Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Policy Options (policy + option)
Kinds of Policy Options Terms modified by Policy Options Selected AbstractsPOLICY OPTIONS FOR ALCOHOL PRICE REGULATION: RESPONSE TO THE COMMENTARIESADDICTION, Issue 3 2010PETRA SYLVIA MEIER No abstract is available for this article. [source] Commercial Insurance vs Community-based Health Plans: Time for a Policy Option With Clinical Emphasis to Address the Cost SpiralTHE JOURNAL OF RURAL HEALTH, Issue 2 2005Bruce Amundson MD ABSTRACT: The nation continues its ceaseless struggle with the spiraling cost of health care. Previous efforts (regulation, competition, voluntary action) have included almost every strategy except clinical. Insurers have largely failed in their cost-containment efforts. There is a strong emerging body of literature that demonstrates the relationship between various clinical strategies and reductions in utilization and costs. This article describes the organization of health services, including integration of delivery and financing systems, at the community level as a model that effectively addresses the critical structural flaws that have frustrated control of costs. Community-based health plans (CHPs) have been developed and have demonstrated viability. The key elements of CHPs are a legal organizational structure, a full provider network, advanced care-management systems, and the ability to assume financial risk. Common misconceptions regarding obstacles to CHP development are the complexity of the undertaking, difficulty assuming the insurance function, and insured pools that are too small to be viable. The characteristics of successful CHPs and 2 case studies are described, including the types of advanced care-management systems that have resulted in strong financial performance. The demonstrated ability of CHPs to establish financial viability with small numbers of enrollees challenges the common assumption that there is a fixed relationship between health plan enrollment size and financial performance. Organizing the health system at the community/regional level provides an attractive alternative model in the health-reformdebate. There is an opportunity for clinical systems and state and federal leaders to support the development of community-based integrated delivery and financing system models that, among other advantages, have significant potential to modulate the pernicious cost spiral. [source] The Migration,Development Nexus: Evidence and Policy OptionsINTERNATIONAL MIGRATION, Issue 5 2002Ninna Nyberg, Sørensen Migration and development are linked in many ways , through the livelihood and survival strategies of individuals, households, and communities; through large and often well,targeted remittances; through investments and advocacy by migrants, refugees, diasporas and their transnational communities; and through international mobility associated with global integration, inequality, and insecurity. Until now, migration and development have constituted separate policy fields. Differing policy approaches that hinder national coordination and international cooperation mark these fields. For migration authorities, the control of migration flows to the European Union and other OECD countries are a high priority issue, as is the integration of migrants into the labour market and wider society. On the other hand, development agencies may fear that the development policy objectives are jeopardized if migration is taken into consideration. Can long,term goals of global poverty reduction be achieved if short,term migration policy interests are to be met? Can partnership with developing countries be real if preventing further migration is the principal European migration policy goal? While there may be good reasons to keep some policies separate, conflicting policies are costly and counter,productive. More importantly, there is unused potential in mutually supportive policies, that is, the constructive use of activities and interventions that are common to both fields and which may have positive effects on poverty reduction, development, prevention of violent conflicts, and international mobility. This paper focuses on positive dimensions and possibilities in the migration,development nexus. It highlights the links between migration, development, and conflict from the premise that to align policies on migration and development, migrant and refugee diasporas must be acknowledged as a development resource. [source] Climate Change Policy Options for Asian Economies: Findings from an Integrated Assessment ModelASIAN ECONOMIC POLICY REVIEW, Issue 1 2010Dominique VAN DER MENSBRUGGHE D31; D58; O53; Q54 This study outlines potential futures for the global economy through the 2050 with a specific focus on the countries of Asia. With underlying assumptions about population and output growth, a baseline scenario assesses the growth of greenhouse gas emissions and the ensuing impacts on the climate. Under the baseline scenario, Asia's high growth leads to a strong rotation in global output and emissions by the year 2050. The analytical framework traces back the changes in temperature to economic damages , limited to the agricultural sectors. Parts of Asia are likely to see much higher dependence on food imports as a consequence of these damages. Various carbon tax scenarios are implemented to assess the potential for reducing carbon emissions. Because of the structure of their economies, Asian countries are likely to bear the greatest burden in reducing emissions in an efficient global tax scheme, but there is significant scope to ease this burden through financial transfers. [source] Comment on "Climate Change Policy Options for Asian Economies: Findings from an Integrated Assessment Model"ASIAN ECONOMIC POLICY REVIEW, Issue 1 2010Hiro LEE No abstract is