Suchergebnisse

Tässä väitöskirjassa kehitetään, parametrisoidaan ja validoidaan yksityiskohtainen taloudellis-ekologinen malli poropopulaatiosta, sen energiaresursseista ja käytöstä. Mallin avulla tutkitaan paliskunnan mahdollisimman suurta kestävää tulotasoa tavoittelevaa teurastusta, populaation ruokintaa ja laidunten käytön säätelyä. Erilaisiin lähtökohtiin perustuvia arvioita taloudellis-ekologisista optimiratkaisuista verrataan poronhoidon nykytilaan. Poronhoito on merkittävä elinkeino erityisesti Ylä-Lapin alueella ja samalla kiinteä osa saamelaista kulttuuria. Poro (Rangifer tarandus L.) vaikuttaa arktiseen ympäristöön ja populaation omiin ravintoresursseihin erityisesti jäkälikköjä kuluttamalla. Poron riippuvuus jäkälän määrästä vastaakin ekologiassa paljon tutkittua dynaamista kuluttaja-resurssi – systeemiä. Taloudellinen tarkastelu lisää tähän klassiseen ekologiseen malliin ihmisen vaikutuksen luonnonvarojen hyödyntäjänä ja muokkaajana. Tämä lisäys on välttämätön, jotta poronhoidosta saataisiin kuva pohjoiseen arktiseen luontoon sopeutuneena tärkeänä ja kulttuurisesti omaleimaisena taloudellista ylijäämää tavoittelevana elinkeinona. Väitöskirjan malli perustuu poro-jäkälä dynamiikkaan, mutta sisältää myös muut luontaiset ravintolähteet sekä lisärehun. Ekologinen malli nojaa laajasti käytettyihin teorioihin ja metodeihin, kuten eläinyksilöiden optimaalisen ravinnon valinnan teoriaan ja dynaamiseen ikä- ja sukupuoliluokkaiseen mallirakenteeseen. Optimointi ratkaistaan kehittyneillä matemaattisilla algoritmeilla. Malli sisältää yksityiskohtaisen kuvauksen tuloista, kustannuksista, poronhoidolle maksetuista tuista ja huomioi korkokannan vaikutukset. Tuloksena on aikaisempaa tutkimusta oleellisesti realistisempi monitieteinen kuvaus poro-laidun dynamiikasta ja porotaloudesta. Vastoin luonnonvarataloustieteen klassista tulosta poropopulaation optimaalinen koko on realistisilla positiivisilla korkokannoilla suurempi kuin koron ollessa nolla. Vastaavasti jäkälämäärä on alhaisempi. Yksi tutkimuksen päätuloksista on, että, taloudellisesti optimaaliset teurastukset kohdistetaan vasoihin. Aikuiset naaraat on kannattavinta teurastaa yhdeksän ja koiraat viiden vuoden ikäisinä. Verrattuna aikaisempaan tutkimukseen yksi väitöskirjan mallien edistysaskel on joustavan poron polygamisen luonteen huomioivan pariutumismallin käyttäminen. Tämän seurauksena saadaan arvio optimaalisesta populaation sukupuolijakaumasta samoin kuin eri sukupuolta olevien eläinyksilöiden taloudellisesta arvosta. Sovelletussa pariutumismallissa sekä koiras-naaras suhde että koiraiden ja naaraiden ikäluokkarakenne vaikuttavat syntyvien vasojen määrään. Koiraiden määrä voidaan pitää pienenä niiden korkean lisääntymiskyvykkyyden seurauksena. Tästä seuraa, että marginaalisen koiraan taloudellinen arvo on naarasta korkeampi. Väitöskirjan tulokset osoittavat, että tutkittaessa taloudellisesti kestävää poronhoitoa tulee sekä ekologiset että taloustieteelliset tekijät huomioida monipuolisesti. Yksi väitöskirjan päätuloksista on, että taloudellisesti optimaalinen jäkäläbiomassa on selvästi pienempi kuin aikaisemmissa tutkimuksissa. Tähän on sekä ekologisia ja taloudellisia että poronhoidollisia syitä: korkea korko, vähäinen vanhan metsän määrä, laidunkierron puuttuminen, runsas lupon määrä ja valtion suorat tulotuet alentavat kaikki jäkäläbiomassan määrää tasapainotilassa. Lisäksi joissain tapauksissa intensiiviseen lisäruokintaan pohjautuva poronhoito saattaa olla taloudellisesti kannattavinta. Tämä johtaa alhaisiin jäkälämääriin ja jäkälälaidunten kulumiseen. Väitöskirjassa arvioitu talviaikainen jäkälän hukkaantuminen laidunnuksen seurauksena vastaa jo aikaisemmissa optimointimalleissa käytettyä, mutta kesäaikainen jäkälän hukkaantuminen on tallaantumisen vuoksi huomattavasti suurempaa. Tulos korostaa vuodenaikaisen laidunkierron merkitystä jäkälän kulumisen estämisessä. Validointitulokset osoittavat, että malli pystyy myös hyvin kuvamaan jäkälän määrän kehitystä. Validoidulla mallilla tehdyt arviot taloudellisesti optimaalisesta jäkälämäärästä ovat korkeampia verrattuna laidunten nykytilaan poronhoitoalueella. Jäkälän lisääminen tasolle, jossa taloudellisesti kannattava poronhoito voi perustua luonnonlaitumiin kestää mallilla saatavien arvioiden mukaan vuosikymmeniä ja vaatisi osin myös voimakkaita poromäärien