This thesis develops the notion of the bioenergy transition as the long-term transformation of biomass from a local resource into a global commodity. An historical assessment is combined with interdisciplinary analysis that focuses especially on liquid biofuels and highlights the environmentally innovative case of bioethanol. The bioenergy transition is investigated from several different perspectives: technical-economic, socio-economic, socio-technical and political-economic. Linkages across different levels from household to global are analysed in relation to the effectiveness of bioenergy policies. In addition to studies at household and national levels, a North-South perspective is taken by including two major regions: the European Union (EU) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). The relation of EU biofuels policy to international climate and trade regimes is assessed to show how regional-global linkages affect policy design and implementation. Household bioenergy markets in developing countries are poorly articulated and difficult to link to other sectors; a detailed choice model in Ethiopia showed that product-specific factors should be evaluated to inform design of programmes and policies. Municipal and sub-national markets for bioenergy have been successfully linked to national policies to coordinate supply and demand in Brazil and Sweden. Regional market development for biofuels has great potential in southern Africa but regional-national linkages currently remain unexploited. National level efforts remain quite important in terms of energy security and environmental innovation, as evidenced in Brazil, Malawi and Sweden. Biofuels sustainability criteria in the EU Renewable Energy Directive (EU-RED) were evaluated in relation to the international climate and trade regimes and were found to shift some costs onto developing countries. One of the mechanisms for assuring biofuels sustainability is bilateral agreements, which remain untested but potentially effective. Cross-level linkages were often unexploited in the cases studied; national approaches cannot easily capture complementarities across sectors and scales in biophysical and economic terms. Linking biofuels markets across different levels from household to global through regional development policies and specialised governance mechanisms could help to steer the bioenergy transition towards sustainability. / <p>QC 20141112</p>

This dissertation addresses the economic behavior and political influence activities by lobbyists today by examining the existence, mechanisms, and welfare implications of commercial lobbying activities and their optimal regulation. In the second chapter of this dissertation, a novel model of lobbying is presented that explains the behavior of commercial lobbying firms (such as the so-called K-Street lobbyists of Washington, D.C.). In contrast to classical special interest groups, commercial lobbying firms represent a variety of clients and are not directly affected by policy outcomes. They are hired by citizens to advocate policy proposals to politicians that are beneficial to the citizens but also have social implications. Using a model with a market for lobbying services and agency relationships between lobbyists and policymakers it can be shown why commercial lobbying firms exist. It can also be shown that self-interested policymakers, who observe lobbying activities, may employ commercial lobbying firms in a socially inefficient manner. In the third chapter of this dissertation, the analysis examines the effective regulation of commercial lobbying activities and focuses on the endogenous choice of regulatory institutions. The analysis uses the model of commercial lobbying presented in the second chapter. I derive the institutional conditions under which a market outcome can be first-best as well as the conditions under which a first-best institution will be self-stable. One result is that current regulations may fail to be effective and cannot limit lobbyists' and policymakers' incentives to substitute financial contributions for the socially beneficial acquisition of information. Additional results explain why endogenous reforms may or may not occur. In the fourth chapter of this dissertation, the analysis uses a dynamic model of commercial lobbying with lobbyists who undertake unobservable investigation efforts and promise financial contributions. It is shown that repeated relationships with lobbyists simplify a policymaker's information and contracting problem and help policymakers to escape a "cheap talk" lobbying game. The welfare implications of these interactions depend on whether the policymakers' information or contracting problem predominates. Further, the policymaker's information problem may actually improve welfare outcomes. Similarly, financial contributions may also improve welfare outcomes. This dissertation includes unpublished co-authored material.

