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Adequate demand for, and recognition of, forest carbon services is critical to success of market mechanisms for forestry-based conservation and climate change mitigation. National and voluntary carbon-offsetting schemes are emerging as alternatives to international compliance markets. We developed a choice experiment to explore determinants of local forest carbon-offset valuation. A total of 963 citizens from Guadalajara in Mexico were asked to consider a purchase of voluntary offsets from the neighbouring Biosphere Reserve of La Primavera and from two alternative more distant locations: La Michilía in the state of Durango and El Cielo in Tamaulipas. Surveys were applied in market stall sessions and online using two different sampling methods: the snowball technique and via a market research company. The local La Primavera site attracted higher participation and valuation than the more distant sites. However, groups particularly interested in climate change mitigation or cost may accept cost-efficient options in the distant sites. Mean implicit carbon prices obtained ranged from $6.79 to $15.67/tCO depending on the surveying methodology and profile of respondents. Survey application mode can significantly affect outcome of the experiment. Values from the market stall sessions were higher than those from the snowball and market research samples obtained online; this may be linked to greater cooperation associated with personal interaction and collective action. In agreement with the literature, we found that valuation of forest carbon offsets is associated with cognitive, ethical, behavioural, geographical and economic factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The automotive industry must embrace a low carbon mobility future. One way to encourage this is via incentives for consumers to use their existing vehicles more efficiently, and to purchase vehicles with technologies that mean they produce lower CO2 emissions. The conventional wisdom holds that market mechanisms, which alter the price signals faced by consumers, should be crucial in changing consumer behaviour and stimulating demand for such vehicles. However, this article cautions against the degree to which market mechanisms may be relied on. Because of the price inelasticity of demand for fuel, the endurance of national and regional preferences that are resistant to market price signals for the uptake of new vehicles, and supply-side considerations, a more interventionist policy response will be necessary for driving, rather than stimulating, demand for vehicles with lower CO2 emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Strategic planning is crucial for the survival of a company, wide‐ranging decisions about future action must be taken. The information basis for such decisions is often gained from forecasts about the future with more or less accurate probability of the assumed event occurring. Electronic markets have been the subject matter of numerous investigations in recent years and if organized correctly show a high degree of accuracy in forecasting future events relevant to the business of a company. In major enterprises prediction markets have already been used successfully as a new kind of prognostic instrument. It is also suitable, however, for small and medium‐sized enterprises for the gathering and assessment of the information available to the employees. When developing prognostic markets it is necessary to take into consideration psychological factors, which could favour incorrect results. First Published Online: 14 Oct 2010

Purpose: Consequential LCA (CLCA) is becoming widely used in the scientific community as a modelling technique which describes the consequences of a decision. However, despite the increasing number of case studies published, a proper systematization of the approach has not yet been achieved. This paper investigates the methodological implications of CLCA and the extent to which the applications are in line with the theoretical dictates. Moreover, the predictive and explorative nature of CLCA is discussed, highlighting the role of scenario modelling in further structuring the methodology. Methods: An extensive literature review was performed, involving around 60 articles published over a period of approximately 18 years, and addressing both methodological issues and applications. The information was elaborated according to two main aspects: what for (questions and modes of LCA) and what (methodological implications of CLCA), with focus on the nature of modelling and on the identification of the affected processes. Results and discussion: The analysis points out that since the modelling principles of attributional LCA (ALCA) and CLCA are the same, what distinguishes the two modes of LCA is the choice of the processes to be included in the system (i.e. in CLCA, those that are affected by the market dynamics). However, the identification of those processes is often done inconsistently, using different arguments, which leads to different results. We suggest the use of scenario modelling as a way to support CLCA in providing a scientifically sound basis to model specific product-related futures with respect to technology development, market shift, and other variables. Conclusions: The CLCA is a sophisticated modelling technique that provides a way to assess the environmental consequences of an action/decision by including market mechanisms into the analysis. There is still room for improvements of the method and for further research, especially in relation to the following aspects: clarifying when and which market information is important and necessary; understanding the role of scenario modelling within CLCA; and developing a procedure to support the framing of questions to better link questions to models. Moreover, we suggest that the logic of mechanisms could be the reading guide for overcoming the dispute between ALCA and CLCA. Going further, this logic could also be extended, considering CLCA as an approach-rather than as a modelling principle with defined rules-to deepen LCA, providing the conceptual basis for including more mechanisms than just the market ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The spread of the ecosystem services framework has been accompanied by the promotion of market-based policy instruments for environmental governance. In this paper we clarify the rationale, policy goals and governance challenges of the ecosystem services framework. After systematizing the limitations of market-based policy tools for enhancing the provision of ecosystem services, we argue that hybrid regimes are more suitable (compared to pure markets or hierarchies) to deal with the governance challenges derived from the characteristics of ecosystem services, particularly their common good character and their intrinsic complexity. The paper pleads for an alternative conceptual underpinning of market-based instruments, in order to make them more compatible with hybrid forms of governance. We discuss the major implications of such analytical shift. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The author reflects on the lessons that the Rio+20 summit in Durban, South Africa in June 2012 will deliver regarding the consideration of emissions trading schemes (ETS) in public-private partnerships and market mechanisms. He states that initiators of new emissions trading schemes (ETS) should consider environmental integrity. He mentions the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol which was a mechanism to lever private funding for emissions mitigation.