leikkauksia. Myös lisäruokinnan käyttäminen on kannattavaa sopeutumisen alkuvuosina. Kuitenkaan välittömillä teurastuksilla toteutettu mahdollisimman nopea sopeutumisratkaisu jäkäliköiden elvyttämiseksi ei näytä taloudellisesti perustellulta. Hitaampi sopeuttaminen hyödyntää paremmin poropopulaation ikäluokkarakennetta ja huomioi poronomistajien tarpeen säilyttää riittävä tulotaso myös sopeuttamisjakson aikana. Bioekonomisia malleja on metsä- ja kalataloudesta käytetty runsaasti käytännön kysymysten ja suositusten laatimiseen. Myös tässä väitöskirjassa kehitettyä porotalouden mallia voidaan käyttää monien empiiristen, soveltavien ja käytännön kysymysten tarkasteluun. Mallilla voidaan tutkia kilpailevien maankäyttömuotojen aiheuttamia kustannuksia ja esimerkiksi erilaisten geneettisten muutosten taloudellista potentiaalia. Lisäksi voidaan arvioida petoeläinten porotaloudelle aiheuttamia kustannuksia. Maa- ja metsätalousministeriö määrittää kymmenvuosittain suurimmat sallitut poroluvut eri paliskunnille. Kehitetyllä mallilla voidaan tuottaa erilaisiin lähtökohtiin perustuvia arvioita taloudellis-ekologisesti perustelluista poromääristä. Mallin dynaaminen rakenne huomioi ikäluokkarakenteesta syntyvät viiveet sopeutumisprosesseissa ja näin voidaan arvioida kannattavimpia sopeutumispolkuja nykytilanteesta kohti tavoiteltavia poromääriä. ; The reindeer (Rangifer tarandus L.) is a key species in Fennoscandia, where nearly 40% of the land area is used as reindeer pasture. Reindeer herding is an important source of income for local people and an intrinsic part of the Sami culture In this thesis, the reindeer herding system is studied using a detailed interdisciplinary dynamic model. An age- and sex-structured reindeer-lichen model is developed using findings from previous research and novel data. The model also takes other winter resources, including supplementary food, into account in addition to ground lichens. This ecological model is combined with economic optimization and a description of the herding system with empirically estimated prices, costs, and governmental subsidies. The model is validated and calibrated to describe the reindeer herding system in the northern part of Finnish Lapland. The results for population dynamics without harvesting show that the reindeer-lichen system described by the model is unstable in the absence of predators. However, high availability of arboreal lichens stabilizes the system. In economically optimal solutions increasing the interest rate increases the steady-state reindeer population level, opposite to classical understanding in resource economics. Natural mortality is close to zero in optimal steady-state solutions and harvesting is concentrated on calves. The number of adult males is kept as low as possible without decreasing the reproduction rate of the population. This leads to much higher shadow values for males compared to females. The results show that in order to study sustainable and economically viable reindeer management, both ecological and economic factors must be taken into account, as they strongly affect the solutions and management recommendations. One of the main findings is that the economically optimal steady-state lichen biomass can be surprisingly low. High interest rate, lack of pasture rotation, low growth rate of ground lichen, high availability of arboreal lichens, and government subsidies all decrease the steady-state lichen biomass. Using intensive supplementary feeding to support larger reindeer herds, which leads to the depletation of lichens, can additionally become optimal in certain cases. When recovering from overgrazed lichen pastures, use of supplementary feeding and the amount of arboreal lichens have an important role in the optimal adaptation process. The wintertime wastages estimated in this study are close to earlier suggestions, but summertime wastage is higher than expected. Seasonal pasture rotation could thus considerably help reduce the summertime trampling of winter pastures. The model validation solutions show that the model is able to describe changes in lichen biomass with good accuracy. Using the validated model and calibrated wastage values we found that reindeer numbers in northernmost Finland in the present situation are in most cases higher than in the management solutions given by the model.

