Combination Of Policy Instruments Research Articles

Analysis of the influencing mechanism of command-and-control instruments on adopting energy consumption monitoring technology in public buildings

AbstractHow can command-and-control instruments (CACs) influence consumers’ adoption of energy consumption monitoring technology (ECMT) in public buildings? We attempt to answer this question in an extended theory of planned behaviour in which CACs and energy-saving awareness (ESA) are introduced. Empirical data are collected by a questionnaire survey with 298 respondents, and structural equation modelling (SEM) is used to analyse the research model. The results indicate that ESA has a direct impact on consumers’ adoption of ECMT. The CACs have no direct effect on consumers’ adoption of ECMT but can indirectly affect consumers’ adoption of ECMT through three paths: CAC → ATT (attitudes) → BI (behavioural intention), CAC → ESA → BI and CAC → SN (subjective norm) → BI. Finally, suggestions are proposed, such as optimising the selection and combination of policy instruments, promoting the operation manager’s attitude towards ECMT to a more positive orientation, improving the ESA of the operation manager and providing more support for and pressure on the operation manager who has not adopted ECMT.

An in-depth analysis of the evolution of the policy mix for the sustainable energy transition in China from 1981 to 2020

Global warming and the acute domestic air pollution in China have necessitated transition to a sustainable energy system away from coal-dominated energy production. Through a systematic review of the national policy documents, this study investigates the policy mix adopted by the Chinese government to facilitate its energy transition and how that policy mix has evolved between 1981 and 2020. The chronological analysis emphasizes two dimensions of temporal changes in the policy mix: (1) changes in the policy intensity and density, and (2) the shift in policy instrument combinations. The policy mix has evolved from a few authority-based instruments to the current response that has a large density of instruments with a good diversity of instrument types. The Chinese government imposes an increasing policy intensity on air pollution abatement and a decreasing policy intensity on renewable energy support, and experiments with innovative policy instruments to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. The evolutionary trajectory features layering new policy instruments, calibrating existing ones and some degree of policy replacement and sequencing. Overall, the study shows that the Chinese government has adopted a complex mix of policy instruments to abate emissions (e.g. carbon dioxide and sulphur dioxide) in the coal-based energy system and to support renewable energy technologies. The study provides an in-depth understanding of Chinese policy design in the environment and energy fields and contributes to the public policy literature by filling a research gap – the comparative lack of empirical analyses on the temporal changes in the policy mixes.

Pathways to gender equality: A configurational analysis of childcare instruments and outcomes in 21 European countries

AbstractThe ability to produce desired outcomes represents an important basis of the legitimacy of social policies. Nonetheless, policy outcomes have not systematically figured in the analysis of childcare regimes despite growing political interest in issues such as female employment, gender wage gap, and men's involvement in childcare. In this article, we use fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis to investigate the relationship between the configuration of policy instruments, attitudes toward childcare and outcomes in 21 European countries. Our results show that there is only one mix of policy instruments consistently linked with positive gender equality outcomes and this route has the quality of the universal caregiver model. It also demonstrates that both a combination of policy instruments and favorable attitudinal factors are necessary to produce desirable outcomes in the gender division of paid work and unpaid childcare.

Content Analysis of Family Policy Instruments to Promote the Sustainable Development of Families in China from 1989–2019

Family policy involves a combination of policies enacted to address various family problems and improve the sustainable development of families. Evaluating family policy by considering policy instruments is conducive to optimizing policy allocation and promoting this sustainable development. This study constructs a two-dimensional analysis framework of policy instruments and policy themes and employs content analysis to conduct a quantitative analysis of 112 family policy texts issued by the Chinese government. The results show that the policy instruments used in China are not effective. The study also shows that environmental policy instruments are most frequently used, but the internal structure is unbalanced; supply-side policy instruments are moderately used; and the use of demand-side policy instruments is obviously limited. Policy themes focus excessively on “safeguard measures” and pay less attention to “parental welfare and protection”. Overall, China’s family policy is still in its infancy, as it focuses mainly on assistance and remains incomplete. Therefore, the parties responsible for the formulation of family policy should adjust and optimize the combinations of policy instruments that are employed are required to consider “general welfare”, and promote the two-dimensional integration of policy instruments and policy themes.