Climate mitigation credits have mobilized considerable resources for projects in developing countries, but similar funding to adapt to climate change has yet to emerge. The Copenhagen Accord targets up to US$50 billion per year in adaptation funding, but commitments to date have been trivial compared to what is needed. Although there are some studies and suggestions, it remains unclear where the money will come from and how it will be disbursed. Beyond this, many development experts believe that the main hurdle in climate adaptation is effective implementation. A framework, based on the polluter pays principle, is presented here regarding the mobilization of resources for adaptation in developing countries using market mechanisms. It is assumed that mitigation and adaptation are at least partly fungible in terms of long-term global societal costs and benefits, and that quantifying climate vulnerability reductions is possible at least sometimes. The scheme's benefits include significant, equitable and flexible capital flows, and improved and more efficient resource allocation and verification procedures that incentivize sustained project management. Challenges include overcoming political resistance to historical responsibility-based obligations and scepticism of market instruments, and, critically, quantifying climate impact costs and verifying investments for vulnerability reduction credits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we develop a rational model of a market oriented service overlay network in which peers trade resources and services through a common currency called energy. In our model, an overlay network is created by a set of non-cooperative resource providing peers, called platforms, that modify local connectivities to other platforms to maximize their own energy gains. Resource consuming peers, called agents, are simply designed to migrate platform-to-platform to find least expensive resources in the network. Computer simulations are conducted to study network structures that emerge from local interactions among a group of platforms and agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we formulate a non-cooperative optimization game in market-oriented overlay networks where participating peers share their own computing resources to earn virtual money called energy. We model an overlay network as a set of non-cooperative resource providing peers, called platforms, that perform resource pricing and topology management to maximize their own energy gains. Resource consuming peers, called agents, are simply designed to migrate platform-to-platform to find the least expensive resources in the network. Simulation results are presented to demonstrate the market dynamics as well as the global properties of the network, i.e., resource price and network topology, that emerge from local interactions among the group of peers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces market mechanisms for sustainable community development, an interdependent planning and implementation framework encompassing strategic directions, strategies, actors and instruments for municipal policy making. It examines how the economy influences the unsustainable development of local jurisdictions and how a coherent typology of strategies, actors and policy levers can move communities toward complementary environmental, social and economic outcomes. The paper illustrates a dichotomy between municipal decision making and embraces economic, social and environmental criteria for development of the built environment. It defines sustainable community development and analyzes research findings from senior decision makers in government, academic institutions, industry and non-profits. After critiquing 'the market mechanism' and identifying preferred approaches, the authors propose a typology that systematically aligns market signals with implementing sustainable community development policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The social engineering ambitions of economics have never been so high. Economists are increasingly invited to construct markets from scratch or to design mechanisms that mimic the market. Science students take these social engineering efforts as evidence for the capacity of economists to make the economy more like its description in economic theories. This paper scrutinises one such viewpoint. It examines Michel Callon's performativity thesis that presents the stronger stance regarding the impact of economics on the economy--economic theory can be made true by construction. It concludes that the research carried out thus far fails to support this thesis. It has shown that economics, understood in a very loose sense, has an active role in market building. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study seeks to compare the mission statements of higher education institutions in Wales as well as to compare these with regional level policy statements and demands from the market. The underlying idea is to reveal the extent to which mission statements actually differ and are (or are not) in line with such regional policies and market demands. The importance of the study is that it highlights the extent to which expectations from either government or the market are actually taken on board by institutions and the extent to which this could threaten institutional diversity. The study shows that congruence of missions is expressed in elements relating to excellence, research and a commitment to Wales and its economy. At the same time, missions are very diverse, with no two institutions stressing the same set of mission elements. The findings do not indicate that mission diversity is threatened by policy or market