O objetivo da pesquisa foi analisar os principais fatores determinantes para que os conselhos gestores de Unidades de Conservação (UC) contribuam para a emergência de processos de aprendizagem social e para a ocorrência de mudanças na dinâmica territorial relacionadas aos objetivos sociais e ecológicos das UC. O estudo apoiou-se nos casos do Parque Estadual Xixová-Japuí e da Área de Proteção Ambiental Marinha Litoral Centro, unidades localizadas na Baixada Santista, estado de São Paulo, e inseridas em uma matriz altamente urbanizada, envolvendo diversos interesses e desafios à gestão. A análise dos conselhos permitiu identificar as principais características dos processos de surgimento e funcionamento das arenas, verificando que tanto o desenho institucional como a presença de atores sociais hábeis assumem importância fundamental na criação de novas instituições nos conselhos. A principal conclusão do estudo indica que o estabelecimento de regras claras para a seleção de representantes da sociedade civil e a adoção de procedimentos técnicos facilitam a participação dos conselheiros nos processos de discussão e tomada de decisão na gestão da UC. / The research objective was to analyze the determinants facts that contribute to the emergence of social learning processes and territorial dynamics changes in Protected Areas (PA). The scope of the study was defined in the Protected Area Management Councils and was based on the Xixová-Japuí State Park and Litoral Centro Marine Protected Area. Both PA are located in Santos Metropolitan Region, São Paulo, and inserted into a highly urbanized array with diverse interests and management challenges. Councils´ analysis identified the main characteristics of the arenas´ emergence processes and operation, verifying that both institutional design and skilled social actor´s presence assume critical importance on new institutions´ creation. The studys main conclusion indicates that clear rules establishment for the selection of civil society representatives and the adoption of technical process improve actors involvement in discussions and decision making for the protected areas management.

abstract: Institutions (rules, norms, and shared strategies) are social feedback systems that structure actors’ decision-making context. It is important to investigate institutional design to understand how rules interact and generate feedbacks that affect robustness, i.e., the ability to respond to change. This is particularly important when assessing sustainable use/conservation trade-offs that affect species’ long-term survival. My research utilized the institutional grammar (IG) and robust institutional design to investigate these linkages in the context of four international conservation treaties. First, the IG was used to code the regulatory formal treaty rules. The coded statements were then assessed to determine the rule linkages and dynamic interactions with a focus on monitoring and related reporting and enforcement mechanisms. Treaties with a regulatory structure included a greater number and more tightly linked rules related to these mechanisms than less regulatory instruments. A higher number of actors involved in these activities at multiple levels also seemed critical to a well-functioning monitoring system. Then, drawing on existing research, I built a set of constitutive rule typologies to supplement the IG and code the treaties’ constitutive rules. I determined the level of fit between the constitutive and regulatory rules by examining the monitoring mechanisms, as well as treaty opt-out processes. Treaties that relied on constitutive rules to guide actor decision-making generally exhibited gaps and poorer rule fit. Regimes which used constitutive rules to provide actors with information related to the aims, values, and context under which regulatory rules were being advanced tended to exhibit better fit, rule consistency, and completeness. The information generated in the prior studies, as well as expert interviews, and the analytical frameworks of Ostrom’s design principles, fit, and polycentricity, then aided the analysis of treaty robustness. While all four treaties were polycentric, regulatory regimes exhibited strong information processing feedbacks as evidenced by the presence of all design principles (in form and as perceived by experts) making them theoretically more robust to change than non-regulatory ones. Interestingly, treaties with contested decision-making seemed more robust to change indicating contestation facilitates robust decision-making or its effects are ameliorated by rule design. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Environmental Social Science 2020

The Organizational-Cybernetic Approach to International Institutions Michal Parízek Abstract of the dissertation One of the key tasks of the institutionalist research in international relations should be to explore how the functioning of international institutions can be enhanced through alterations of their design, where design is understood as the only factor that can have a direct causal effect on the institutions' functioning and that, at the same time, is at least in principle amenable to conscious manipulation. The task of this dissertation is to elaborate on whether this can be at all done and, if yes, how exactly and under what conditions. To deal with these problems, I present what is best labelled as the organizational-cybernetic approach, a theoretical and conceptual framework based on insights from the field of organizational cybernetics. Building on the organizational-cybernetic framework, I outline the concept of information transmission capacity as the right dependent variable for the study of how design impacts on functioning of institutions. Subsequently I present the viable system model, an organizational- cybernetic model that identifies on a general level all the key information channels necessary for viability of any governance scheme. Using this approach, we can proceed in the...

