbsp;Tong Zhang ,&nbsp;Robert Costanza ,&nbsp;Ida Kubiszewski ,&nbsp;Matthew R. Sloggy ,&nbsp;Luhua Wu ,&nbsp;Haohan Luo","doi":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108632","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108632","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The non-material benefits obtained through interaction with nature are known as cultural services. We employed an online survey to value cultural services provided by the Fanjing Mountain National Nature Reserve, China. The valuation combined a stated-preference approach with online deliberation, where participants considered and discussed the services through typing in chat groups. The services perceived by most participants, in descending order, were spiritual experiences, recreation, aesthetic appreciation, education, and scientific value. In two hypothetical scenarios, where participants were assumed to be potential visitors and local staff (tour guides), respectively, they expressed both individual and social preferences for cultural services. Individual preferences primarily represented their own interests without necessarily or explicitly considering social benefits, whereas social preferences explicitly considered what was right or desirable for society. Overall, the social preferences were lower, more converged, and less affected by demographic variables (e.g., income) than the individual preferences in both scenarios. However, such differences between individual and social preferences were not always statistically significant. Moreover, participants valued cultural services significantly higher as potential tour guides than as visitors, as their psychological states, substitutes for cultural services, prior rights to the services, and certainty in interacting with nature varied with their stakeholder roles.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51021,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Economics","volume":"235 ","pages":"Article 108632"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2025-04-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143816775","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Households' preferences for door-to-door recycling service: A choice experiment in southern Chile","authors":"Francisca Trujillo ,&nbsp;Carlos Chávez ,&nbsp;Marcela Jaime ,&nbsp;César Salazar","doi":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108605","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108605","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Providing drop-off containers for recycling is a widely adopted strategy in developing countries to promote recycling and increase waste recovery rates. However, challenges such as container misuse, improper waste disposal, management difficulties leading to container overflow or collapse, and concerns about neighborhood cleanliness have highlighted the need for alternative approaches to complement existing recycling efforts. One potential solution is the implementation of a door-to-door recycling service. This study designs and implements a discrete choice experiment to elicit urban households' preferences for various attributes of such a system. Specifically, we examine how these attributes influence household participation in recycling schemes, particularly after prior exposure to drop-off recycling sites in their neighborhoods. To account for preference heterogeneity, we estimate mixed logit and latent-class models. Our findings suggest that the types of materials accepted for disposal and neighborhood cleanliness are the most influential attributes driving households' willingness to pay for a door-to-door recycling service. Additionally, socio-demographic characteristics, recycling motivations, and participation in recycling practices significantly shape household preferences. These insights offer valuable guidance for designing targeted policies and interventions to enhance waste management in urban areas.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51021,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Economics","volume":"235 ","pages":"Article 108605"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2025-04-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143816738","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The trade-off between middle class and ecological footprint: Empirical cross-country analysis","authors":"Zhiyuan Ren ,&nbsp;Yuhan Zhu","doi":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108631","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108631","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>While it may be attractive to pursue win-win outcomes or positive synergies between environmental quality and human welfare, it does not necessarily mean that these goals are mutually reinforcing. With improved material standards, a large number of middle-class individuals with higher consumption demand and purchasing power are challenging ecological sustainability through frequent and high-intensity economic activities. This study investigates the ecological entanglements of the middle class and constructs a novel theoretical framework that maps the pathways through which the middle class influences the ecological footprint (<em>EF</em>) from power and consumption perspectives. To quantitatively verify whether the coevolution of the middle class and the <em>EF</em> can transcend the zero-sum tradeoffs and achieve socioecological equilibrium, we innovatively use macrostatistics to estimate the size of the middle class (<em>SMC</em>), constructing a comparable cross-country dataset for this variable. We then analyze the correlation between <em>EF</em> and the <em>SMC</em> using an interactive fixed effects model with panel data for 60 countries from 2000 to 2020 to examine whether a tradeoff is evident between the two variables. The results reveal strong tradeoffs between the expanding <em>SMC</em>, which tends to increase countries' <em>EF</em>. Mitigating or reversing ecological degradation may compromise the rationality of income distribution, potentially neglecting environmental issues that accompany policies intended to narrow the wealth gap. Further subgroup analysis reveals that residents in higher-income countries typically engage in higher levels of consumption and governance, but subsequent sustainability has been historically weak, resulting in a stronger positive and weaker negative impact of the <em>SMC</em> on the <em>EF</em>. Our empirical insights demonstrate the inherent contradiction within the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal targets with significant implications for advancing sustainable shared prosperity by leveraging middle-class consumptions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51021,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Economics","volume":"235 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2025-04-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143808056","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Estimating opportunity costs for energy-efficiency renovations: Case study in Germany","authors":"Ray Galvin ,&nbsp;Paul Galvin","doi":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108629","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108629","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Since energy consumption in residential buildings produces 26 % of CO2 emissions worldwide, there is an urgent need to improve the energy efficiency of older buildings. This is expensive, and a component often poorly estimated is opportunity costs: the losses a building owner incurs by investing in an energy-efficiency upgrade rather than in a more profitable project. Some recent studies assume opportunity costs of about 6 % of the property owner's up-front cash investment, but they assume very passive investment behavior. This paper uses a case study of a standard energy-performance upgrade of a typical, gas-heated 1950s–60s western German apartment and an alternative investment of purchasing an additional rental property. It uses realistic figures for costs of renovation and finance, benefits through energy and CO2 tax savings and subsidies currently on offer, likely energy price and CO2 tax inflation rates, and realistic discount rates. The alternative investment is to purchase a rental apartment using the up-front cash as the deposit, based on actual properties for sale. After 25 years the most economically sound upgrade brings a loss of around 207 %, while the purchase brings a gain of at least 666 %, with a minimum opportunity cost of 8.49 % per year cumulative.