available for this article. [source] Comment on "Climate Change Policy Options for Asian Economies: Findings from an Integrated Assessment Model"ASIAN ECONOMIC POLICY REVIEW, Issue 1 2010Hidenori NIIZAWA No abstract is available for this article. [source] Reconciling Economic Growth and Carbon Mitigation: Challenges and Policy Options in ChinaASIAN ECONOMIC POLICY REVIEW, Issue 1 2010Jing CAO C68; D58; H23; Q54 As the biggest carbon emitter in the world, China is facing tremendous pressure domestically and internationally. To promote the international efforts to tackle climate change, the Chinese government announced its 2020 carbon intensity target and is actively taking part in the international climate negotiations. In this paper, we review some of the climate burden-sharing proposals raised by Chinese scholars to shed some light on China's perspective on the post-Kyoto climate architecture. Then we summarize China's current pollution abatement policies and measures, and analyze some potential policy instruments for China to reconcile its future economic growth and carbon mitigation, as well as some practical design and enforcement issues to be considered for the near term. [source] Comment on "Reconciling Economic Growth and Carbon Mitigation: Challenges and Policy Options in China"ASIAN ECONOMIC POLICY REVIEW, Issue 1 2010Yongding YU No abstract is available for this article. [source] Comment on "Reconciling Economic Growth and Carbon Mitigation: Challenges and Policy Options in China"ASIAN ECONOMIC POLICY REVIEW, Issue 1 2010Akihisa MORI No abstract is available for this article. [source] The Nutrition Transition in the Developing WorldDEVELOPMENT POLICY REVIEW, Issue 5-6 2003Barry M. Popkin This article explores shifts in nutrition transition from the period termed the receding famine pattern to one dominated by nutrition-related noncommunicable diseases (NR-NCDs). It examines the speed of these changes, summarises dietary and physical activity changes, and provides some sense of the health effects and economic costs. The focus is on the lower- and middle-income countries of Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. The article shows that changes are occurring at great speed and at earlier stages of countries' economic and social development. The burden of disease from NR-NCDs is shifting towards the poor and the costs are also becoming greater than those for under-nutrition. Policy options are identified. [source] Policy options for alcohol price regulation: the importance of modelling population heterogeneityADDICTION, Issue 3 2010Petra Sylvia Meier ABSTRACT Context and aims Internationally, the repertoire of alcohol pricing policies has expanded to include targeted taxation, inflation-linked taxation, taxation based on alcohol-by-volume (ABV), minimum pricing policies (general or targeted), bans of below-cost selling and restricting price-based promotions. Policy makers clearly need to consider how options compare in reducing harms at the population level, but are also required to demonstrate proportionality of their actions, which necessitates a detailed understanding of policy effects on different population subgroups. This paper presents selected findings from a policy appraisal for the UK government and discusses the importance of accounting for population heterogeneity in such analyses. Method We have built a causal, deterministic, epidemiological model which takes account of differential preferences by population subgroups defined by age, gender and level of drinking (moderate, hazardous, harmful). We consider purchasing preferences in terms of the types and volumes of alcoholic beverages, prices paid and the balance between bars, clubs and restaurants as opposed to supermarkets and off-licenses. Results Age, sex and level of drinking fundamentally affect beverage preferences, drinking location, prices paid, price sensitivity and tendency to substitute for other beverage types. Pricing policies vary in their impact on different product types, price points and venues, thus having distinctly different effects on subgroups. Because population subgroups also have substantially different risk profiles for harms, policies are differentially effective in reducing health, crime, work-place absence and unemployment harms. Conclusion Policy appraisals must account for population heterogeneity and complexity if resulting interventions are to be well considered, proportionate, effective and cost-effective. [source] Editors and National Teams: Policy options for tackling obesity: what do stakeholders want?OBESITY REVIEWS, Issue 2007Report of the European PorGrow (Policy Options for Responding to the Growing Challenge of Obesity) project [source] Policy options for responding to the growing challenge from obesity (PorGrow) in PolandOBESITY REVIEWS, Issue 2007L. Szponar Summary To explore the perspectives of stakeholders towards a range of policy options to respond to obesity in Poland, a multi-criteria mapping method was used. During structured interviews, stakeholders were invited to appraise policy options by reference to criteria of their own choosing. They also provided relative weightings to their criteria, generating overall rankings of the policy options in relation to each other. Efficacy, feasibility and societal benefits were the groups of criteria deemed most important. There was most consensus in favour of options related to health education, particularly in schools, compared with options that aimed at modifying the environment to prevent obesity, i.e. options around physical activity, modifying the supply and demand for food products, and information-related options. There was little support for technological solutions or institutional reforms. There was broad consensus that to reverse the rising trend in the incidence of obesity, it