My degree work has been an exploration in what specific skills, knowledge and understan­dings that are needed in service design as a practice, in order to successfully engage in complex contexts with multiple stakeholders, different relations, structures and regulations. In this investigation, I have been especially interested in the role of physical forms in a process where social structures are discussed and reshaped. With the ambition to create a learning process within this area I have, in collaboration with Förnyelselabbet, been part of a study in Malmö that focus on children and youth with migra­tion experiences living in vulnerable housing situations. The study is done in collaboration with multiple actors such as City of Malmö, The Red Cross, Rädda Barnen, Unicef, Skåne Stadsmission, Sensus etc. These are actors that share the same goal to highlight needs and experiences amongst children and youths. In my work I have designed tools with the ambition to unfold and deepen the under­standing of situations, meetings and objects that could enable a feeling of safety, comfort and joy when living in a vulnerable housing situation. In this context, I have recognized the importance of exploring the role of meeting points. For this purpose, I have used three objects; the slide; the sofa and the set table. As a result of this degree project I created something I call a material probe, a object with the function to visualise needs and trigger responses. This material probe captures three fundamental needs; a slide – the possibility for play and activity, a sofa – the possibility for gaining the feeling of safety and belonging, a table – the possibility for sharing experiences and information. By visualising and materialising these needs, I hope to create a discussion that unfolds challenges and promotes the children’s perspective. My work to narrow down the needs is based on multiple interviews and stories from children, youths and parents. The main question is what happens to the continued development process when research findings, needs and experiences are visualised. The main goal of this degree project has been to articulate and reflect on how service designers can combine knowledge within process design, institutional design and design of physical form. How service design as a practice can develop and if including physical forms and visualisations at a higher level in our work can help the development process forward.

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Across four self-contained essays, this dissertation seeks to identify which features make international organizations (IOs) effective peacemakers in modern civil wars. The first essay introduces an original dataset on the institutional design of 21 peace-brokering IOs between 1945 and 2010. The second essay contains a statistical study of 122 IO civil war mediation episodes, examining how variation in institutional design affects outcomes. The third essay presents an in-depth case study, comparing interventions by the Arab League and the United Nations in Syria in 2011 and 2012. The fourth essay is a statistical examination of how IO member state biases influence mediation effectiveness. Overall, this dissertation demonstrates that the performance of peace-brokering IOs cannot be accurately evaluated without taking institutional variation into account. IOs display considerable heterogeneity in de­sign and capabili­ties and this variation has implications for the nature and effectiveness of IO interventions. Quantitative evidence reveals that IOs with strongly centralized instruments for supporting mediation and, in particular, peacekeeping operations are more likely to end civil wars. Qualitative evidence shows that IOs with such capabilities can engage in interventions of greater scope and credibility, enhancing their ability to shape the calculations of civil war disputants. Combined, the studies suggest that although institutional capabilities are necessary for sustained intervention effectiveness, they are conditioned on other organizational attributes. IOs with high preference homogeneity can signal intervention durability, giving them an edge over IOs with divided memberships. IOs that contain member states that have pro­vided direct support to civil war disputants outperform IOs that lack such member states. / <p>This dissertation consists of four self-contained essays dealing with different aspects of conflict management by international organizations.</p><p>Essay 4 previously appeared in 2014 as “Leanings and dealings: Exploring bias and trade leverage in civil war mediation by international organizations” (<em>International Negotiation, 19</em>(2), 315–342).</p>

Bátora alleges that political accountability has been “almost entirely overlooked” (2010, 2) in studies of the European External Action Service. An examination of the subject that extends previous studies on agency design, the co-decision procedure, the “democratic deficit,” and European Union foreign policy would resolve the neglect. As a result, the study derives a hypothesis from an established theory of bureaucratic structure. Findings suggest that during the design of EU agencies co-decision power improves the ability of the European Parliament to institutionalize methods of accountability to it.