Questa tesi considera tre aspetti di Environmental Regulation. Il primo riguarda i fallimenti del mercato e le azioni correttive corrispondenti del governo. Il secondo prende in esame gli effetti delle politiche di regolamentazione e valuta interventi pubblici efficienti. Il terzo osserva diversità delle normative e indaga le loro interazioni. / This dissertation examines three aspects of incentive problems in Environmental Regulation. The first deals with market failures and the government's corresponding corrective actions. The second examines the effects of regulatory policies and asks which kind of government interventions is efficient. The third observes diversity of regulations and investigates their interactions.

The need for a deeper understanding of public policy instruments is well established in public administration literature. Growth in ethanol and alternative fuel policy instruments across the country and the importance of these policies to national energy security only adds urgency to this need. Policy instruments are defined as tools governments use to address public policy problems. Public policy scholars traditionally focus on processes of policy making or the policies, with little attention paid to how governments accomplish policy goals. This dissertation shifts the focus to policy instruments to fill this void in public administration scholarship. It examines factors that influence policy instruments chosen by policy makers in the fifty states. Using the lens of biofuel policies, it links three diverse public policy theories: Policy Instrument Theory, New Public Management (NPM) Theory, and Political Culture Theory, into a single model of policy instrument choice. The dependent variable is derived using cluster analysis methods and results in four distinct groups of states based on state level biofuel policy instrument characteristics. These groups are used to test proposed hypotheses regarding state level characteristics including levels of NPM reform, individual state political culture and elite political ideology as well as fundamental measures of state policy capacity of state wealth, impacts of economic sectors, and political interests. Multinomial logistic regression analysis is used to establish the likelihood of membership in one group of states versus other groups with specific instrument characteristics. The results conclude that policy makers in states make different instrument choices based on state level characteristics. Wealthy states choose policy instruments that rely upon changing citizen behavior rather than direct government intervention. The levels of agricultural and manufacturing employment influence instrument choice. Agricultural employment was the most influential variable introduced to the model. These economic sectors did not appear to receive favorable treatment as policy instrument theorists contend. Strong evidence was found for a connection between political ideology and policy instrument choice. States with liberal elite ideology choose different biofuel policy instruments than states with conservative elite ideology. The research offered initial evidence that NPM philosophies translate to policy instrument adoption.

This research examines European Union (EU) policy instruments affecting the urban domain throughout the lenses of the Europeanization approach. Instead of looking at EU instruments that are formally/legally consecrated to cities, we use theoretical public policy analysis to explore the arenas and the causal mechanisms that structure the encounter between the EU and urban systems of governance. We develop the argument that there are four different modes of Europeanization. In consequence, to grasp the essence of a single instrument or a given EU initiative, one has to establish which mode is prevailing in the policy logic of that instrument or initiative. The core variables that explain change concern the status of actors’ preferences (a) and the payoffs from Europeanization (b). The combination of (a) and (b) thus originates a four dimensional space. We can therefore develop a typology for the modes of Europeanization, which chimes with current theorisations on the EU modes of governance. The eventual Europeanization of urban systems depends on the nature of strategic interaction, not on the legal ‘tools’ explicitly designated for cities. Thus, policy instruments are initially associated with the four modes. We then used process-tracing to verify whether instruments actually perform according to the ‘mode’ to which they have been initially paired, or if they trigger contingencies that have not been theoretically/deductively foreseen. This is particularly convenient within a realm – urban policies – where the EU does not have a specific formal competence and where interactions between ‘cities’ and the EU are likely to take place within multiple policy areas and during different stages of the policy process. Mechanisms are explored by considering the city of Turin. The four ‘policy instruments’ selected as proxies for the assessment of modes of Europeanization are the Covenant of Mayors programme for energy saving, directive 1994/62 (then waste framework directive) for waste management, directive 1993/30 for air quality control and the URBAN II Community Initiative for urban regeneration and development. The analysis of the four instruments reveals less variation between modes than initially expected. In this connection, theoretical similarity between modes, as emerged from the typological exercise carried out at the outset of the research, was partially echoed by the empirical analysis of policy instruments. Within cities and urban areas, the Europeanization effect is likely to assume a more blurred fashion and the action of, and reaction to, Europe is greatly interwoven with other dynamics, which in turn shape the perception and the actual impact of European modes and instruments for regulation. In the conclusions we highlight the differences between this approach and the traditional analysis of EU urban policy, and suggest avenues for future empirical research based on typologies of policy instruments.