Policy instrument mixes for operating modular technology within hybrid water systems

Water systems are experiencing dynamic societal demands and extreme environmental changes. The integration of modular water systems into existing centralized infrastructures, creating hybrid systems, could mitigate these challenges by enabling more resilient water management. However, the existence of technological alternatives has not changed the continuous reliance on centralized water infrastructure. Supportive policy instruments are key to foster the operation of modular technology within hybrid water systems. This article focuses on the role of substantive and procedural policy instruments for the successful operation of modular water systems within a hybrid water infrastructure. Based on Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), we can confirm the claim in the literature that relying on regulatory instruments is relevant for operating modular technology within hybrid systems. However, we also find combinations of policy instruments where regulatory instruments do not matter. Furthermore, we find that procedural instruments emphasizing stakeholder participation interplay with different substantive policy instruments to support the successful operation of modular systems.

Determinants of Online Local Budget Transparency in Croatia and Slovenia

As a part of the public governance, transparency started to come forward during the New Public Management reforms, mostly for the evaluation of public sector efficiency. This article focuses on online local budget transparency (OLBT) in two neighbouring countries – Croatia and Slovenia. The article is pioneering in a comparative study of the determinants of budget transparency in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, based on a unique database and measure of transparency. The article tests the determinants of OLBT that reflect the accountability of local authorities and a cornerstone for public participation in the budget process. The following methodology was applied: using a data set of 768 Slovenian and Croatian local governments over the 2015–2017 period and testing it against several financial and socio-economic variables, and a random effects panel logistic regression, separately for Croatia, Slovenia, and a pooled sample. The results indicate that greater size of the population, higher administrative capacity and lower unemployment rate in individual local governments significantly contribute to higher levels of OLBT. This study demonstrates the possibility of developing a standardised measure of local budget transparency and using it to investigate the reasons for different levels of transparency in the two – and potentially other – CEE countries. The results of this and similar studies can serve as a basis for establishing cohesive local budget transparency policies for different countries and creating a combination of policy instruments to enhance transparency.

Investigating Policy Instrument Adoption in Low-Carbon City Development: A Case Study from China

Based on policy instrument theory and a case of low-carbon city development (Qihe County in Shandong), this study examined the policy instruments adopted for low-carbon city development in China and the effectiveness of these instruments. All the policies adopted by the piloted city from 2008 and 2014 were collected, coded, and analyzed. A two-dimensional analytical framework was developed based on a trichotomous policy instrument categorization and low-carbon city connotation. The results showed that the key goal of China’s low-carbon city construction is to develop low-carbon technology and low-carbon energy. Compulsory policy instruments are the most used and most effective, while voluntary policy instruments are rarely used. Further results indicated that when the ratio of compulsory instruments and mixed instruments comes to 2:1, the combination of policy instruments can lead to the optimal completion degree. It seems difficult to balance the stability of various policy instruments with the overall high completion degree. Chinese local governments are more accustomed to compulsory policy instruments. This reminds policymakers to pay more attention to the potential of voluntary instruments and mixed instruments in building low-carbon cities.

Climate adaptation and policy conflicts in the Brazilian Amazon: prospects for a Nexus + approach

In a scenario of the apparent adverse effects of climate change, adaptation strategies are needed. The complex cross-sector nature of climate challenges provides a compelling case for a more coherent policy approach. Combinations of policy instruments take different shapes and involve a different set of actors depending on the territory in which they materialise. In this article, the spatial distribution patterns of climate public investments are analysed by mapping the territoriality of policy priorities, functional overlaps and instrument conflicts. It provides an analytical framework named Nexus+, which heuristically defines the scope and interfaces of adaptation strategies. The framework is applied to the case of the northern border of Mato Grosso, located in the south-eastern region of the Brazilian Amazon, where the effects of climate change are expected to impact key economic and social activities.

Sub-national government efforts to activate and motivate local climate change adaptation: Nova Scotia, Canada

The impacts of climate change due to more frequent and intense storms, fires, and floods are felt most acutely at the community scale, and local adaptation policy and planning is critically important. However, local practitioners face many barriers that can undermine their capacity to adopt and sustain adaptation initiatives to reduce exposure and vulnerability and strengthen resilience to climate risks. Existing scholarship suggests that national governments play an important role in providing leadership and resources to support local adaptation policy development. However, less research attention has been devoted to investigating sub-national, regional government initiatives to support local adaptation policy and planning in federal states, despite their financial resources and constitutional responsibility to oversee municipalities. This article analyzes how one sub-national government, the provincial government of Nova Scotia (Canada), activated and motivated local adaptation policy and planning through a combination of policy instruments and municipally focused capacity-building initiatives. In addition to describing the structure and dynamics of the provincial mandate for municipal adaptation planning in Nova Scotia, we provide case study evidence to draw insights about the enabling conditions for the successful implementation of climate change adaptation governance initiatives of this kind.