will be necessary to implement a portfolio of measures, but options related to behaviour change through education are most highly regarded. It will also be necessary to invest in improved surveillance and monitoring of Polish dietary practices, levels of physical activity and obesity in terms of data on height, weight and body mass indexes. [source] Policy analysis for tropical marine reserves: challenges and directionsFISH AND FISHERIES, Issue 1 2003Murray A Rudd Abstract Marine reserves are considered to be a central tool for marine ecosystem-based management in tropical inshore fisheries. The arguments supporting marine reserves are often based on both the nonmarket values of ecological amenities marine reserves provide and the pragmatic cost-saving advantages relating to reserve monitoring and enforcement. Marine reserves are, however, only one of a suite of possible policy options that might be used to achieve conservation and fisheries management objectives, and have rarely been the focus of rigorous policy analyses that consider a full range of economic costs and benefits, including the transaction costs of management. If credible analyses are not undertaken, there is a danger that current enthusiasm for marine reserves may wane as economic performance fails to meet presumed potential. Fully accounting for the value of ecological services flowing from marine reserves requires consideration of increased size and abundance of focal species within reserve boundaries, emigration of target species from reserves to adjacent fishing grounds, changes in ecological resilience, and behavioural responses of fishers to spatially explicit closures. Expanding policy assessments beyond standard cost,benefit analysis (CBA) also requires considering the impact of social capital on the costs of managing fisheries. In the short term, the amount of social capital that communities possess and the capacity of the state to support the rights of individuals and communities will affect the relative efficiency of marine reserves. Reserves may be the most efficient policy option when both community and state capacity is high, but may not be when one and/or the other is weak. In the longer term, the level of social capital that a society possesses and the level of uncertainty in ecological and social systems will also impact the appropriate level of devolution or decentralization of fisheries governance. Determining the proper balance of the state and the community in tropical fisheries governance will require broad comparative studies of marine reserves and alternative policy tools. [source] Open Borders: Absurd Chimera or Inevitable Future Policy?INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION, Issue 5 2010John P. Casey In the current climate of security concerns, the movement of people across borders is becoming increasingly criminalised. Yet there is a parallel political and economic reality in which borders are opening and the movement of people is being liberalised: zones of free movement such as the European Union expand; other bilateral and multilateral agreements include provisions for more fluid cross-border movement; international trade negotiations seek to facilitate the flow of those providing goods and services; developing countries' push for greater access for their citizens to the labour markets of the industrialised world; and a new class of "gold collar" professionals moves with increasing ease around the globe. This paper explores the possibilities of universal open borders as a future policy option. The author accepts realpolitik and understands that the free flow of immigrants is currently impossible, but also maintains that open borders are an inevitable long-term consequence of globalisation, as well as a policy option for addressing North-South inequalities and a moral touchstone for the global extension of human rights. The paper does not advocate for more migration, but instead explores the paradox that the creation of the conditions that would allow for the opening of borders is likely to reduce the incentives for emigration. The paper explores the policy changes needed to achieve open borders. [source] The Global Governance of Communicable Diseases: The Case for Vaccine R&DLAW & POLICY, Issue 1 2005DANIELE ARCHIBUGI Fighting communicable diseases such HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB, and malaria has become a global endeavor, with international health authorities urging the development of effective vaccines for the eradication of these global pandemics. Yet, despite the acknowledged urgency, and given the feasibility of effective vaccine development, public and private research efforts have failed to address a response adequate to the magnitude of the crisis. Members of the academic community suggest bridging this gap by devising research pull mechanisms capable of stimulating private investments, confident that competition-based market devices are more effective than public intervention in shaping scientific breakthroughs. With reference to the economics of innovation, the paper argues that, whilst such an approach would lead to a socially suboptimal production of knowledge, direct public intervention in vaccine R&D activities would represent a far more socially desirable policy option. In recognition of the current financial and political fatigue affecting the international community towards communicable disease control, the paper resorts to the theories of global public goods (GPGs) to provide governments, both in the North and in the South, with a powerful rationale for committing to a cooperative approach for vaccine R&D. The paper encourages the creation of a Global Health Research Fund to manage such exercise and proposes enshrining countries' commitments into an International Health Treaty. The paper ends by