ECONOMIC INSTRUMENTS FOR NONPOINT SOURCE WATER POLLUTION: OPTIONS FOR THE SWAN-CANNING RIVER SYSTEM

The management of nonpoint source water pollution presents an immense challenge to economists and policy makers alike. A complex array of physical, economic, political and institutional barriers lie between theoretically appealing textbook prescriptions and their transition into successful real-world solutions. Underlying beliefs about property rights, interest group politics and the transaction costs associated with designing and implementing successful measures have all played a particularly critical role. Building on the theoretical literature and the lessons provided by the practical use of economic instruments for nonpoint source water pollution management around the world, this paper considers these issues in the context of the Swan-Canning river system in Perth. Four innovative economic instruments for the management of nonpoint source nutrient pollution in that system are discussed: auctioned best management practice payments; best management practice incentive charges; an urban nonpoint source emissions offset bank; and a catchment based licensing/trading program.Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use,

Stimulating demand for AIDS prevention : lessons from the RESPECT trial

HIV-prevention strategies have yielded only limited success so far in slowing down the AIDS epidemic. This paper examines novel intervention strategies that use incentives to discourage risky sexual behaviors. Widely-adopted conditional cash transfer programs that offer payments conditioning on easily monitored behaviors, such as well-child health care visits, have shown positive impact on health outcomes. Similarly, contingency management approaches have successfully used outcome-based rewards to encourage behaviors that are not easily monitored, such as stopping drug abuse. These strategies have not been used in the sexual domain, so this paper assesses how incentives can be used to reduce risky sexual behavior. After discussing theoretical pathways, it discusses the use of sexual-behavior incentives in the Tanzanian RESPECT trial. There, participants who tested negative for sexually transmitted infections are eligible for outcome-based cash rewards. The trial was well-received in the communities, with high enrollment rates and more than 90 percent of participants viewing the incentives favorably. After one year, 57 percent of enrollees in the"low-value"reward arm stated that the cash rewards"very much"motivated sexual behavioral change, rising to 79 percent in the"high-value"reward arm. Despite its controversial nature, the authors argue for further testing of such incentive-based approaches to encouraging reductions in risky sexual behavior.Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Population Policies,Disease Control&Prevention,HIV AIDS,Adolescent Health

HRM, organizational capacity for change, and performance: a global perspective

This special issue brings together a variety of articles, each one enriching understanding about whether and how human resource management (HRM) influences organizational performance (however defined) against a backdrop of complex change. We present a preliminary framework that enables us to integrate the diverse themes explored in the special issue, proposing a mediating role for organizational change capacity (OCC). OCC represents a particular subset within the resource- based literature labeled as “dynamic capabilities.” Although not well researched, there is evidence that OCC is positively associated with firm performance and that this relationship is stronger given conditions of high uncertainty. Our framework reflects on external and internal parameters, which we suggest moderate the relationship between human resource management (HRM), OCC, and organizational performance. Our intention is to provide compelling insight for both practitioners and researchers, especially those whose remit extends beyond national boundaries, with reference to areas of the globe as disparate as Greece, Ireland, Pakistan, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom

Social Mental Shaping: Modelling the Impact of Sociality on Autonomous Agents' Mental States

This paper presents a framework that captures how the social nature of agents that are situated in a multi-agent environment impacts upon their individual mental states. Roles and relationships provide an abstraction upon which we develop the notion of social mental shaping. This allows us to extend the standard Belief-Desire-Intention model to account for how common social phenomena (e.g. cooperation, collaborative problem-solving and negotiation) can be integrated into a unified theoretical perspective that reflects a fully explicated model of the autonomous agent's mental state

Design for sustainable behaviour: strategies and perceptions

This paper presents selected findings of doctoral research exploring how design could be used to influence user behaviour towards more sustainable practices. It describes three strategies for changing user behaviour through design drawn from literature and outlines the methodology and findings of a case study exploring the application of these strategies in sustainable design. Drawing on the perceptions of design professionals interviewed in response to one of the concepts generated, the paper goes on to explore the perceived acceptability and effectiveness of these strategies. It concludes by commenting on the wider implications of these perceptions for ongoing research

Intangibles, Global Networks & Corporate Social Responsibility

Network organisations emphasise the importance of corporate and product intangible assets. In global competition, the managerial economics of intangibles imposes new network policies of corporate social responsibility, dominated by global social issues such as economic sustainability, eco-responsibility, worker protection and so on.Intangible Assets; Network; Global Competition; Corporate Social Responsibility DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.4468/2010.2.02brondoni