There are numerous situations where governments take action due to systematic information asymmetries in society, while economics textbooks do not offer an integrated theory to justify these interventions in terms of utility. This paper starts with a taxonomy of situations where governments try...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop the argument that the link between efficiency and utility was strongest in the twentieth century. This would not only explain the growing focus on efficiency in the past, but also suggest that the importance of efficiency in society is set to...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop the argument that the link between efficiency and utility was strongest in the twentieth century. This would not only explain the growing focus on efficiency in the past, but also suggest that the importance of efficiency in society is set to...

Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) have become a popular instrument in the last decades and this growing trend is also clearly evident in Brazil. However, challenges related to implementation of these schemes are often underestimated. Any guarantee that a payment will secure or provide such a...

Cross Compliance (CC) is a mechanism for encouraging farmers to fulfill certain environmental conditions in return for governmental support payments. Introduced to United States (US) and European Union (EU) agricultural policy from the 80s onwards, upcoming new US (Farm Bill 2012) and EU (Common...

This article examines two drastic changes in the performance of local water associations in providing local public goods – appropriate levels of water table – in the reclamation system in the Powiat Pyrzyce in the Voivodship Zachodniopomorski in northwest Poland. Employing an institutional...

Durch die Dezentralisierung und Flexibilisierung von Agrarumweltpolitik soll u.a. der Anonymität und mangelnden Transparenz von Entscheidungsmechanismen sowie bestehenden Zentralisierungstendenzen und Demokratiedefiziten entgegengewirkt werden. Auf regionaler und lokaler Ebene spielen dabei vor...