Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
policy options will imply some changes in property rights. However, here it is
defined in a more narrow sense pointing to changes in the property rights of farmers
on natural resources needed for production, such as land and water. For example,
most environmental policies, such as the EU Flora-Fauna-Habitat Directive or
the EU Nitrate Directive, reduce directly farmers' property rights. Restrictions on
land use, like the prohibition to spread manure on the field during winter months,
have direct impacts on the individual production decisions of farmers. Thus, these
environmental policies, according to the matrix, would address the governance
structure 'market' as 'area of intervention' since restrictions in land use or farming
practices are likely to affect the production function of the farmer resulting in
higher production costs and, hence, less profit. Yet, these restrictions are also
resulting in severe changes in and constraints on (private) property rights of farm-
ers with respect to the (natural) production factor land. In contrast, policies
demanding specific health and quality standards of a farmer's produce to be kept
when entering the market would also affect his production function; yet, no direct
changes in property rights would be involved.
An additional dimension that is complementing this matrix accounts for
specificities of the natural resource(s) addressed by the policy option, i.e.,
water, land/soil, biodiversity, forestry, or complex resource systems. 12 Some
crucial institutional aspects stem from the fact that the characteristics of a natu-
ral resource addressed or the attributes of a transaction related to nature might
call for specific institutional arrangements to make a policy option effective
(Hagedorn et al. 2002 ; Hagedorn 2008) . For instance, addressing water quality
often has to deal with non-point pollution from agriculture that constitutes chal-
lenges for adequate forms of monitoring and sanctioning. Further, policies for
the protection of biodiversity or specific rare species face particular incentive
problems, not the least because the future value of these rare species is uncertain
and the benefits of protection cannot only be reaped by the one protecting it.
In addition, the geographical dimensions (local, national, or global) of resources
can also be important. Thus, distinct institutional aspects for each of the natural
resources addressed can be expected.
To sum up, the four dimensions necessary to describe a policy type comprehen-
sively are illustrated as a four-dimensional graphic in Fig. 3.2 . The x-axis describes
the area of intervention, the y-axis the type of intervention, and the z-axis the natu-
ral resource addressed. The colour of the cuboid reflects the dimension 'property
rights change': dark grey, if a property rights change is involved, and light grey, if
not. Each cuboid in the space represents a certain policy type. For illustration, Agri-
Environmental Schemes focussing on reducing diffuse pollution of nitrates from
agriculture can be assigned to the policy type of the light grey cuboid.
12 The category complex resource system refers to resource systems with many externalities
involved (e.g., wetlands). Here, a policy is targeting the 'performance' of the resource system as
a whole, rather than single components or resources.
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