Ecological Economics最新文献

{"title":"Assessing the regime-switching role of risk mitigation measures on agricultural vulnerability: A threshold analysis","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108360","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108360","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Vulnerability to agrometeorological disasters threatens agricultural production and food security, which calls for urgent risk mitigation measures. Previous studies have widely focused on constructing composite indices of agricultural vulnerability and projecting agricultural losses under changing climate. Only a few authors have delved into the patterns of mitigation practices in reducing agricultural vulnerability and enhancing the functioning of agricultural systems. To fill this research gap, our study assesses the spatial-temporal characteristics of agricultural vulnerability with respect to meteorological disasters (including droughts, floods, hail, low temperatures, and frost) from 2000 to 2021 across 31 regions (including 22 provinces, 4 direct-administered municipalities, and 5 autonomous regions) in China. Identifying a dynamic trend of agricultural vulnerability and making use of a regime-switching framework, a Markov regime-switching model is employed to examine the changing regimes underlying the link between agricultural vulnerability and crop yields. More importantly, regime-switching roles of four different mitigation practices (i.e., irrigation, reservoir capacity, soil loss control, and drainage systems) in moderating agricultural vulnerability are evaluated using panel threshold regressions. Our results show that: 1) The link between agricultural vulnerability and crop yields differs across regions, and regime-switching phenomena behind this link can be detected. 2) Irrigation systems, water reservoirs, and soil loss control can be effective tools for mitigating agricultural vulnerability. 3) With the above three measures, detrimental impacts of agricultural vulnerability on agricultural production can be reduced significantly when certain thresholds are hit. 4) Non-linear relationships between mitigation measures and crop yields require authorities to pay considerable attention to determining the effective scales of mitigation measures. Overall, this paper shall contribute to understanding the moderating role of risk mitigation measures in alleviating agricultural vulnerability and increasing crop yields, thereby providing insights into designing strategies and policies for sustainable agricultural production.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":51021,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2024-09-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S092180092400257X/pdfft?md5=2ed062735bd5f5009e6f92667ef073ae&pid=1-s2.0-S092180092400257X-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142149844","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":"Measuring beekeepers' economic value of contract enhancements in almond pollination agreements","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108351","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108351","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The world's dependence on managed pollinators is growing due to decreasing native bee populations, coupled with increased production of crops requiring pollination services. Growers of pollinated crops may have opportunities to enhance pollination contracts to attract beekeepers and promote bee health. Growers must assess these benefits relative to implementation costs, yet little information exists. We investigate the value of contract enhancements to commercial beekeepers participating in California almond pollination services, a pollination event that demands roughly 89% of US honey bee colonies and makes up over half of US beekeeper annual revenues. We find beekeepers value clauses that ensure additional pesticide protection, advance payment, and certain cover crops. We illustrate market-based mechanisms for incentivizing agricultural practices that can improve native and managed pollinator health, while also alleviating growers' concerns about pollination deficits.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":51021,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2024-09-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142138513","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":"Carbon footprint tracking apps: The spillover effects of feedback and goal-activating appeals","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108354","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108354","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Innovative information technology such as a Carbon Footprint Tracking App can contribute to achieve global climate targets like the 2 °C target of the Paris Agreement. This is particularly relevant for countries with strong socio-economic development, which often have high individual carbon footprints but also possess the technological advancements to help mitigate these emissions. This paper explores how carbon footprint feedback and goal-oriented appeals affect consumers' carbon emissions. Focusing on interventions in the food and mobility domains, this research distinguishes the impact of self-related and society-related goals across these focal domains and examines spillover effects on heating and other household activities. Using a Carbon Footprint Tracking App in a longitudinal experimental study with 210 participants over three waves, the following key findings emerge. First, goal activation affects carbon emissions differently across consumption domains. Second, while the obtained evidence points to spillover across domains, the appeals' effectiveness within the same domain is contingent on individual goal prioritization. In particular, behavioral interventions need to target specific goals within each domain, particularly normative and moral goals in the food domain, and hedonic and cost-related goals in the mobility domain.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":51021,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2024-09-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142137041","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 hidden costs of imposing minimum contributions to a global public good","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108346","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108346","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>We study how different types of individuals respond to being forced to make a minimum contribution to a global public good. Participants in our experiment decide how much of their endowment to contribute towards offsetting CO2 emissions. We elicit their contributions when they are free to spend any amount of their endowment on carbon offsets and when they are forced to spend a certain minimum amount on it. We find that those who contribute more than the minimum before it is imposed contribute less overall once the minimum comes into effect. This is true for both a low and a high level of the minimum and appears to be driven in part by pessimistic beliefs about the contributions of others. We show that the lower minimum also reduces <em>overall</em> contributions relative to a situation with no minimum. We do not find evidence that having the level of the minimum determined through a majority vote rather than an exogenous procedure has any material impact on these results.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":51021,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2024-09-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142137339","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":"Varieties of capitalism and environmental performance","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108362","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108362","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This paper investigates the role of institutions in decoupling economic growth from environmental impacts, employing the Varieties of Capitalism framework. It finds that Northern European countries have achieved more significant decoupling than other Western OECD countries since the 1980s, as measured by the Ecological Footprint of Consumption. Differences in corporatism, as well as the amount and type of public social expenditures, are hypothesized to play a crucial role in explaining this pattern. Multiple regression analysis reveals that larger proportions of GDP allocated to universal social expenditures — not contingent on work status — are robustly associated with stronger decoupling. This suggests that the considerable investments of Northern European countries in universal social benefits have been key for effectively reducing the environmental impacts associated with economic growth.