Economic Valuation of Forest Ecosystem Services in Kenya: Implication for Design of PES Schemes and Participatory Forest Management

Submitted by Jane Nyawira Maina on
EfD Authors:
Okumu, Boscow
Muchapondwa, Edwin

Forest ecosystem services are critical for human well-being as well as functioning and growth of economies. However, despite the growing demand for these services, they are hardly given due consideration in public policy formulation. The values attached to these services by local communities are also generally unknown in developing countries. Using a case study of the Mau forest conservancy in Kenya, this study applied a choice experiment technique to estimate the value attached to salient forest ecosystem services by forest-adjacent communities.

Peer Reviewed
Forestry, Policy Design

Shocks derived from mining windfalls and horizontal transfers: Exploring the permanent income hypothesis in Chilean municipalities from a spatial competition approach

Submitted by Cristóbal Vásquez on
EfD Authors:
Oyarzo Aguilar, Mauricio

We explore how spatial interaction affects the strategic use of municipal income when deciding between 1) an optimal long-run expenditure strategy versus 2) using the current income to finance current activities, a phenomenon known as the permanent income hypothesis. Even when this hypothesis is grounded in temporal logic, insufficient attention has been given to the impact of spatial dependence on this type of budget decision. Therefore, we present two reasons why spatial interaction adds new insight to this discussion.

Peer Reviewed
Climate Change, Energy, Policy Design

Influences of various pricing points: an experimental study of plastic bags in Johannesburg, South Africa

Submitted by Michelle Blanc… on
EfD Authors:
Dikgang, Johane

Policymakers have little experience regarding designing the right levels of pricing for plastic bags. The ineffectiveness of charging for bags, in countries such as South Africa, makes it imperative that we map the demand curve. Getting the charge “right” depends on the size of the externality. Charging for bags is therefore an effective intervention to encourage consumers to carry their own bags to the stores. We employ a contingent behaviour (CB) dataset necessary to estimate the charge level that is likely to lead to a reduction in bag use over time.

Peer Reviewed
Policy Design, Urban, Waste

Incorporating Just Transitions in Kenya’s Low-Carbon Economy Development Path

Submitted by Jane Nyawira Maina on
EfD Authors:
Mulwa, Richard
Musembi, Elly

Despite its low contribution to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, Kenya bears a disproportionate burden of climate change impacts, which have been exacerbated by COVID-19. These impacts are disrupting the country’s economic performance, as seen in sectors such as agriculture, tourism, forestry, water, and transport. In many cases, the catastrophic effects of climate change are most disruptive to vulnerable groups, such as the poor, women, and children.

Report
Climate Change, Policy Design

Government performance, geophysical-related disasters, and institutional trust: A comparison of Chilean and Haitian responses after an earthquake

Submitted by Cristóbal Vásquez on
EfD Authors:
Salazar Espinoza, César

This article investigates the effect of government performance assessment after the 2010 earthquakes in Chile and Haiti on institutional trust. Available data from the 2010/2012 AmericasBarometer survey are used to estimate the immediate effects and those linked to the rebuilding process. Results show that performance assessment of Chilean institutions’ ability to manage the earthquake positively affected institutional trust, whereas the above relationship only holds for Haitian municipalities and the National Police.

Peer Reviewed
Climate Change, Policy Design

Environmental efficiency in the salmon industry—an exploratory analysis around the 2007 ISA virus outbreak and subsequent regulations in Chile

Submitted by Cristóbal Vásquez on
EfD Authors:
Salazar Espinoza, César
Jaime Torres, Marcela

Environmental performance indicators are key to monitoring the sustainability of production processes. In the salmon industry, there is a growing concern about the excess of nutrients that have accumulated at the bottom of marine ecosystems and the negative externalities of those nutrients on the environment. In this paper, we measure environmental performance in the salmon industry in Chile by applying a set of data envelopment analysis (DEA) models. In these models, we incorporate pollutants as undesired outputs of the production process.

Peer Reviewed
Biodiversity, Fisheries, Policy Design

The “Seafood” System: Aquatic Foods, Food Security, and the Global South

Submitted by Cristóbal Vásquez on
EfD Authors:
Smith , Martin
Akpalu, Wisdom
Chávez Rebolledo, Carlos
Dresdner Cid, Jorge
Kahui, Viktoria

The global seafood system includes three interconnected sectors: commercial capture (or wild-caught) fisheries, recreational and subsistence fisheries, and aquaculture (or farmed seafood). The three sector-focused articles in this symposium review production externalities within and between sectors and between the seafood system and the broader natural environment. Building on the insights from these articles, we discuss seafood as part of an integrated food system and examine both seafood supply and demand.

Peer Reviewed
Biodiversity, Fisheries, Policy Design

Extreme weather events and pro-environmental behavior: evidence from a climate change vulnerable country

Submitted by Petra Hansson on
EfD Authors:
Lopez Feldman, Alejandro

Experiencing an extreme weather event and its consequences might make the risks associated with climate change more tangible, easier to evaluate, and more salient. Consequently, those experiences might translate into the adoption of pro-environmental behaviours. Understanding this relationship is fundamental for the successful design of policies aimed toward promoting the adoption of climate change adaptation and mitigation measures.

Peer Reviewed
Climate Change, Policy Design
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