Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, Berkeley, 1993. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 667-680).

This work presents results of the research project "Technology Transfer for Commercial Aquaculture Development in Veracruz, Mexico", conducted during 2001-2006 and whose overall aim was to achieve a better understanding of the different processes involved in technology transfer and extension in Veracruz, and their role in tilapia culture development in terms of characteristics, intensity and direction. Data and information were collected by personal interviews and through participant-observation techniques. The most relevant regional initiatives that have promoted tilapia farming were analyzed, as well as the current key actors of aquaculture development and their roles. 142 tilapia farmers were also typified and closely monitored. Dissemination and adoption of technical information regarding tilapia culture were evaluated through the development and use of a Technology Level Index (TLI). Findings revealed that the tilapia sector in Veracruz is diverse and immersed in a rather complex arena, where policy and finance issues, and the role of demand, linked in with market chains and their functioning are major determinants of further expansion. Farm producers were sharply differentiated by production size, degree of commercialisation, experience in production, and access to assets. Most entrants were the result of social development interventions with significant level of subsidy, which often resulted in low levels of productivity and high abandonment rates. However, for the most vulnerable groups, tilapia culture apparently provided a way to diversify their livelihood portfolio. Availability of local knowledge and expertise appeared to enhance and stimulate the dissemination and adoption of tilapia farming technology, and hence human capital. Private sector and collective action are likely to play an increasing and decisive role in the direction of the industry, while people-oriented and participative approaches are likely to be the best way to deliver technical information to small-scale farmers, and maintain good equity of access and opportunity. Methodologically, TLIs proved to be useful in the quantification and evaluation of technological change. Moreover, the Sustainable Livelihoods framework provided an adequate platform for understanding the needs of specific groups, particularly in terms of vulnerability and policies, institutions and processes.

The dissertation deals with History of technology in Sweden before, during and after the industrialization. A theory that technical actors have a growing influence on state technology chiefly owing to the industrialization is presented. Five case-studies the Göta Canal 1806-1818, The railway-issue 1829-1848, The issue of motor traffic 1900- 1916, the issue of air transport 1912-1925 and the issue of nuclear power 1945-1972 are examined in order to test the theory. The principal results of the dissertation are as follows: The process of decision- making owing to state technology is dealt with not only by technical and political actors but also with technical/political actors. They are generally of two kinds; actors representing the technology in question and with an added political platform and politicians with an interest in technology and/or a profession with a relation to the technology in question. To this you can add a during time growing and more and more influential state bureaucracy. The possible decision on some state technical issue is framed by political actors. Inside this frame technical/political actors supported by the state bureaucracy are shaping the issues. Along with this it is apparent that technical actors with no or weak contact with political arenas take little part in the shaping- process. Owing to the study the process of industrialization and/or the professionalisation of technicians has no or a poor impact on the process of decision- making. Instead the agricultural political representation acts as a strong body with great influence on the state technical development up to the issue of nuclear power. The political representants of technology and/or industry on the other hand are not able to take advantage of the political structure in order to influence the technical issues. This depends to some extent on lack of political conformity. Another cause is however that technology when put into practice has a multiplex content which from time to time put technical actors in conflict with one another. This is apparent in the issue of air transport and nuclear power and to some extent in the choise between canal and railway. When technicians are not united the political actors, especially the ones representing agriculture, reinforce their influence on the studied state technical issues.

Univ., FB Sozialwiss., Diss. u.d.T.: Brinckmann, Andrea: Zur Entwicklung von Systemforschung und Politikberatung in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland--Hamburg, 2004.

