The critical mass approach to achieve a deal on green goods and services: what is on the table? How much should we expect?

2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 393-414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaime de Melo ◽  
Mariana Vijil
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Critical Mass ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Environmental Services ◽  
Environmental Goods ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Tariff Structure ◽  
Tariff Equivalent

AbstractIn July 2014 a group of 14 countries (the ‘Davos Group’) launched negotiations on liberalizing trade in ‘green goods’ (also known as environmental goods – EGs), focusing on the elimination of tariffs for a list of 54 products. With an average tariff of 1.8 per cent, this group has little to offer even if the list were extended to the 411 products on the ‘WTO list’. Taking into account tariff dispersion, their tariff structure on EGs would be equivalent to a uniform tariff of 3.4 per cent, about half the uniform tariff-equivalent for non EGs products. Enlarging the number of participants to low-income countries might be possible as, on average, their imports would not increase by more than 8 per cent. Because of the strong complementarities between trade in EGs and trade in environmental services, these should also be brought into the negotiation in spite of the likely difficulties in reaching agreement on their scope.

scholarly journals Is there a need to audit CVM applications to the environment?

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 482-489
Author(s):  
S Hosking
Keyword(s):  
Willingness To Pay ◽  
Contingent Valuation ◽  
Contingent Valuation Method ◽  
Environmental Services ◽  
External Audit ◽  
Environmental Goods ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Valuation Method ◽  
Environmental Goods And Services

It is well known to economists that the contingent valuation method (CVM) fills an important gap in valuation technology with respect to managing public environmental goods and services.   Currently acceptable CVM practice requires many challenging steps to be followed.  One of these important steps is that of assessing the theoretical validity of the household willingness to pay (WTP) finding, but it is far from being a sufficient basis for reaching conclusions as to the credibility predicted community willingness to pay for environmental services.  This paper reviews the step of testing for theoretical validity and challenges its importance relative to other more fundamental assessments of the credibility of the predicted household and societal WTP.  This paper then deduces that an external ‘audit’ assessment may be necessary, in addition to an internal one, for these values to attain credibility in the determination of public choices.

Moving Towards Decent Work for Street Vendors in Tanzania

Utafiti ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 257-278
Author(s):  
Nasibu Rajabu Mramba ◽  
Nandera Ernest Mhando
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Work Force ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Decent Work ◽  
Local Economies ◽  
Street Vendors ◽  
Street Vending ◽  
Quality Of Work ◽  
Goods And Services

Abstract Street vending is an important employment opportunity for the millions of youth, women, anyone with very few resources and the least-skilled people in low-income countries. Its popularity is due to the ease of entry into the business as far as costs, legal eligibility, and level of education. Despite their importance to local economies, street vendors operate in challenging environments that limit the productivity, the decency, and the sustainability of this kind of work. Governments should play a central role in improving the quality of work in this sector, particularly in countries where it constitutes a large proportion of the nation’s work force, and provides goods and services to so many people.

Europe's Crisis of Legitimacy

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vivien A. Schmidt
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Critical Mass ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Poor Countries ◽  
Sub Saharan

Expectations are high regarding the potential benefits of public–private partnerships (PPPs) for infrastructure development in poor countries. The development community, led by the G20, the United Nations, and others, expects PPPs to help with “transformational” megaprojects as well as efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). But PPPs have been widely used only since the 1990s. The discussion of PPPs is still dominated by best-practice guidance, academic studies that focus on developed countries, or ideological criticism. Meanwhile, practitioners have quietly accumulated a large body of empirical evidence on PPP performance. The purpose of this book is to summarize and consolidate what this critical mass of evidence-based research says about PPPs in low-income countries (LICs) and thereby develop a more realistic perspective on the practical value of these mechanisms. The focus of the book is on Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), home to most of the world’s poorest countries, although insights from other regions and more affluent developing countries are also included. Case studies of many of the best-known PPPs in Africa are used to illustrate these findings. This book demonstrates that PPPs have not met expectations in poor countries, and are only sustainable if many of the original defining characteristics of PPPs are changed. PPPs do have a small but meaningful role to play, but only if expectations remain modest and projects are subject to transparent evaluation and competition. Experiments with PPP mechanisms underway in some countries suggest ways in which PPPs may be evolving to better realize benefits in poor countries.

scholarly journals Reforestation for environmental services as valued by local communities: a case study from Lebanon

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-115
Author(s):  
Juliette Amidi ◽  
Jean Mikhael Stephan ◽  
Elias Maatouk
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Forest Products ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Environmental Services ◽  
Timber Production ◽  
Lower Income ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Communal Lands