providing a number of policy recommendations. [source] Limiting Global Cooling after Global Warming is Over , Differentiating Between Short- and Long-Lived Greenhouse GasesOPEC ENERGY REVIEW, Issue 4 2003Axel Michaelowa Current climate policy does not take into account that, after greenhouse gas emissions have been reduced to an extent that atmospheric concentrations stabilise and then start to fall, natural decay of greenhouse gases will lead to a global cooling phase spanning several centuries. This cooling will lead to damage to humans and ecosystems that depends on the rate of temperature change. Current climate policy should thus concentrate on the reduction of short- and medium-lived greenhouse gases, while exempting long-lived gases. This reduces the cooling rate. Another policy option is to sequester carbon in geological reservoirs that allow controlled release in the future. [source] Regional Trade Agreements in East Asia: Will They Be Sustainable?,ASIAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL, Issue 2 2009Innwon Park C68; F15; O53 By assessing the sustainability of regional trade agreements (RTAs) for East Asia, we quantitatively evaluate the likely impact of proposed East Asian RTA strategies on the East Asian economies and the world economy with respect to consumption, production, volume of trade and terms of trade effects by applying a multi-country and multi-sector computable general equilibrium model. These strategies include: (i) the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA: a being-left-alone strategy); (ii) an ASEAN Hub RTA (a hub-and-spoke type of overlapping RTA strategy); (iii) the AFTA versus a China,Japan,Korea RTA (a duplicating or competing RTA strategy); and (iv) an ASEAN+3 RTA (an expansionary RTA strategy). We find that an expansionary ASEAN+3 RTA could be a sustainable policy option because the members' gains would be significantly positive, with more equitably distributed gains between members than when using other strategies. The effect on world welfare would also be positive and the negative effect on nonmembers would not be very strong. More interestingly, if the East Asian countries cooperate with Pacific Basin countries to form an APEC-level RTA, such as a free trade area of the Asia-Pacific, the extension of the regional trade bloc might be considered a more desirable policy option than the proposed East Asian RTAs for East Asian economies, even though countries excluded from the free trade area of the Asia Pacific are worse off. [source] Public hospital admissions for treating complications of clinical care: incidence, costs and funding strategyAUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, Issue 3 2010Peter McNair Abstract Objective: To quantify the frequency of, and the costs and payments associated with, admissions for treatment of injuries and illnesses that are consequences of care. Data sources: Routinely-coded 2005/06 public hospital inpatient data from Victoria, Australia (1.25 million admissions) and corresponding patient-level cost data (1.04 million admissions). Payments reflected DRG-based prospective rates. Study design: Retrospective analysis of admissions with principal diagnoses that specify adverse events arising as a direct consequence of healthcare. Results: 1.5% (15,336) of the costed admissions specifically treat an injury or illness arising from medical or surgical care, consuming 2.74% of hospital prospective payments and representing $89.3 m (2.84%) of total reported costs. 1.4% (17,429) of all public hospital admissions and 2.82% of hospital prospective payments (estimated cost-$101.5 m per year) are committed to treating complications of care. Private residences or aged care facilities are the source of 84.9% (14,804) of these admissions. Inpatient death was the outcome in 0.7% (118) of these admissions. Implications: Admissions for treating complications of care represent a small, relatively expensive, proportion of hospital admissions, which account for disproportionate levels of hospital costs and funding. A policy option providing incentives to reduce the incidence and costs of complications arising from care includes allocating all costs arising from transferred (re)admissions back to the original episode of care and developing a suite of specific DRGs to fund admissions for treatment of complications. [source] "In the Best Interests of the Child": Mapping the (Re) Emergence of Pro-Adoption Politics in Contemporary AustraliaAUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF POLITICS AND HISTORY, Issue 2 2009Kate Murphy This article seeks to understand, in historical and international perspective, recent governmental initiatives that aim to reinstate adoption as a viable policy option for the care and placement of children in Australia, with reference to two recent reports of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Human and Family Services, Overseas Adoption in Australia: Report of the Inquiry into Adoption of Children from Overseas (2005), and The Winnable War on Drugs: The Impact of Illicit Drug Use on Families (2007) which raises adoption as a policy option for children of drug-addicted parents. These reports appear to signal a discursive shift away from the anti-adoption attitudes that have characterised the post-1970s period in response to the Stolen Generations and other past adoption practices. It is argued that this change can be understood as having been pushed to the fore by the conservative family policy of the Howard era and further fostered by international trends in adoption policy. [source] Local authorities, climate change and small and medium enterprises: identifying effective policy instruments to reduce energy use and carbon emissionsCORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2008Jaryn Bradford Abstract