Quel cadre économique et réglementaire à long terme (2030-50) pour soutenir la transition énergétique des carburants fossiles vers l’hydrogène dans le secteur européen des transports ? Cette recherche combine les approches théoriques et empiriques pour répondre aux trois questions suivantes :1. Comment concevoir des politiques de soutien adaptées pour pallier les imperfections de marché lors du déploiement de technologies de mobilité hydrogène ?2. Comment modéliser les coûts d’abattement en tenant compte des effets d’apprentissage (LBD) ?3. Comment définir la trajectoire optimale de déploiement quand le LBD et la convexité des coûts d’investissement sont présents ?L’article ‘Transition vers un Système de Transport de Passagers à Hydrogène : Analyse Politique Comparée’ passe au crible des politique de soutien destinées à résoudre les imperfections de marché dans le déploiement de la mobilité hydrogène. L’article effectue une comparaison internationale entre les instruments en faveur du déploiement des véhicules. Les indicateurs ex post d’efficacité des politiques sont développés et calculés pour classifier les pays selon leur volontarisme dans la promotion des véhicules à piles à combustible (FCEV). Aujourd’hui le Japon et le Danemark apparaissent comme les meilleurs fournisseurs d’un environnement favorable au déploiement de la mobilité hydrogène. Les autorités locales introduisent de solides instruments prix (tels que des subventions et des exemptions fiscales) pour rendre le FCEV plus attractif par rapport à son analogue à essence et coordonnent le déploiement de l’infrastructure hydrogène sur le territoire.L’article ‘Modélisation des Coûts d’Abattement en Présence d’Effets d’Apprentissage : le Cas du Véhicule à Hydrogène’ présente un modèle de transition du secteur des transports d’un état polluant à un état propre. Un modèle d’équilibre partiel est développé pour un secteur automobile de taille constante. L’optimum social est atteint en minimisant le coût de la transition du parc automobile au cours du temps. Ce coût comprend les coûts privés de production des véhicules décarbonés (sujets aux effets d’apprentissage) ainsi que le coût social des émissions de CO2 qui suit une tendance haussière exogène. L’article caractérise la trajectoire optimale qui est un remplacement progressif des véhicules polluants par les décarbonés. Au cours de la transition, l’égalisation des coûts marginaux tient compte de l’impact des actions présentes sur les coûts futurs via l’effet d’apprentissage. L’article décrit aussi une trajectoire sous-optimale où la trajectoire de déploiement serait une donnée exogène : quelle serait alors la date optimale de début de la transition ? L’article présente une évaluation quantitative de la substitution des FCEV aux véhicules à combustion interne (ICE). L’analyse conclut que le FCEV deviendra une option économiquement viable pour décarboner une partie du parc automobile allemand à l’horizon 2050 dès que le prix du carbone atteindra 50-60€/t.L’article ‘Le rôle des Effets d’Apprentissage dans l’Adoption d’une Technologie Verte : le Cas LBD Linéaire’ étudie les caractéristiques d’une trajectoire optimale de déploiement des véhicules décarbonés dans le cas où les effets d’apprentissage et la convexité sont présents dans la fonction de coût. Le modèle d’équilibre partiel de Creti et. al (2015) est utilisé comme point de départ. Dans le cas LBD linéaire la trajectoire de déploiement optimale est obtenue analytiquement. Un apprentissage fort induit une transition antérieure vers les véhicules verts dans le cas d’une convexité faible et une transition ultérieure dans le cas d’une convexité forte. Ce résultat permet de revisiter le projet H2 Mobility en Allemagne. Un effet d’apprentissage plus fort et une accélération du déploiement aboutissent à une transition moins coûteuse et une période de cash flow négatif plus courte. / What economic and policy framework would foster a transition in the European transport sector from fossil fuels to hydrogen in the long term (2030-50)? This research combines empirical and theoretical approaches and aims to answers the following questions:1. How to design appropriate policy instruments to solve inefficiencies in hydrogen mobility deployment?2. How to define abatement cost and an optimal launching date in the presence of learning-by-doing (LBD)?3. How to define an optimal deployment trajectory in presence of LBD and convexity in investment costs?The paper ‘Transition Towards a Hydrogen-Based Passenger Car Transport: Comparative Policy Analysis‘ draws a cross-country comparison between policy instruments that support the deployment of Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV). The existing policy framework in favour of FCEV and hydrogen infrastructure deployment is analysed. A set of complementary ex-post policy efficiency indicators is developed and calculated to rank the most active countries, supporters of FCEV. Denmark and Japan emerge as the best providers of favourable conditions for the hydrogen mobility deployment: local authorities put in place price-based incentives (such as subsidies and tax exemptions) making FCEV more financially attractive than its gasoline substitute, and coordinate ramping-up of their hydrogen infrastructure nationally.The paper ’Defining the Abatement Cost in Presence of Learning-by-doing: Application to the Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle’ models the transition of the transport sector from a pollutant state to a clean one. A partial equilibrium model is developed for a car sector of a constant size. In this model the objective of the social planner is to minimize the cost of phasing out a stock of polluting cars from the market over time. The cost includes the private cost of green cars production, which are subject to LBD, and the social cost of carbon, which has an exogenous upward trend. During the transition, the equalization of marginal costs takes into account the fact that the current action has an impact on future costs through LBD. This paper also describes a suboptimal plan: if the deployment trajectory is exogenously given, what is the optimal starting date for the transition? The paper provides a quantitative assessment of the FCEV case for the substitution of the mature Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles. The analysis concludes that the CO2 price should reach 53€/t for the program to start and for FCEV to be a socially beneficial alternative for decarbonizing part of the projected German car park in the 2050 time frame.The impact of LBD on the timing and costs of emission abatement is, however, ambiguous. On the one hand, LBD supposes delaying abatement activities because of cost reduction of future abatement due to LBD. On the other hand, LBD supposes starting the transition earlier because of cost reduction due to added value to cumulative experience. The paper ‘The Role of Learning-by-Doing in the Adoption of a Green Technology: the Case of Linear LBD’ studies the optimal characteristics of a transition towards green vehicles in the transport sector when both LBD and convexity are present in the cost function. The partial equilibrium model of (Creti et al., 2015) is used as a starting point. For the case of linear LBD the deployment trajectory can be analytically obtained. This allows to conclude that a high learning induces an earlier switch towards green cars in the case of low convexity, and a later switch in the case of high convexity. This insight is used to revisit the hydrogen mobility project in Germany. A high learning lowers the corresponding deployment cost and reduces deepness and duration of the, investment ‘death valley’ (period of negative project’s cash flow). An acceleration of exogenously defined scenario for FCEV deployment, based on the industry forecast, would be beneficial to reduce the associated transition cost.