Energy–water nexus analysis in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region: Case of electricity sector

Water shortage can constrain energy development and use, and climate change partially caused by energy consumption can profoundly affect the quantity and distribution of water resources worldwide. The chronic water shortage in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region of China is likely to worsen under the impact of global climate change. The coal-dominated electricity sector will continuously have a high water demand. This reality will intensify the dilemma between water supply and power generation. This paper presents an adaptability analysis of the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region in 2013–2030 based on the current situation. Water evaluation and planning and long-range energy alternative planning systems are used to simulate changes in water and energy systems, respectively, and the impacts on the electricity sector under two climate scenarios and three development scenarios. On this basis, this study explores the potential of power structure adjustment and technological advancement in easing baseline water stress and promoting sustainable development in the region. Findings show that the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region is under high water stress, which will be aggravated under global climate change. In representative concentration pathway (RCP) 4.5 and RCP 8.5 scenarios, the baseline water stress of the region in 2017–2030 averages 259% and 494%, and the annual unmet water demand reaches 15.3 and 21.1 billion m3, respectively. In the renewable energy and advanced technology scenarios, the regional water savings are expected to reach 200–250 million m3 by 2030. The unmet water demand of power generation can be alleviated to some extent, but the water shortage trend cannot be reversed. Therefore, the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region should develop an overall plan and layout of energy and water resources and adopt a combination of policy instruments to support the expansion of renewable energy or promote advanced power generation technologies.

Devising ‘policy packages’ for seismic retrofitting of residences

Collapse of residential buildings is the major cause of death during earthquakes. Seismic retrofitting of residential buildings is a cost-effective way to reduce injury and death. However, seismic retrofitting is a complex policy problem, entailing multiple barriers and requiring multi-stakeholder, multi-level, multi-sectoral, and multi-disciplinary collaborations. Policy packages are an approach to address complex, multi-dimensional policy challenges by developing synergic combinations of policy instruments, geared to achieving policy goals, while minimizing unintended effects and enhancing legitimacy and political feasibility. Israel has a long history of seismic activity, and a seismic building code was introduced in 1980. Yet, 20% of the country’s housing units predate the building code and require seismic retrofitting. A current market-based plan is attractive only in high property value areas, while the most vulnerable regions are largely in the periphery. This paper presents a three-step methodology to formulate policy packages for seismic retrofitting in Israel. Through expert workshops, 69 relevant policy instruments were identified and analyzed. Then, three effective policy packages were formulated based on the interrelations of the various instruments. Finally, the packages were modified to enhance social and political acceptability. The three packages are a ‘national package’ assigning responsibility to a national-level authority, a ‘municipal package’ assigning responsibility to local government, and a ‘civilian package’ which aims to create conditions for homeowners to retrofit with less government intervention. Each package is comprised of 16 policy instruments, seven of which are common to all three packages.

Transnational Associational Life and Political Mobilization of Ecuadorians and Argentines in Spain and Italy: What Role for Sending State Policies?

To what extent and how can sending states encourage migrant organizational efforts and transnational political engagements? This study addresses this question for the cases of Ecuadorians and Argentines in Spain and Italy. The findings show that both sending states have recently innovated, reaching out to citizens abroad through a similar combination of policy instruments: rhetorical changes, institutional developments, enfranchisement, and linkage programs. The scope, intensity, and results of outreach efforts differ not only across migrant communities but also localities, suggesting the need to explore factors such as domestic and intrastate politics, migrants’ socioeconomic and educational profile and perceptions of state institutions, spatial distance, and the type of private-public policy networks at migrant destinations. The conclusions indicate that states have been relatively effective in tapping into migrants’ symbolic and emotional attachments to the homeland, but they have obtained meager results in terms of grounding such attachment in strong organizations, persistent transnational political engagement, and partnership links. The modality of policy implementation resulted in a sporadic and “sentimental” political mobilization of both Ecuadorian and Argentine emigrant communities, which still confront serious organizational problems and remain far from working as strong influential groups at home or ethnic lobbies in receiving countries.