This paper discusses potential policy options available to local and municipal authorities, to achieve reductions in energy usage and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Researchers conducted surveys with 112 SMEs, and the results have been used to disaggregate the category of ,SME' into sub-sectors based on industrial sector, two measurements of employee size and annual turnover. A statistical analysis identifies key characteristics and behaviours of the sub-sectors of firms and discusses the type of policy measure these groups of SMEs would probably respond to. The key results of the research indicate that categories of firms differ in terms of energy use behaviours, internal constraints and attitudes toward possible policy options. The paper presents a ,policy matrix' to represent the most and least likely policy options to achieve energy savings from different categories of SMEs. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source] Prudential Regulation of Banks in Less Developed EconomiesDEVELOPMENT POLICY REVIEW, Issue 3 2002S. Mansoob Murshed This article argues that developing countries face inherent obstacles in setting up efficient financial regulation, and building up a sound banking sector: the presence of multiple tasks and multiple principals, poor institutions, lack of economies of scale in the banking sector as well as regulatory supervision, and the lack of reputation. Developing countries need a regulatory framework that rewards prudent risk-taking, but punishes misconduct. This is likely to involve a combination of input-based measures impacting on bankers' incentives, with a few direct controls on the output of the sector. The article concludes with a list of policy options whose appropriateness is judged by their ,friendliness' with local circumstances. [source] Investment and Competition Policy in the WTO: Issues for Developing CountriesDEVELOPMENT POLICY REVIEW, Issue 1 2002Oliver Morrissey This article uses the case of trade-related investment measures (TRIMs) to examine the liberalisation of investment and its potential impact on developing countries. Very few developing countries actually use TRIMs to any appreciable degree, but, when taken in conjunction with the broader liberalisation of investment, the 1994 TRIMs Agreement has significant implications that will constrain governments' policy options and require issues of competition policy to be addressed. Multilateral competition policy would be difficult to agree and implement and the article considers alternative strategies that developing countries could adopt. [source] Food Security in Complex Emergencies: Enhancing Food System ResilienceDISASTERS, Issue 2005Prabhu Pingali This paper explores linkages between food security and crisis in different contexts, outlining the policy and institutional conditions needed to manage food security during a crisis and to rebuild the resilience of food systems in periods of relative peace. The paper reviews experiences over the past decade of countries in protracted crisis and draws lessons for national and international policy. It assesses the different alternatives on offer in fragile countries to address, for example, the disruption of institutional mechanisms and the decreasing level of support offered by international donors with respect to longer-term expectations. It proposes a Twin Track Approach to enhance food security resilience through specific policies for protracted crises that link immediate hunger relief interventions with a long-term strategy for sustainable growth. Finally, the article analyses policy options and the implications for both short- and longer-term responses vis-à-vis the three dimensions of food security: availability; access; and stability. [source] Housing, credit and the euro: the policy responseECONOMIC OUTLOOK, Issue 4 2003John Muellbauer HM Treasury produced its long-awaited assessment of the five economic tests in June, having signalled the basic decision months in advance. The Treasury sees important impediments to adopting the Euro in UK housing and credit markets, and makes some proposals for further investigation and policy. In this paper, John Muellbauer considers the policy options. [source] Mass car ownership in the emerging market giantsECONOMIC POLICY, Issue 54 2008Marcos Chamon SUMMARY Cars The typical urban household in China owns a TV, a refrigerator, a washing machine, and a computer, but does not yet own a car. In this paper, we draw on data for a panel of countries and detailed household level surveys for the largest emerging markets to document a remarkably stable relationship between GDP per capita and car ownership, highlighting the importance of within-country income distribution factors: we find that car ownership is low up to per capita incomes of about US$5000 and then takes off very rapidly. Several emerging markets, including India and China, the most populous countries in the world, are currently at the stage of development when such takeoff is expected to take place. We project that the number of cars will increase by 2.3 billion between 2005 and 2050, with an increase by 1.9 billion in emerging market and developing countries. We outline a number of possible policy options to deal with the implications for the countries affected and the world as a whole. , Marcos Chamon, Paolo Mauro and Yohei Okawa [source] Alcohol research and the alcoholic beverage industry: issues, concerns and conflicts of interestADDICTION, Issue 2009Thomas F. Babor ABSTRACT Aims Using terms of justification such as ,corporate social responsibility' and ,partnerships with the public health community', the alcoholic beverage industry (mainly large producers, trade associations and ,social aspects' organizations) funds a variety of scientific activities that involve or overlap with the work of independent scientists. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the ethical, professional and scientific challenges that have emerged from industry involvement in alcohol science. Method Source material came from an extensive review of organizational websites, newspaper articles, journal papers, letters to the editor, editorials, books, book chapters and unpublished documents. Results Industry involvement in alcohol science was identified in seven areas: (i) sponsorship of research funding organizations; (ii) direct financing of university-based scientists and centers; (iii) studies conducted through contract research organizations; (iv) research conducted by trade organizations and social aspects/public relations organizations; (v) efforts to influence public perceptions of research, research findings and alcohol policies; (vi) publication of scientific documents and support of scientific journals; and (vii) sponsorship of scientific conferences and presentations at conferences. Conclusion While industry involvement in research activities is increasing, it constitutes currently a rather small direct investment in scientific research, one that is unlikely to contribute to alcohol science, lead to scientific breakthroughs or reduce the burden of alcohol-related illness. At best, the scientific activities funded by the alcoholic beverage industry provide financial support and small consulting fees for basic and behavioral scientists engaged in alcohol research; at worst, the industry's scientific activities confuse public discussion of health issues and policy options, raise questions about the objectivity of industry-supported alcohol scientists and provide industry with a convenient way to demonstrate ,corporate responsibility' in its attempts to avoid taxation and regulation. [source] Wind power policy options in finland , analysis of energy policy actors' viewsENVIRONMENTAL POLICY AND GOVERNANCE, Issue 4 2006Vilja Varho Abstract Governments around the world are responding to the environmental problems caused by energy production by promoting wind power and other renewable forms of energy. Country specific political and ideological issues affect the choice of policy instruments. For example, although Finland and Sweden are already part of the same Nordic electricity market, they use different renewable energy policy instruments. The views about suitable policy instruments also vary within the Finnish energy sector. This paper is based on analysis of interviews with 25 energy sector actors that affect wind power policy in Finland. They used a number of process-oriented and value-based criteria to evaluate policies. Emphasis on deregulated market conditions was found to be strong, and to limit methods that are considered appropriate for supporting wind power. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source] Distress Selling and Asset Market FeedbackFINANCIAL MARKETS, INSTITUTIONS & INSTRUMENTS, Issue 5 2007Ilhyock Shim This paper examines the process of distress selling and asset market feedback. It splits this process into several stages, in order to analyze what triggers distress selling, why asset prices fall, and how falling prices generate additional rounds of selling. This framework enables us to understand and compare models relevant to distress selling from diverse literatures. The paper also considers what policy options are available at each stage to mitigate the adverse economic consequences of distress selling and asset market feedback. [source] Policy analysis for tropical marine reserves: challenges and directionsFISH AND FISHERIES, Issue 1 2003Murray A Rudd Abstract Marine reserves are considered to be a central tool for marine ecosystem-based management in tropical inshore fisheries. The arguments supporting marine reserves are often based on both the nonmarket values of ecological amenities marine reserves provide and the pragmatic cost-saving advantages relating to reserve monitoring and enforcement. Marine reserves are, however, only one of a suite of possible policy options that might be used to achieve conservation and fisheries management objectives, and have rarely been the focus of rigorous policy analyses that consider a full range of economic costs and benefits, including the transaction costs of management. If credible analyses are not undertaken, there is a danger that current enthusiasm for marine reserves may wane as economic performance fails to meet presumed potential. Fully accounting for the value of ecological services flowing from marine reserves requires consideration of increased size and abundance of focal species within reserve boundaries, emigration of target species from reserves to adjacent fishing grounds, changes in ecological resilience, and behavioural responses of fishers to spatially explicit closures. Expanding policy assessments beyond standard cost,benefit analysis (CBA) also requires considering the impact of social capital on the costs of managing fisheries. In the short term, the amount of social capital that communities possess and the capacity of the state to support the rights of individuals and communities will affect the relative efficiency of marine reserves. Reserves may be the most efficient policy option when both community and state capacity is high, but may not be when one and/or the other is weak. In the longer term, the level of social capital that a society possesses and the level of uncertainty in ecological and social systems will also impact the appropriate level of devolution or decentralization of fisheries governance. Determining the proper balance of the state and the community in tropical fisheries governance will require broad comparative studies of marine reserves and alternative policy tools. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||