This paper discusses the differences between orthodox and heterodox economics as well as between American and British Global Political Economy (GPE). It is found that the main differences within both disciplines are related to meta-theoretical premises. However, meta-theory turns out to be also a uniting factor between disciplines. Orthodox economics and American GPE mostly share positivist meta-theory, while heterodox economics and British GPE are largely based on critical realist meta-theory. Instead of building bridges within disciplines, it is suggested that it would be more feasible to combine some parts of orthodox economics with American GPE and some parts of heterodox economics with British GPE. This paper also discusses the role of mathematics in economics, critically assessing Tony Lawson's claim that there is no place for mathematical modelling in heterodox economics. ; Peer reviewed

A common claim in the policy discourse is that a government wishing to achieve equality of opportunity should use public provision of education for equalisation of opportunities rather than income taxation, which only equalizes incomes. We develop a framework in which the tax and education provision rules in the welfarist and non-welfarist/equality of opportunity cases can be transparently compared. We show that in addition to education policies, progressive taxation also plays a role in achieving equality of opportunity, and illustrate how its use may differ under the two objectives. We also show how the provision of public education depends on how private education choices respond, potentially differentially by higher- and lower-income families. ; publishedVersion ; Peer reviewed

This study considers a market economy where firms produce goods from labor and capital and households supply labor, rear children, save in capital, promote their members' health and longevity by health care and derive utility from their consumption and children, without caring of their adult offspring. There is a risk that population growth and capital accumulation trigger a lethal environmental disaster. Optimal policy is solved by a game where the government is the leader and the representative household the follower. The solution yields precautionary taxes on both capital income and health care. ; Peer reviewed

This paper presents a stock–flow consistent model of full-reserve banking. The paper investigates money creation through government spending in a full-reserve banking system. The results are contrasted against the cases in which government spending is increased under full-reserve banking without money creation and under endogenous money, that is, the current monetary system. It is found that output, employment and inflation evolve almost identically. In contrast to other cases, money creation in a full-reserve banking system leads to a permanent reduction in consolidated government debt. Monetary policy transmits effectively as an increase in central bank reserves translates into an almost equal increase in demand deposits. Furthermore, an unusually large change in the money supply induces only smooth and relatively small changes in interest rates. In addition, the paper compares three additional ways to create money. Money creation through tax cuts or citizen's dividend generates roughly the same results as creating money through government spending. In contrast, money creation through quantitative easing affects only monetary aggregates and interest rates but not the real economy. Although in every money creation experiment banks are able to fully satisfy the demand for loans, temporary credit crunches can occur under full-reserve banking. The occurrence of credit crunches depends on changes in private behaviour and economic policy as well as safety margins adopted by banks. ; Peer reviewed

We analyze the welfare effects of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the United States (US) and the European Union (EU). Earlier TTIP studies analyze welfare effects in a framework where output and welfare coincide. We believe that the utility function of households, which depends on consumption and employment, is the best criterion for assessing TTIP. We measure the welfare effect of TTIP as the percentage of consumption that households would be willing to pay for TTIP in order to remain as well off with it as without it. The welfare effects of TTIP, which eliminates tariffs and cuts non-tariff measures, are always positive for the US and the EU. The reason is that the welfare gain of higher consumption more than offsets the welfare loss of a change in employment. The policy implication is that the US and the EU should continue the negotiations for the TTIP agreement. ; Peer reviewed