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51021,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Economics","volume":"235 ","pages":"Article 108629"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2025-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143799604","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Pervasive racial and ethnic disparities in the U.S. petrochemical workforce","authors":"Kimberly Terrell ,&nbsp;Gianna St. Julien ,&nbsp;Michael Ash","doi":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108623","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108623","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The burden of petrochemical pollution on communities of Color is well established, but the corresponding distribution of economic benefits is unclear. We evaluated employment equity in chemical manufacturing (NAICS 325) and petroleum/coal products manufacturing (NAICS 324) among U.S. states and core-based statistical areas (CBSAs) relative to racial education gaps, using data from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Census Bureau. As a case study, we also examined local-level employment disparities and industrial tax incentives in Louisiana. People of Color were consistently <em>underrepresented</em> among the <em>highest</em>-paying jobs and <em>overrepresented</em> among the <em>lowest</em>-paying jobs in both subsectors. Disparities persisted on a local scale, including in Louisiana parishes providing large tax subsidies for job creation. For both subsectors, the strongest predictor of disparities in better-paying jobs was population diversity. Education gaps were not significantly correlated with observed disparities in either subsector. Collectively, our findings reveal systemic inequality in the United States' petrochemical workforce. The observed disparities appear to reflect institutional racism and are not solely due to the racial education gap, as some have suggested. Regulators should consider that current approaches to industrial permitting, which typically ignore the distribution of economic benefits, are likely to perpetuate this pattern of racial injustice.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51021,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Economics","volume":"235 ","pages":"Article 108623"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2025-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143799602","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Climate adaptation, perceived resilience, and household wellbeing: Comparative evidence from Kenya and Zambia","authors":"Haseeb Ahmed ,&nbsp;Juan Sebastian Correa ,&nbsp;Nicholas J. Sitko","doi":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108611","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108611","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The growing frequency and severity of extreme weather events has spawned a rapid increase in policies and programs designed to enhance the resilience of small-scale producers through the promotion of climate-adaptive agricultural practices. However, gaps exist in the conceptualization and measurement of farm-households' resilience in face of climatic stress. Furthermore, comparative evidence to understand the relationships between climate-adaptive practices, resilience capacities, and household wellbeing across diverse rural contexts remains scant. Using a novel approach to measure households' perceived resilience against climatic events, we empirically examine the relationship between perceived climate resilience, the adoption of climate-adaptive practices, and household wellbeing in a pastoralist setting in Kenya and a rain-fed cropping system in Zambia. To enable comparisons across these diverse settings, we use a typology of climate-adaptive practices based on their relative factor intensities or diversification decisions. Using the ‘doubly-robust’ inverse-probability-weighted-regression-adjustment (IPWRA) approach to account for potential selection issues, we find that capital-intensive strategies are consistently and positively associated with resilience, food security, and income in both contexts. Labor-intensive and diversification strategies have generally positive but heterogeneous impacts across the two production systems, likely governed by contextual differences. Results also highlight the complementarity between different climate-adaptive practices in improving household welfare in both contexts. The findings suggest that enhancing resilience and improving overall wellbeing in small-scale producer settings requires multi-dimensional approaches. These include interventions that reduce the capital constraints that inhibit the adoption of capital-intensive adaptation practices, bundled with approaches that promote the simultaneous adoption of context specific labor-intensive and diversification practices.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51021,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Economics","volume":"235 ","pages":"Article 108611"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2025-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143799603","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Beyond conservation of natural capital: Rethinking sustainability in the Anthropocene","authors":"Birger Priddat ,&nbsp;Oliver Schlaudt","doi":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108627","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108627","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In the context of economic policy advice, the common understanding of sustainability focuses on the preservation of natural capital. In the Anthropocene, which is characterised by anthropogenically induced, abrupt and/or long-term, often irreducible ecosystem dynamics and a co-evolution of technology and environment, this understanding reaches its limits. We therefore propose three modifications: shifting the baseline from a static to a dynamic frame of reference, shifting the focus from system components to system properties (stability, functions), and finally moving to a post-Eurocentric and post-anthropocentric perspective. These modifications will in some respects lead to a more restrictive norm of sustainability but will in other respects leave more room for human intervention and the creation of hybrid ecosystems. The challenge, as we see it, is to adapt the concept of sustainability to the realities of the Anthropocene without weakening it (such as by advancing green-washing or a ‘techno-fix ideology’).</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51021,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Economics","volume":"235 ","pages":"Article 108627"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2025-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143799600","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"On non-reformist reforms and partial political settlements in degrowth strategy","authors":"Giuseppe Feola","doi":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108613","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108613","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>One of the most urgent and challenging open questions for degrowth scholarship and practice concerns how to pursue a degrowth social-ecological transformation within the existing structures in the real world. However, the marked emphasis on democratic planning for non-reformist reforms in a degrowth strategy (i) underestimates the lack of favourable conditions for democratic planning (i.e., political support, the willingness and ability of the state to act, and a condition of broad accord in society), (ii) reflects a problematic lack of preparedness for strategic compromise, and (iii) conflates non-reformist reforms with consensus-based deliberative democracy and policy and planning. This paper explores ‘partial political settlements’ as a perspective on transformative non-reformist reforms in unfavourable conditions to address these shortcomings. The paper illustrates the approach through the examples of the Representation of the People Act (United Kingdom), and the National Policy for Agroecology and Organic Production (Brazil). The partial settlements perspective aligns with an emancipatory interpretation of non-reformist reforms, complements prefiguration and counterhegemonic mobilisation and offers an alternative pathway to deliberative democratic planning for non-reformist reforms for social-ecological transformation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51021,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Economics","volume":"235 ","pages":"Article 108613"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2025-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143799601","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}