PurposeLebanon has been subject to important reforestation activities which resulted in the establishment of several cedars, pine and other mixed forest stands on communal lands. These stands are not designated for timber production but rather for nonwood forest products (NWFPs), landscape restoration and for environmental services. The study aims at valuating old reforested sites from the perspective of rural communities neighboring those reforested stands.Design/methodology/approachTo assess the non-timber goods and services provided by these forest ecosystems, 13 reforested sites located in different regions in Lebanon were selected. The socioeconomic assessment was done using questionnaires distributed to locals that have close interactions with the neighboring forests; it included, among others, a double-bonded dichotomous contingent valuation (CV) related to their willingness to pay (WTP) for reforestation and forest management activities.FindingsResults of the goods and services assessment revealed that the forests have multifunctional uses with ecotourism as a major activity in all forest types. The CV showed that 75% of respondents did express a WTP. Most of the respondents did so, thus giving a great importance to intrinsic values of the forests. Lower income did not negatively affect the WTP of respondents but rather age and the educational level did. Other factors such as forest type, forest surface and the biodiversity status of the sites did not have an impact on WTP.Practical implicationsThese results are very informative for governmental policies seeking funds to perform reforestation programs for environmental objectives, involving local communities in co-funding these programs would help insure the sustainable conservation of reforestation sites.Social implicationsDespite their relative low income, poor communities are willing to pay to sustain forests and their ecosystem services.Originality/valueIt is the first time that a CV is used for ecosystem services regenerated from 50–60 years old reforested sites in a semiarid region, where trees are not planted for timber production. It is one of the few examples were lower income did not affect the WTP for forests providing environmental services on communal lands.

scholarly journals Tariff structuring in water and sanitation: public profiting arrangements on universalization initiatives

Water Policy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcelo Motta Veiga
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Public Services ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Project Finance ◽  
Service Access ◽  
Water And Sanitation ◽  
Tariff Structure

Abstract Water and sanitation service access is a global problem, impacting disproportionally poor communities of low-income countries. Failed universalization initiatives highlighted historical negligence, social inequality, and bad governance. Infrastructure developments require large investments, which most local governments cannot afford. Alternative funding might come from private investors through cost-effective project finance arrangements. Public services should be sustainable, conciliating users' willingness to pay with providers' willingness to supply. Governments have implemented profit-driven strategies over taxing outsourced public services to increase budget inflow. Inefficient tax schemes on essential public services have damaged universalization initiatives in developing countries. These negative taxing practices have damaged tariff structure, service sustainability, and project attractiveness. Public sector should not profit from unsustainable outsourced services that they are required but cannot supply. Water and sanitation expansions on low-income communities in developing countries should not take place as tariff-free schemes, but within a tax-exempt policy.

scholarly journals Economic Analysis of the Effects of Rice Price Distortions in Pakistan: 1975-90

1993 ◽  
Vol 32 (4II) ◽  
pp. 859-872
Author(s):  
Nuzhat Iqbal
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Price Change ◽  
Commodity Prices ◽  
Food Prices ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Marginal Propensity To Consume ◽  
Marginal Propensity ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Price Distortions

Price distortions induce inefficient utilisation of resources by giving incorrect signals to producers and consumers. Since distorted prices do not reflect the real value of resources, quantities of goods and services produced may not be consistent with their demand. The price Distortions may be caused by a number of different reasons. They may, for instance, be caused by monopolistic tendencies, preferential treatment of a particular sector of economy, establishment of diffusion of a particular product or an input, etc. In fact, price distortions occur sometimes from deliberate and sometime inadvertent Government policies of subsidies and price supports in pursuance of certain social or economic objectives. Both producers and consumers maximise their economic welfare by allocating their resources in response to price signals from a fully comPetitive market. Since movements in commodity prices especially food prices affect producers and consumers in exactly the opposite way, fixation of their prices in developing countries represents a policy dilemma. While prices of all items used by consumers and .producers are iml?ortant, food prices carry a unique significance in low income countries where the marginal propensity to consume is very high. Since farm producers are also food consumers, the net impact of a food price change in their case will depend on the extent to which they have emerged from a subsistence economy. However, if inputs are subject to price fixation, the impact will be felt more readily and directly. In fact, where there is no Government intervention, prices equilibrate consumer demand with the productive capacities of producers. If prices are distorted by any agency~ their allocative role is seriously diminished. Imperfections of both size and operation being prevailed ultimately induce misallocation of resources in the country. Resource use efficiencies increase, if government restricts its role to ensuring proper functioning of the market and lets the prices to be determined by the forces of demand and supply.

scholarly journals Globalized low-income countries may experience higher COVID-19 mortality rates