This study suggests that transfer of State forests to the local communities is the least cost policy option to improve prevailing deforestation problem in Nepal. However, there are few problems at operational, institutional, and policy levels, which are restricting community forest (CF) transformation. The critical review of seven representative case studies and modern forest policy of Nepal identifies following important issues in CF transformation in Nepal. They are low marginal flexibility, incomplete and uncertain property rights transfer, equity problem, specific demand adjustment problem, and inconsistent forest policy. This work recommends for amendment of modern CF policy guidelines to reduce CF transformation costs, increase present value of future returns, and reduce present value of enforcement costs. These amendments will be effective to improve prevailing CF work situation in Nepal. Availability / Master of Science

<p>The aim of this paper is to describe and explain which policy instruments for human rights (HR) the United States and the European Union use towards Burma and to examine the priority given to HR in their respective foreign policy. From the results of an empirical analysis this paper seeks to analyze the US and the EU as powers in the international system and aims to explain their behavior from this theoretical perspective. From the theoretical approaches used I conclude that these actors act in different ways regarding the Burmese issue. This is partially due to the structure of the international system. Both actors primarily use different forms of diplomatic tools and sanctions to try to force change for HR in Burma. From a comparison of the two this paper concludes that as a hegemon, and unlike the EU with economic interest in Burma, the US ability to focus on the HR issue in the country by far exceeds that of the European Union’s.</p><p>Though the US and the EU claim to follow liberal ideas about HR, this study shows that often other realistic preferences determine their modes of action.</p>

Environmental policy instruments in the Czech Republic This thesis deals with environmental policy instruments and related issues. In the introduction I analyze in general what the environment is and what role it plays in our life and its importance for life, then also by short historical excursion and also by the very definition of what is the environment and also the environmental policy itself. A large part is occupied by environmental policy actors that are an integral part of this area, as it would not be possible to carry out environmental policy without them. I divide them into state and non-state, among which the main difference is especially in volunteering. I describe their activities and examples of using individual tools in their performance. An important part is also an insight into the international area in the field of international environmental conferences as well as the European Union action plans. This section presents a brief overview of the development of international conferences on environment and sustainable development. Then, in the European Union, I am analyzing the last seventh action program in detail. Last but not least, it is also the State Environmental Policy of the Czech Republic as an important strategic document defining the further direction of the development of...

As the Canadian federal government backed away from addressing climate change after 2006, provinces looked to cooperate with other subnational jurisdictions in North America to take action on the file and fill the void left at the federal level. Subnational collaboration led provinces to draw lessons and learn from each other and US states while pursuing several climate change policies that had emerged from California and the Western Climate Initiative (WCI) and were poised to spread across the continent. Provinces’ efforts to work together and adopt similar policy solutions deviated from their traditional pattern of protecting regional interests on climate change, which had come to a head in the early 2000s during the acrimonious debate over the Kyoto Accord. Initially, optimism abounded that subnational climate change policies would sweep across the country leading to widespread convergence on policy instruments and forcing the federal government to respond. However, only limited convergence emerged as most policies took root in some jurisdictions but not others, highlighting the prominent role that regional interests continued to play. This research study examines the climate change policy response of five provinces (BC, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Alberta) and asks: What explains the selection and adoption of policy instruments in each province? Several studies seek to understand the selection of provincial policy instruments by focusing on the role of local factors. However, given that policy development occurred in a period of significant collaboration among subnational governments in North America, this study makes a unique and essential contribution to the literature by considering the role of collaboration and cross-jurisdictional learning in addition to domestic variables. The project also informs debates at the academic and political level about whether provincial responses represent an inefficient patchwork of policies or a new form of decentralized governance characterized by regional collaboration. Finally, the study provides practical lessons for policy makers that emerge from the provincial experience, given that provinces have not been studied widely compared to the federal level in Canada. The study finds that a feeling of subnational momentum and “strength in numbers” led the provinces participating in WCI to initially pursue policy instruments from abroad. Quebec and BC were able to put a price on carbon and adopt other policies because of strong domestic support and political leadership, while Ontario and Manitoba decided not to move forward with their commitments once it became clear that a national response would not emerge. Alberta did not participate in WCI and pursued its own approach to protect its oil and gas industry. Collaboration did lead to limited convergence in areas such as GHG reporting and vehicle emission standards, which provides a foundation for future cooperation. The study concludes that taking a long-term view of collaboration, which allows time for policy makers in different jurisdictions to build relationships of trust and industry groups to come on board, is necessary when addressing a complex and controversial issue like climate change through a multi-jurisdictional approach. / Graduate / 0615 / 0617

Today, Canada’s population is over 80 percent urban as exemplified by our growing cities. As a result of outmigration to urban centres, many rural economies in Atlantic Canada are struggling socially and economically. This research examines the redevelopment of rural communities through a lens of continuous cycles of adaptive change - based on Holling’s ecological concept of panarchy. By drawing on the characteristics of ecological communities, this panarchy-based theoretical framework uses a novel approach to reflect on a community’s position along its own adaptive change cycle and identifies leverage points where policy intervention may be most advantageous. This research also examines the practical application of this framework via interviews with economic development officials. Overall, the results of this research suggest that the panarchy-based framework offers constructive guidance to policy makers seeking to push or pull rural communities into positions of higher resiliency and to expedite times of economic uncertainty.