forces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Governments willing to commit themselves to maintain carbon prices at or above a certain level face the challenge that their commitments need to be credible both for investors in low-carbon technology and for foreign governments. This article argues that governments can make such commitments by issuing long-term put option contracts on the price of CO2 allowances. This mechanism gives investors the right, but not the obligation, to sell allowances to the government at the strike price. From the investors' point of view, a government is therefore fully committed to a price floor for allowances in the future. This proposed approach alters the incentives that a government faces when considering noncompliance and serves to prevent non-compliance. The proposal fares well when assessed against criteria to determine its suitability in legitimacy, enforcement, proportionality, lack of interference from other contracting States, and transparency. It also allows for fine-tuning through the number and duration of issued options and the strike price. A robust contract structure is proposed to protect against government interference that might threaten the credibility of commitments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air traffic flow control during adverse weather conditions is managed by the Federal Aviation Administration in today's air traffic system, although it is the individual airlines that are in the best position to assess the costs of disruptions to scheduled operations. TO improve the efficiency of resource allocation, a market mechanism is proposed that enables airlines to participate directly in the flow control decision-making process. Since airlines can be expected to behave strategically, a lump-sum market mechanism is used for which existence of a Nash equilibrium and a bound on the worst case efficiency loss have been shown for agents that anticipate the effects of their own bids on resource prices. The convergence properties of this mechanism are studied for a two-player game with linear utilities, which reveals that restricting the airline bid update step-size can result in a wider range of stable bidding processes. The mechanism is then applied to an air traffic flow control scenario for multiple airports in the northeastern United States, which demonstrates the feasibility of performing market-based resource allocation within the time horizon for reliable weather predictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2005, negotiations aiming at reducing emissions from deforestation in developing countries (REDD) are ongoing in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Two breeds of proposed REDD mechanisms are examined: market- or fund-based. Using Panama as a case study, the comparative ability of these types of mechanisms is assessed for addressing developing countries' concerns. In Panama, the protection of 5,000 ha of forest land corresponds to an annual reduction in emissions of 3,320,000 tCO2e with a break-even opportunity cost of US$3,678,594. The additional costs of protection, transaction and administration would augment the overall cost by 25%. The total yearly cost of REDO for Panama would be comparable to the country's total spending for protected areas in 2005 of ~US$3.5 million. Thus, implementing a REDD programme would double the conservation expenses of that country, underlying the crucial need to identify sufficient funding sources to sustain REDD. Our analysis suggests that none of the currently proposed mechanisms can provide the necessary incentives and flexibility to stimulate action. The proposed market-based approaches are likely to be too risky, while funds-based mechanisms lack explicit replenishment mechanisms. Alternative financial options must urgently be identified to give credibility to the ongoing efforts aimed at REDD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, around 80% of disaster-related losses are uninsured. There are many reasons for this market failure: from the insurers' point of view these include high risk or small scale, absence of reliable risk data, and volatility in the event costs; from the at-risk population these include high prices, a misperception of the true risk, an expectation of government aid after disasters, and exclusion from financial services. We propose that a public-private partnership can resolve this. The public sector sets a framework to reduce the physical risks, provides cover for high-risk segments and regulates the market for other risks; the private sector provides consultancy and administrative services for all sectors and offers coverage for lower-risk segments. Competition reduces administrative costs and fraud. Cost-based pricing is an effective risk-management tool, and international (re)insurers can transfer knowledge and spread risks globally. A regional or global risk pool can reduce premium rates substantially by lowering the volatility of losses. Nevertheless the fundamental building block for catastrophe insurance is at the national level, since risks must be consistently estimated and administered locally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strategic planning is crucial for the survival of a company, wide-ranging decisions about future action must be taken. The information basis for such decisions is often gained from forecasts about the future with more or less accurate probability of the assumed event occurring. Electronic markets have been the subject matter of numerous investigations in recent years and if organized correctly show a high degree of accuracy in forecasting future events relevant to the business of a company. In major enterprises prediction markets have already