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodolfo Jaffé ◽  
Mabel Ortiz ◽  
Klaus Jaffé
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
International Aid ◽  
Mortality Rates ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Exponential Growth Phase ◽  
Infection Rates ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Scientific Papers ◽  
Socio Economic Variables ◽  
International Aid Agencies

AbstractUnderstanding the factors underpinning COVID-19 infection and mortality rates is essential in order to implement actions that help mitigate the current pandemic. Here we evaluate how a suit of 15 climatic and socio-economic variables influence COVID-19 exponential growth-phase infection and mortality rates across 36 countries. We found that imports of goods and services, international tourism and the number of published scientific papers are good predictors of COVID-19 infection rates, indicating that more globalized countries may have experienced multiple and recurrent introductions of the virus. However, high-income countries showed lower mortality rates, suggesting that the consequences of the current pandemic will be worse for globalized low-income countries. International aid agencies could use this information to help mitigate the consequences of the current pandemic in the most vulnerable countries.

Public-Private Partnerships in Sub-Saharan Africa

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Leigland
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Critical Mass ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Public Private Partnerships ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Poor Countries ◽  
Sub Saharan

Expectations are high regarding the potential benefits of public–private partnerships (PPPs) for infrastructure development in poor countries. The development community, led by the G20, the United Nations, and others, expects PPPs to help with “transformational” megaprojects as well as efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). But PPPs have been widely used only since the 1990s. The discussion of PPPs is still dominated by best-practice guidance, academic studies that focus on developed countries, or ideological criticism. Meanwhile, practitioners have quietly accumulated a large body of empirical evidence on PPP performance. The purpose of this book is to summarize and consolidate what this critical mass of evidence-based research says about PPPs in low-income countries (LICs) and thereby develop a more realistic perspective on the practical value of these mechanisms. The focus of the book is on Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), home to most of the world’s poorest countries, although insights from other regions and more affluent developing countries are also included. Case studies of many of the best-known PPPs in Africa are used to illustrate these findings. This book demonstrates that PPPs have not met expectations in poor countries, and are only sustainable if many of the original defining characteristics of PPPs are changed. PPPs do have a small but meaningful role to play, but only if expectations remain modest and projects are subject to transparent evaluation and competition. Experiments with PPP mechanisms underway in some countries suggest ways in which PPPs may be evolving to better realize benefits in poor countries.

scholarly journals The Optimality of Using Marginal Land for Bioenergy Crops: Tradeoffs between Food, Fuel, and Environmental Services

2016 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adriana M. Valcu-Lisman ◽  
Catherine L. Kling ◽  
Philip W. Gassman
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Values ◽  
Energy Crops ◽  
Agricultural Watershed ◽  
Bioenergy Crops ◽  
Environmental Services ◽  
Marginal Land ◽  
Market Prices ◽  
Environmental Goods ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Environmental Goods And Services

We assess empirically how agricultural lands should be used to produce the highest valued outputs, which include food, energy, and environmental goods and services. We explore efficiency tradeoffs associated with allocating land between food and bioenergy and use a set of market prices and nonmarket environmental values to value the outputs produced by those crops. We also examine the degree to which using marginal land for energy crops is an approximately optimal rule. Our empirical results for an agricultural watershed in Iowa show that planting energy crops on marginal land is not likely to yield the highest valued output.

scholarly journals Payment for Environmental Services in Nepal (A Case Study of Shivapuri National Park, Kathmandu, Nepal)

1970 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-72
Author(s):  
Kamal Jung Kunwar
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Benefit Sharing ◽  
Environmental Services ◽  
Environmental Goods ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Payment For Environmental Services ◽  
Relationship Benefit ◽  
Secondary Information ◽  
Environmental Goods And Services

With a view to highlight the issues of Payment for Environmental Services (PES) in Nepal, the paper aims at providing information on possible environmental goods and services rendered by the Shivapuri National Park (ShNP), Kathmandu. It also endeavors to explore the policy issues with regards to PES in Nepal. Secondary information was obtained through published and unpublished literatures and office records of ShNP whereas primary information was generated through various Rapid Appraisal tools; such as informal discussion with park officials, semi-structured interview, field observation etc. Despite the ShNP's role in providing environmental goods and services to the dwellers of Kathmandu metropolitan, the local inhabitants have not been benefited from such services. There has been low level of awareness on the issues such as environmental goods and services and possible benefits to be obtained and its equitable sharing. It is the dire need that policy should focus on these issues so that all the stakeholders could be benefited from the conservation and management of protected areas and forests in the country. Key Words: Payment for environmental services, Shivapuri national park, Upstream and downstream relationship, Benefit sharing, Free riders. DOI: 10.3126/init.v2i1.2525 The Initiation Vol.2(1) 2008 pp63-72

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