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":51021,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2024-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142121926","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":"Reviewing studies of degrowth: Are claims matched by data, methods and policy analysis?","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108324","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108324","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>In the last decade many publications have appeared on degrowth as a strategy to confront environmental and social problems. We undertake a systematic review of their content, data and methods. This involves the use of computational linguistics to identify main topics investigated. Based on a sample of 561 studies we conclude that: (1) content covers 11 main topics; (2) the large majority (almost 90%) of studies are opinions rather than analysis; (3) few studies use quantitative or qualitative data, and even fewer ones use formal modelling; (4) the first and second type tend to include small samples or focus on non-representative cases; (5) most studies offer ad hoc and subjective policy advice, lacking policy evaluation and integration with insights from the literature on environmental/climate policies; (6) of the few studies on public support, a majority concludes that degrowth strategies and policies are socially-politically infeasible; (7) various studies represent a “reverse causality” confusion, i.e. use the term degrowth not for a deliberate strategy but to denote economic decline (in GDP terms) resulting from exogenous factors or public policies; (8) few studies adopt a system-wide perspective – instead most focus on small, local cases without a clear implication for the economy as a whole. We illustrate each of these findings for concrete studies.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":51021,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2024-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800924002210/pdfft?md5=593a82de31e4b509ad4d760c6871de02&pid=1-s2.0-S0921800924002210-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142121760","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":"Slavcho Zagorov (1898–1970), A forgotten pioneer of energy and ecological economics","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108349","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108349","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This article aims to rediscover a relatively unknown author to the general public, Slavcho Zagorov, and to revive his ideas. Zagorov was a Bulgarian economist and statistician whose main works date back to 1954 and are mainly devoted to the concept of energy flows in the economy and human metabolism explained through the prism of thermodynamics. His work and career are reminiscent of another Balkan economist, Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen. We first present Zagorov's theoretical work on the importance of energy in economic activity and secondly on the measurement of national income and productivity through energy. Thirdly, we show the relation he establishes between energy and utility. Finally, we discuss his texts in relation to his professional and personal trajectory and point out some preliminary elements of comparison with Georgescu-Roegen's work.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":51021,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2024-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142098668","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":"Sustainability transitions in the agri-food system: Evaluating mitigation potentials, economy-wide effects, co-benefits and trade-offs for the case of Austria","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108357","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108357","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>As a major source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and with a substantial potential of carbon storage, agriculture and food (agri-food) systems play a two-fold role in achieving the Paris goal of well below 2 °C of global warming. Against this background, this paper assesses the mitigation potentials, economic effects, co-benefits and trade-offs of biophysically feasible transitions of the Austrian agri-food system. By combining biophysical accounting with a comparative-static multi-sectoral computable general equilibrium model, we assess both supply- and demand-side driven transition scenarios. These scenarios entail substantial changes in the Austrian agri-food system, mitigating between 70 and 110% of GHG emissions relative to the reference pathway in 2050, with lower emission intensities from agricultural practices and enhanced sinks through afforestation. Two out of three scenarios lead to economy-wide costs of up to 1% of gross domestic product. Despite these small changes at the macroeconomic scale, output effects within the Austrian agri-food sectors are substantial, with primary production and manufacturing of plant-based products emerging as winners in terms of sectoral revenue, while animal-based primary production and manufacturing lose. The agri-food system transitions considered create health co-benefits, but reveal trade-offs between mitigation potentials, biodiversity conservation and economic effects.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":51021,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2024-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800924002544/pdfft?md5=9d551ab85f4a173614be17c8034aac16&pid=1-s2.0-S0921800924002544-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142099314","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":"A bioeconomic model for a multispecies small-scale fishery system","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108358","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108358","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>A fishery encompasses various interconnected systems, including ecological, socioeconomic, and governing systems. Managing fisheries requires the simultaneous consideration of all these systems, making it a challenging endeavor. To address these challenges, fisheries bioeconomic models have emerged as a crucial tool. They are particularly valuable in the context of small-scale fisheries, which are often complex, overlooked and poorly understood. Thus, this paper presents a dynamic multispecies and multigear bioeconomic model that can illuminate the ecological, economic, and social dimensions of small-scale fisheries under different management scenarios. The model was applied to a small-scale fisheries system in Southern Brazil that has as a notable feature a cooperative fishing behavior between dolphins and fishers. Three scenarios were explored: the base scenario (<em>status quo</em>), the optimal management scenario, and the constrained optimal management scenario. The model outputs demonstrated a clear tradeoff between labour effort, species conservation, and economic rent. Shifting from the base to an optimal management scenario would result in a labour employment reduction within the system but concurrently yield higher stock levels, economic rent, and wages. These results illustrate how our model can explore critical management scenarios across the multiple dimensions of fisheries systems. In essence, this research offers a novel contribution in the form of a bioeconomic model tailored for small-scale fisheries involving multiple species.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":51021,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2024-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142098669","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":"","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108355","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108355","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":51021,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2024-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142098670","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}