Implementation of Policy Instruments for Chlorinated Solvents: A Comparison of Design Standards, Bans, and Taxes to Phase Out Trichloroethylene

This paper studies the Swedish prohibition of the hazardous solvent Trichloroethylene (TCE). Sweden is alone in completely prohibiting its use. The ban has been at best a partial success and illustrates the dilemmas of policymaking. Use has declined but not stopped, largely because the decision to ban TCE was challenged in the courts. Recently, the EU Court of Justice decided in favor of Sweden’s right to have a ban. This article analyzes abatement cost data to show that the cost of replacing TCE is low for most plants, although there appear to be a few firms for which it may be quite high. A crosscountry comparison indicates that the Swedish ban was less effective than the very strict technical requirements in Germany or the tax used in Norway. A tax (or deposit refund scheme) would be a good mechanism to achieve a swift phaseout.hazardous chemicals, regulation, environmental tax, solvents,

Researchers\u27 approaches to stakeholders: Interaction or transfer of knowledge?

Stakeholder interaction is important for enabling environmental research to support the societal transition to sustainability. We argue that it is crucial to take researchers\u27 approaches to and perceptions of stakeholder interaction into account, to enable more clarity in discussions about interaction, as well as more systematic interaction approaches. Through a survey and focus group interviews with environmental researchers at three Swedish universities, we investigate the effects of two models of stakeholder interaction, as well as high and low levels within each. The \u27transfer model\u27 implies that interaction is understood as communication and should be separated from research. The \u27interaction model\u27 implies that interaction happens throughout the research process. Our study shows some significant differences between researchers in the two models, but also between high and low levels of stakeholder interaction regardless of model. The result indicates that the transfer model needs to be considered in studies and practice of stakeholder interaction, but also that the low levels of the interaction model consists of a number of different types of approaches. The major difference between the two models was about how large researchers understood the benefits and risks with stakeholder interaction to be. Transfer researchers saw interaction as a threat to the integrity of research, whereas interaction researchers saw it as enabling research

Essays in Environmental Management and Economics: Public Health, Risk and Strategic Environmental Assessment

Abstract Current large-scale environmental and climate change leads to the emergence of new and potentially dramatic risks for individuals and societies. The welfare costs associated with these risks largely depend on our ability to take them into account in decision-making and adapt to new circumstances. By analysing how people perceive and manage risks individually and collectively, this thesis aims to improve the understanding of how these environmentally related welfare costs may be reduced. Papers 1–3 focus on risk perceptions and decision-making at the individual level and concern how people perceive and manage risks in relation to the increasing incidence of Lyme borreliosis (LB) and tick-borne encephalitis (TBE). The empirical analysis is based on a survey with 1500 randomly selected respondents in Sweden. Papers 4 and 5 focus on risk assessment and decision-making at the collective level and concern how strategic environmental assessments are used to manage environmental risks in low- and middle-income countries. The empirical analysis is based on interviews with stakeholders involved in environmental assessments of policy reforms. Paper 1: Learning to Live with Ticks? The Role of Exposure and Risk Perceptions in Protective Behaviour Against Tick-Borne Diseases We analyse the role of risk perceptions and exposure for five protective measures against tick bites and the related diseases TBE and LB. We find a strong positive association between exposure and checking the skin for ticks, but no or weak associations between exposure and the use of protective clothing, tucking trousers into socks, the use of repellent or avoidance of tall grass in areas with ticks. Paper 2: Valuation When Baselines Are Changing: Tick-borne Disease Risk and Recreational Choice We estimate willingness to pay to avoid recreational areas with ticks, LB and TBE risk. In northern Sweden, where the presence of ticks is relatively new, the willingness to pay to avoid risk is significantly higher than in southern Sweden, where ticks are endemic. We also find that TBE-vaccinated respondents have a lower willingness to pay. These differences in willingness to pay for risk reduction between groups with different baseline risk should be taken into account when estimating welfare costs of the spread of disease vectors to new areas due to environmental and climate change. Paper 3: The Willingness to Pay for Vaccination against Tick-Borne Encephalitis and Implications for Public Health Policy: Evidence from Sweden We estimate the TBE-vaccination rate to 33% in TBE-risk areas and analyse the role of vaccine price, income and other factors influencing the demand for vaccination. We project that a subsidy making TBE vaccines free of charge could increase the vaccination rate in TBE risk areas to around 78%, with a larger effect on low-income households, whose current vaccination rate is only 15% in risk areas. Paper 4: Greening Growth through Strategic Environmental Assessment of Sector Reforms Based on an evaluation of a World Bank programme, we analyse whether strategic environmental assessments can contribute to greening sector reforms in low- and middle-income countries. We find that the institutional context plays a crucial role for the performance of environmental assessments and suggest that increased attention to institutional aspects could improve effectiveness. Paper 5: Challenges to Institutionalising Strategic Environmental Assessment: the Case of Vietnam We develop a conceptual framework for analysing constraints to the institutionalisation of strategic environmental assessments at four different institutional levels. The framework is tested in an empirical analysis of the environmental assessment system in Vietnam

Fästingburna sjukdomar och friluftsbeteende - survey data från ett valexperiment

This dataset is based on a choice experiment on tick-borne disease risk and recreational choice. It contains the variables used in the study “Valuation When Baselines Are Changing: Tick-borne Disease Risk and Recreational Choice” as well as data on additional variables collection in a survey with 1579 respondents in Sweden in 2013. Understanding how changes in baseline risk influence preferences for risk reduction is important when valuing the welfare effects of environmental change, including the spread of disease. We conduct a survey-based choice experiment among respondents residing in areas with different prevalence of ticks and incidence of Lyme borreliosis (LB) and tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) in Sweden. Respondents face a trade-off between risk and travel cost when choosing between visiting recreational areas differing in prevalence of ticks and disease incidence. Our study indicates that ticks and the risk of tick-borne diseases significantly influence the choice of recreational area and have non-trivial welfare effects. The mean willingness to pay (WTP) per trip to avoid areas with ticks and an incidence of LB of 500 yearly cases per 100 000 inhabitants is estimated at 24 EUR. When there is also a high incidence of TBE the WTP rises to 78 EUR. The WTP for risk reduction is significantly lower among respondents residing in risk areas compared to respondents in emerging risk areas. Explanations for these differences in WTP for risk reduction between groups with different baseline risks include differences in reference point utility, knowledge and learning, leading to adaptation of behaviour and preferences. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to estimate Willingness to Pay (WTP) to reduce the risk of getting tick bites or contracting TBE and LB in connection with visits to recreational areas in Sweden, and to analyze the role of baseline risk and adaptive behaviour for these estimates. We conduct a survey-based choice experiment on recreational choices to derive the WTP for reducing said risks. This data is based on a survey based choice experiment on tick-borne disease risk and recreational choice. The dataset contains responses from 1579 people in Sweden to an online survey in October 2013. The dataset contains 33159 observations as all respondents answered seven choice sets with three alternatives. The dataset contains 168 variables.Vi analyserar betalningsviljan för att undvika områden med fästingar samt borrelia- och TBE-risk. I Norrlandslänen där förekomsten av fästingar är relativt ny är betalningsviljan för att undvika risk väsentligt högre än i andra län. Vi finner även att TBE vaccinerade respondenter har en lägre betalningsvilja. Dessa skillnader i betalningsvilja för riskreducering bör beaktas vid ekonomisk värdering av nya risker orsakade av miljö- och klimatförändringar. Syfte: Att analysera betalningsviljan för att minska risken för fästingbett, fästingburen encefalit (TBE) och borrelios i samband med friluftsaktiviteter i Sverige