been used successfully as a new kind of prognostic instrument. It is also suitable, however, for small and medium-sized enterprises for the gathering and assessment of the information available to the employees. When developing prognostic markets it is necessary to take into consideration psychological factors, which could favour incorrect results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grid computing has recently become an important paradigm for managing computationally demanding applications, composed of a collection of services. The dynamic discovery of services, and the selection of a particular service instance providing the best value out of the discovered alternatives, poses a complex multi-attribute n:m allocation decision problem, which is often solved using a centralized resource broker. To manage complexity, this article proposes a two-layer architecture for service discovery in such Application Layer Networks (ALN). The first layer consists of a service market in which complex services are translated to a set of basic services, which are distinguished by price and availability. The second layer provides an allocation of services to appropriate resources in order to enact the specified services. This framework comprises the foundations for a later comparison of centralized and decentralized market mechanisms for allocation of services and resources in ALNs and Grids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Market mechanisms for forest environmental services are a new approach for conservation, but there is also an increasing interest in the derived developmental benefits of these mechanisms. We first propose a conceptual framework for future research on the livelihood impacts of environmental service markets. We then review eight Latin American case studies on carbon sequestration and watershed protection market initiatives, finding positive local income effects in most cases, more land tenure security and socioinstitutional strengthening in some cases, but some negative effects also. We recommend pro-poor policy measures such as reducing smallholders’ transaction costs and removing inappropriate access restrictions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Increased stormwater flows are a direct result of urbanization and the consequent increase in the proportion of land area under impervious surface. Due to its contribution to abnormally high stream flows and its role as a carrier of pollutants that degrade water quality, excess stormwater runoff has negative impacts on both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. In response to the increased magnitude and frequency of stormwater runoff events, municipalities and local governments seek cost-effective strategies to manage the risks associated with these stormwater flows. The goal of a proposed interdisciplinary approach involves providing incentives for the construction of small-scale best management practices throughout a small urban watershed, leading to a cost-effective means to control stormwater runoff, and partially restoring a more natural hydrologic regime to a watershed area. Market mechanisms and other incentives have been suggested as plausible approaches to the reduction of stormwater runoff. Development and implementation of market mechanisms and incentives to reduce stormwater runoff, however, involves interdisciplinary considerations and issues. This paper develops an interdisciplinary view of the stormwater runoff issue, beginning with a brief description of stormwater runoff management from a hydrologic perspective. We then present a background on types of market instruments and their related incentives as possible approaches to reducing the risks associated with both the magnitude and frequency of recurrence for excess stormwater runoff flows. This is followed by an analysis of how the federal Clean Water Act and state water laws have dealt with stormwater issues. These perspectives and methods are synthesized to develop several stormwater management scenarios that include stormwater user fees, stormwater runoff charges, allowance markets, and voluntary offset programs. Each of these programs would likely incorporate stormwater best management practices at the watershed level, yet in different ways, and we discuss the opportunities and limitations borne out of our analysis of the legal, economic, and hydrologic considerations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The following analysis contends that the FCC''s creation of Guard Band Managers is an important step forward in introducing more market-based forces to radio spectrum management. Guard Band Managers perform the function of a frequency coordinator—they parcel out “odd shaped”, business specific frequency assignments—but on a for-profit basis. The creation of the Guard Band Manager for the 700 MHz Guard Band is an example of the Federal Communications Commission using market-based forces to enhance the efficient use of radio spectrum in a setting constrained by the Commission''s desire to put severe limits on how the band is used. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper focuses on a simple axiom – investors prefer to hold diversified combinations of assets. Arguing that pooling vehicles like mutual funds offer approximate solutions, we propose a portfolio trading mechanism that allows individuals to trade diverse combinations of assets through a single order. Given the complexity of the market mechanism, we construct a prototype of this trading system and test it through a series of laboratory experiments with student subjects. We address the quality of the price discovery process, quality of allocations, and efficiency of the market mechanism. Results from a set of laboratory experiments indicate that the performance of such systems is sensitive to design aspects as well as relative experience of participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Financial tools can present a solution to conservation conflicts. However, their effectiveness may be limited unless they address the underlying drivers of conflict. The restoration of controversial megafauna can be tied to a clash of urban and rural values and rejection by rural landowners of government control over their actions. Here, we consider a latent financial opportunity presented by general public support for large predator restoration to maintain a wolf-livestock coexistence program in Washington state, USA. We measured respondents' (N = 420) willingness-to-pay for gray wolf (Canis lupus) conservation and their preferences for program funding mechanisms, including voluntary contributions, mandatory taxes, and a 'predator-friendly' ranching certification scheme. Respondents were supportive of a publicly funded program, which represented around USD246 million in estimated economic value. This benefit is more than 150 times the cost of the current government-run program. There were mixed preferences for funding mechanisms, so we recommend adopting multiple approaches. A new funding source would allow the program to be rancher-led, shifting agency from government to rural communities, as well as providing outreach opportunities for ranchers to the urban public. As such, our proposal addresses two of the major socio-political conflicts underlying the wolf debate in North America while also generating funding to protect the ranching industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that at a time when policy guidance urged closer collaboration and joint working between health and social services, the long-established cultural and professional gaps were widening and deteriorating. Drawing on data from four research sites, the paper argues that the deterioration was rooted principally in practitioners' preoccupations with changes within their own organizations and daily work, resulting from a major period of change in both health and social services, which, ironically, was at the expense of the joint working which the "Caring for People" reforms required. As the policy environment changes again, under the Labour government, it is likely that health and social care practitioners will be working within further organizational turbulence and change. It will be crucial that those changes are managed in such a way that they avoid the very real danger of compounding the problems which our respondents identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a growing trend toward cooperative computing arrangements that span several independent organizations. Prominent among these are the numerous computer networks set up to permit inter-organizational sharing of computer-based resources. Cooperative arrangements appear to share many common problems in their development, financing, and management. These problem are reviewed, and the considerations involved in dealing with them discussed. It is shown that the problem areas described have a fundamental influence on the success of any cooperative computing venture, and must be taken into account in assessing the potential costs and benefits associated with such a venture, as well as in its subsequent management. There is an extensive set of references to the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australia offers an interesting case study of climate policy effectiveness as Australia has 'tried' a wide range of policies to mixed effect. Given that more than half of Australia's greenhouse gas emissions typically come from stationary energy generation, most climate policy in Australia has focussed on electricity sector reform, particularly the uptake of variable renewable energy and the decrease of thermal power generation. Electricity supply in Australia has undergone substantial change over recent years, substantially due to these policies, and needs to continue changing in the future to meet climate change mitigation targets and ensure stable, cost-effective electricity supply. This paper is therefore written from the perspective of an electricity planner and seeks to learn from the experiences of climate policies tried over recent decades. We start by reviewing the history of Australian energy policy and a description of how the Australian electricity network is structured to operate. We examine the theory and effects of different policies tried, which range from renewable energy targets, carbon pricing schemes, subsidies for renewable energy and research and development initiatives. We make three key observations from the case analysis: (1) that there has been substantial expense and effort effectively wasted through duplicate effects of different policy mechanisms by both federal and state governments; (2) as various mechanisms enable variable renewable energy generation to increase, the market becomes distorted, increasing total system costs and decreasing system robustness and resilience; and (3) the narrowed focus of climate policy mechanisms on certain variable renewables, such as solar photovoltaic and wind generation, omitted the opportunity for uptake of scale-able low carbon, firm generation options, like nuclear power and carbon capture and storage. • Australia has had a variable approach to emissions reduction to date. • Policy duplication across federal and state levels leads to inefficiency. • Market distortions can impact investment with negative system outcomes. • Narrowing the policy path can discount options too early. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]