Submitted by Tatiana Lima (tatianasl@ufba.br) on 2015-03-25T22:32:47Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Ramos, Simone Amorim.pdf: 3336562 bytes, checksum: 03b4e889ee2d1d2a2806b4f67534e5d7 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Tatiana Lima (tatianasl@ufba.br) on 2015-04-06T18:14:48Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Ramos, Simone Amorim.pdf: 3336562 bytes, checksum: 03b4e889ee2d1d2a2806b4f67534e5d7 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-04-06T18:14:48Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Ramos, Simone Amorim.pdf: 3336562 bytes, checksum: 03b4e889ee2d1d2a2806b4f67534e5d7 (MD5) / O presente trabalho tem como objetivo compreender a natureza e as fronteiras de aprendizagem dos processos de migração de escala em instrumentos de políticas públicas. Parte-se de uma abordagem mais sociocêntrica das políticas públicas, compreendendo-as como ação complexa e multiatorial para tratamento de um problema de relevância pública, a partir de instrumentos (co)ativados por diferentes atores sociais, para além do Estado. Assume-se, nesta pesquisa, a centralidade destes instrumentos para o estudo das políticas públicas, voltando o olhar para aqueles que foram redesenhados devido a processos de migração de escala. Instrumentos que nasceram, declaradamente ou não, a partir da relação com outros pré-existentes. Por meio de uma problematização construída a partir da prática e adotando como uma das estratégias metodológicas a reconstrução dos itinerários migratórios de quatro casos tomados como laboratório no âmbito desta pesquisa, foram feitas reflexões nos planos ontológico, epistemológico, analítico e metodológico, identificando e analisando elementos e dinâmicas que ajudam a conformar as fronteiras e a natureza do objeto de pesquisa, ainda não precisado na literatura especializada. Tal esforço analítico resultou em uma proposta de tipificação da migração de escala em instrumentos de políticas públicas, com a modelização de quatro tipos de manifestação do fenômeno, descritos e caracterizados nesta dissertação: a) migração por replicação; b) migração por ampliação; c) migração por inspiração; d) migração por apropriação. Sob influência da sociologia pragmática e compreendendo que o conhecimento ganha importância na medida em que se torna útil, buscou-se ainda modelizar os principais desafios e potenciais de aprendizagem relacionados a cada um dos tipos migratórios singularizados, resultando em um conjunto de problematizações e orientações mínimas para futuras trasladações de instrumentos de políticas públicas. The present study aims at understanding the nature and the frontiers of learning of scale migration processes in public policy instruments. It assumes a sociocentric approach of public policies, understanding them as a complex and multi-actor action for addressing a relevant public issue, through instruments that are (co)-activated by different social actors, beyond (the sphere of) the State. This research assumes the centrality of these instruments for public policy studies, looking at those that were redesigned due to scale migration processes, instruments that were born, no matter if it was declared or not, from relationships with pre-existing ones. There were made some considerations from ontological, epistemological, analytical and methodological points of view; identifying and analysing elements and dynamics that help to configure the frontiers and the nature of the research object, this last one has not yet been delineated in the specialised literature. This was done through a problematization developed from practice and by adopting, as one of the methodological strategies, the migratory itinerary reconstruction of four cases taken as case studies in the scope of this research. Similar analytical efforts resulted in a typification proposal of scale migration processes in public policy instruments, modeling four types of phenomenon expression, described and characterized in this thesis: a) migration due to replication; b) migration due to expansion; c) migration due to inspiration; d) migration due to appropriation. Under the influence of pragmatic sociology and understanding that knowledge becomes relevant once it is useful, this study also attempted to model the main challenges and learning potential related to each migration type specified, resulting in a set of problematization and minimal guidance for future transmigration of public policy instruments.

From 2006-2008, both New Brunswick and Nova Scotia proposed changes to their French second language (FSL) policies and programs. In observing the cases, it becomes clear that government officials made use of policy instruments to both implement policy and navigated the policy process. This work builds off existing literature that seeks to understand the instrument selection process, as well as the impact of policy tools on the policy-making process and more specifically, on the actors involved directly and indirectly in it. Using a framework that incorporates components of Contextual Interaction Theory and elements of procedural policy instrument scholarship, the project endeavours to identify what instruments were used to develop and implement FSL policy in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, as well as to comprehend why the tools were selected. The dissertation relies on document analysis and semi-structured interviews conducted with government officials and stakeholders to determine that instrument selection is based on the actors’ cognitions, motivations, and available/accessible resources. Furthermore, legitimacy plays an integral role in the selection of instruments. Government policymakers are faced with varying degrees of legitimacy, as expressed by actors indirectly involved in the policy process. Inevitably, these actors react to policy content and the policy process, which leads to sometimes contentious interactions. The current research expands on the educational policy literature by using a lens that accounts for the role of instruments in the policy process and provides a nuanced understanding of how the actors’ interactions shape and influence policy-making. It makes an original contribution to the policy instruments literature by developing a framework that accounts for the selection criteria used by both policymakers and stakeholders when choosing policy tools and resources. This dissertation contributes to the discipline of public administration and the field of public policy primarily by expounding the explanatory value of policy instruments regarding what they can tell us about the policy process, policy-making and policy outcomes. It does this by looking at how it is actors both directly and indirectly involved in the policy process interpret policy instruments and shows how government’s policy-making capacity is constrained not only by the resources available to it but by the resources accessible to actors indirectly involved in the policy process. Looking at the reciprocal nature of tool selection and tool implementation helps to explain policy-making and outcomes, as well as accounts for the roles of actors both proximately and peripherally involved in the process.