Innovation policies and sector development in Nigeria's oil palm industry: lessons from Malaysia

Increasingly developing countries are beginning to employ a set of instruments to promote industrialisation that are collectively termed innovation policy. This paper presents the qualitative outcomes of the differential uses of innovation policies to foster firms' innovation and production performance in the oil palm industry in Nigeria and Malaysia. The primary and secondary data used were gathered over a period of two years. The outcomes are different because the efforts and commitments to the policies were different over time. We show that the challenges of industrialisation constitute an evolutionary challenge that requires continuous and explicit effort. Employing a wide variety of factors; Malaysia demonstrate that countries can exploit low-tech traditional agricultural technologies such as oil palm for wealth creation by using a combination of policy instruments and incentives mechanisms to drive the sector whilst the lack of targeted policies might have contributed to the sub-optimal performance of the sector in Nigeria.

An evaluation of the framework for national marine environmental policies in Cuba

A slow rate of economic development and a national commitment to sustainable development has enabled Cuba to maintain some of the best preserved marine ecosystems in the Caribbean region. Still, important environmental threats persist, at the same time that changes in the rate and magnitude of marine environmental impacts are occurring because of increased globalization, new relations between Cuba and the United States, and efforts to reform Cuba's economic model. Since Cuba lacks an explicit overarching national ocean policy, marine conservation is implemented through a combination of policy instruments. We evaluated nine major policy instruments to understand whether and how they create conditions for sustainable use and conservation of marine resources. Our evaluation is based on five key attributes identified in the literature: attention to multiple levels of ecological organization, operation at multiple spatial scales, coordination of interacting uses, adoption of precautionary and adaptive approaches, and establishment of a sound scientific basis for management. Although our evaluation suggests that Cuba's marine environmental–policy framework is relatively strong, with individual policies scoring on average 68% of the maximum for the five key attributes, we found a marked bias toward terrestrial ecosystems and issues. We also found that too little attention is paid to the inclusion of precautionary and adaptive approaches, which received a score of 22%, a significant deficiency in the face of ongoing ecological and socioeconomic changes. Cuba should develop a forward-looking national ocean policy that integrates existing and future laws and policies, as current limitations in the policy framework could undermine the country's ability to achieve its sustainability and environmental protection goals as economic development pressures grow.

Innovation policies for advanced biorefinery development: key considerations and lessons from Sweden

AbstractThis paper provides an innovation systems perspective on the combination of policy instruments that will be required to stimulate technological development in the advanced biorefinery field. We first consult the established innovation policy literature, and provide a general framework that can be used to identify the type of policy instruments needed to develop new sustainable technology. In a second step, we illustrate how these general principles can be applied in the context of future biorefineries based on either the thermochemical or biochemical conversion of lignocellulosic biomass feedstocks. We draw heavily on the experiences of biorefinery development in Sweden. A central conclusion is that in Sweden, and elsewhere, there are few niche markets for advanced biorefineries and a lack of long‐term policy instruments for the more established renewable fuels. For this reason, there is a need for innovation policy instruments that create markets for renewable fuels and green chemicals, thus supporting technology development during a niche market phase and allowing for the first commercial‐scale plants to be built. The aim of such a policy would be to stimulate learning, form value chains, and experiment with various design options on a larger scale; this complements the use of technology‐neutral policy instruments such as carbon pricing, which primarily promotes the diffusion of mature technologies. The policy instruments that are candidates for the niche market phase include, for example, public procurement and various types of price guarantees. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Energy efficiency and the policy mix

Energy efficiency policy is expected to play a key role for meeting the European Union's energy targets (particularly for reduced energy demand and reduced CO2 emissions) using a range of policy instrument combinations. However, most analyses undertaken so far have focused on single-policy measures rather than developing a more generic framework for assessing to what extent a particular policy mix is effective and under which specific conditions. This paper both contributes to the theoretical literature on policy mixes and undertakes an empirical analysis of the current policy mixes in buildings efficiency policy in 14 European Union countries. Building on the existing literature, and using expert knowledge, an assessment of the interaction of 55 pairs of policies is presented. This identifies policy mixes likely to deliver more, less or the same energy savings in combination than singly. The theoretical assessment is compared with actual policy mixes present within the European Union, highlighting that combinations of multiple financial incentives may need further investigation. By bringing these forms of knowledge together, the paper suggests how buildings policy mixes could be made more effective, shows gaps in current knowledge and highlights key research needs.