Hannah Arendt's three-fold conceptualization of human activity offers a useful base for understanding the necessity of degrowth and the kinds of activities required to achieve it. The article argues that the different roles of labour, work, and action should be acknowledged and scrutinized in detail to appreciate the underpinnings of contemporary over-production and over-consumption, as well as to prompt the organization of an alternative society. While following the Arendtian analysis on the origins of meaningful political change, which emphasizes the utmost importance of 'action', the article also underscores the importance of a different conception of 'labour' through physical activity, such as community supported agriculture, and 'work' through social activity such as building off-grid energy systems. The study aligns itself with Arendt's key insight that the origin of most contemporary problems relates to the disappearance of 'action', which for her is political, but also argues that the distinction between 'paid' and 'non-paid' activity has to be carefully considered in the context of degrowth. The article concludes that non-paid activities, particularly in the form of Arendtian 'action', have great potential to contribute to the degrowth movement. Demonetized activities are important for degrowth, as monetary transactions in capitalist societies based on interest and debt tend to contribute to economic growth, which is deemed ecologically unsustainable. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. ; Peer reviewed

Forest Landscape Restoration in Hilly and Mountainous Regions: Special Issue: The 'Conversion of Cropland to Forest Program' (CCFP) as a national 'Payment for Ecosystem Services' (PES) scheme in China: Institutional structure and roles, ensuring voluntarism and conditionality of subsidy payments ; China's 'Conversion of Cropland to Forest Program' (CCFP) is one of the world's largest national 'Payment for Ecosystem Services' (PES) programs, with over 32 million rural households enrolled and 28 million ha converted to forest since 1999. Given the scale of the program and emerging interest in forest landscape restoration, the structure and function of implementation models is of interest. This study is based on key informant interviews tracing the structure and interactions among institutions for implementation of the CCFP from central government to provincial and sub-provincial scales in Yunnan Province. Data are used to analyze implementation arrangements for program planning, implementation and monitoring, and to identify features ensuring conditionality of PES payments. To assess the degree of voluntarism in enrollment, the study employs data from 87 household-level interviews in four southwestern provinces. Findings indicate that the CCFP system is designed to fulfill expectations of PES programs in terms of conditionality and voluntary participation on the side of ecosystem service sellers. ; Peer reviewed

Special Issue: Shifting global development discourses - Implications for forests and livelihoods ( Vol. 19, Supplement 1, December 2017) ; Reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD+) is an international effort to create financial value for the carbon stored in forests, offering incentives for developing countries to reduce emissions from land uses. Vietnam is engaged in the international REDD+ debate and is a partner to numerous multi- and bilateral agreements. Different actors have diverse interests in the REDD+ agenda, and in Vietnam, even though an authoritarian state, different views exist on what REDD+ should achieve. Through the analysis of media articles this study intends to understand how public debates on REDD+ are framed in the Vietnamese policy domain and how actors use the media to promote their interests. Reporting about a diversity of actors and interests, in particular related to expressions of equity concerns in media frames could reflect a growing inclusive political space. Our findings show that while state actors dominate REDD+ media frames, some limited space is present for non-state actors' interests, but equity issue discussed still reflect predominantly state mediated concerns. However, caution is still required due to the limitations these findings come with. ; Peer reviewed

The idea that the EU should place a carbon price on certain imports from less climate-ambitious countries implies a recognition that not only climate change itself but also the implementation of climate measures is a global problem. The European scale does not ensure structured coherence among the economy, political organization, and rational responses to salient problems. We argue that there is an alternative: a global Keynesian GGGT. While the tax relies on market mechanism for some of its effects, it is also market disruptive and meant to open up a space for global public policy. Our preliminary proposal is to establish a new, democratically organised but inclusive global organization. Moreover, we have argued that building a global tax system is a process. From a global Keynesian perspective, a border levy is defendable as a part of an increasingly inclusive global system – especially if that system is widely seen as vital for the future of the life systems on Earth.

We study the impact of fake news on votes for populist parties in the Italian elections of 2018. Our empirical strategy exploits the presence of Italian- and German-speaking voters in the Italian region of Trentino Alto-Adige/Südtirol as an exogenous source of assignment to fake news exposure. Using municipal data, we compare the effect of exposure to fake news on the vote for populist parties in the 2013 and 2018 elections. To do so, we introduce a novel indicator of populism using text mining on the Facebook posts of Italian parties before the elections. We find that exposure to fake news is positively correlated with vote for populist parties, but that less than half of this correlation is causal. Our findings support the view that exposure to fake news (i) favours populist parties, but also that (ii) it is positively correlated with prior support for populist parties, suggesting a self-selection mechanism.