Policy Instruments to Improve Energy Performance of Existing Owner Occupied Dwellings

Policy Instruments to Improve Energy Performance of Existing Owner Occupied Dwellings

Private Forest Owner Typologies in Slovenia and Serbia: Targeting Private Forest Owner Groups for Policy Implementation

Forestry decision-makers in Slovenia and Serbia share common objectives: development of a more coherent policy for private forests and involvement of different ownership groups in policy deliberation and development, as well as increased management levels in private forests that are currently below their productive potential. Successful achievement of these objectives in both countries requires a range of policy tools. The research objective of this study was to identify and describe private forest owner types in Slovenia and Serbia based on various criteria (forest management objectives; participation in private forest owner associations; cooperation with other private forest owners and the public forest administration; performing forest harvesting activities) and to suggest a combination of policy instruments to target each private forest owner group. Surveys were conducted in Slovenia (n = 322) and Serbia (n = 248) on random samples of private forest owners. Survey data were analysed using a two-step cluster analysis. Four groups of private forest owners were identified in Slovenia: active (26.1 %), passive (33.2 %), multiobjective (18.6 %) and uninterested (22.0 %). Two were identified in Serbia: active (32.6 %) and multiobjective (67.4 % ). Existing policy instruments referring to private forests in Slovenia and Serbia are rather similar and formulated in the respective forest policy documents at the national level. However, there are no policy instruments in either country targeting specific private forest owner groups. Based on smart regulation as a specific conceptual approach, an appropriate mix of policy instruments is proposed, which includes various measures designed to target the identified private forest owner types.

Hospitals as learning organizations: fostering innovation through interactive learning.

The article aims to provide an analytical understanding of hospitals as "learning organizations." It further analyzes the development of learning organizations as a way to enhance innovation and performance in the hospital sector. The article pulls together primary data on organizational flexibility, innovation, and performance from 95 administrators from hospital boards in Portugal, collected through a survey, interviews with hospital's boards, and a nominal group technique with a panel of experts on health systems. Results show that a combination of several organizational traits of the learning organization enhances its capacity for innovation development. The logistic model presented reveals that hospitals classified as "advanced learning organizations" have 5 times more chance of developing innovation than "basic learning organizations." Empirical findings further pointed out incentives, standards, and measurement requirements as key elements for integration of service delivery systems and expansion of the current capacity for structured and real-time learning in the hospital sector. The major implication arising from this study is that policy needs to combine instruments that promote innovation opportunities and incentives, with instruments stimulating the further development of the core components of learning organizations. Such a combination of policy instruments has the potential to ensure a wide external cooperation through a learning infrastructure.

Combinations of policy instruments to decrease the climate impacts of housing, passenger transport and food in Finland

Policy instruments and measures already target the global warming impacts of housing and transport in many countries, although many of those instruments were not originally developed for the purpose. However, the challenge of curbing climate change calls not only for innovative and improved instruments, but for integrated policy packages that address consumption across the entire product life cycle, recognize links between different consumption sectors, and identify and harness synergies between instruments. To this end, we first evaluate the effectiveness of existing policy instruments targeted at housing, passenger transport and food in Finland. The results show large impacts on greenhouse gas emissions. Second, we integrate instruments into packages, which minimize potential negative interferences, while strengthening synergies and complementarities between instruments. We estimate the potential of the consequent emission reductions to be considerable. By 2020, housing and passenger transport emissions are estimated to decline by 4.2 million tons (Mt). Integrated food related policy packages are estimated to reduce emissions 0.3 Mt in Finland and life-cycle based emissions by 0.5 Mt. Altogether the emission reduction would be 4.5 Mt in Finland, which is over 6% of Finland's average emissions 68 Mt for years 2008–2012. In conclusion, though greenhouse gas emissions of household consumption have already been affected by policy instruments, it is better to develop policy packages by which the synergies between measures can be reinforced and hence overall effectiveness can be improved. We found acceptability of policy instruments to be a key issue, necessitating careful implementation, long-term consistency and research showing evidence of their effectiveness. The full realization of the policy package potential requires improved co-operation across relevant ministries and public authorities, which can be facilitated by common policy programs and objectives for all related public authorities. The project results were used in the preparation of a revision of Finland's program for sustainable consumption and production. We propose that similar policy package development processes in other countries would increase further our understanding about effective policy packages, reinforce each other, and speed up the changes for more sustainable consumption.