In this chapter, we approach the theme of counter-narratives from the perspective of accounting. In accounting literature, the term counter-account is used to refer to accounts, reports and other information produced by actors outside a given organization or industry. We begin our chapter with a short introduction to the basic notion of "account" and the principles of accounting as a practice. After this backdrop, we continue to introduce and define counter-accounts, and to explain how they have been studied in the accounting literature. Subsequently, we discuss counter-accounts from two different methodological perspectives, counter-accounts as a research method and counter-accounts as a research topic. At end of our chapter, we present two main conclusions. First, in a field as technical and specialized as accounting, academics are in a position to undertake social science that matters by compiling counter-accounts either by themselves or in collaboration with social movements or NGOs. Second, counter-accounts produced by activists provide fertile ground for academic analyses from multiple theoretical and methodological perspectives. Given the vast sustainability challenges societies are facing, it is highly relevant for scholars to understand and engage with the various types of counter-accounts, which challenge the hegemonic narratives and vested interests defending the status quo as well as promoting inaction over issues such as climate change, biodiversity loss, human rights breaches and the undermining of democracy. In this chapter, the author approaches the theme of counter-narratives from the perspective of accounting. He discusses a phenomenon known in the accounting literature as counter-accounts, which can be seen as a subtype of counter-narratives. The author illustrates how counter-accounts can be compiled by researchers seeking to advance a social cause. He then considers counter-accounts as an activist methodology, which can then be studied by researchers with the aid of various theories and methodological approaches. Accounting refers to a range of organizational activities that focus on measuring, assessing, processing and communicating financial and non-financial information. The chapter presents two examples of research on counter-accounts, deliberately chosen to be as different as possible. The first example focuses on Finnish animal rights activists' use of counter-accounts in their campaign against the meat and dairy industry. The second example concerns international non-governmental organizations use of counter-accounts in campaigning against major oil companies in the Niger Delta. ; acceptedVersion ; Peer reviewed

This study explores how environmental knowledge and risk perception influence individuals' sustainable consumption behavior through the mediation of environmental concern and behavioral intention. The study combines constructs from earlier studies to form a novel theoretical model, which is tested and validated with an open data set from the Environment III 2010 module, which was collected by the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP). Our sample consists of respondents from nine countries (N = 11,675) in the European Union (EU) and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). The model indicates that environmental risk perception and environmental knowledge impact environmental concern significantly. Furthermore, environmental concern strongly influences behavioral intention, and these constructs, in turn, act as mediators of sustainable consumption behavior. The findings indicate that in Europe, sustainable consumption behavior can be associated with environmental concern, which is influenced by increased levels of environmental knowledge and environmental risk perception. The results provide a basis for future analyses once the Environment IV module is released. This will be of particular importance for tracking possible changes in the sustainable consumption behavior of Europeans when transitioning to a green and circular economy that is driven by the European Green Deal and EU Circular Economy Action Plan. ; publishedVersion ; Peer reviewed

This paper investigates the economic effects of the food import ban that Russia imposed vis-à-vis the European Union in 2014 on the development of two structurally different rural regions in Finland. A detailed, rural-urban dataset was compiled for use with a recursive dynamic computable general equilibrium model. In the medium run, the overall economic effects of the trade ban were negative for both regions, and the value added of agriculture and food industries fell notably. When the rigidities of capital availability were relaxed, regional GDP and employment increased in South Ostrobothnia as, for instance, metal industry and construction accelerated economic growth. In North Karelia, where agriculture and food industry account for a minor share of economy, other industries could not compensate the losses the ban caused. Accordingly, the impacts were dependent on the economic structure of the region. ; Peer reviewed

This paper examines the impact of the introduction of the value-added tax on inequality and government revenues using newly released macro data. We present both conventional country fixed effect regressions and instrumental variable analyses, where VAT adoption is instrumented using the previous values of neighbouring countries' VAT systems as an instrument. The results reveal – in contrast to earlier work – that the revenue consequences of the VAT have not been positive. The results indicate that income-based inequality has increased due to the VAT adoption, whereas consumption inequality has remained unaffected. ; Peer reviewed