Public Choice and Environmental Policy

Hugo Rosa, Jan Börner

Command-and-control policies have been increasingly seen as insufficient to tackle the high rates of deforestation present in the Amazon region. In recent years, academics and policy-makers have identified incentive-based policies, such as payments for environmental services, as attractive alternatives to curb forest loss, while also potentially contributing to poverty reduction of forest-dwelling populations. Many of the recommendations of researchers on how to formulate effective incentive-based policies have, however, not found much resonance within policy circles. To understand the gaps between recommendations and practice, it is important to find out how the composition of political forces and opportunities that led to the adoption of incentive-based forest conservation schemes is reflected in the orientation of their design, towards environmental and non-environmental outcomes. In order to carry out this task, we seek to understand the governance dynamics of three cases in the Amazon region, in Brazil, Ecuador and Peru, through a theoretical framework based on public policy theories, specifically on agenda-setting and policy instruments design. The research project aims not only at a detailed understanding of the governance dynamics of the cases, but also at shedding light on the broader debate on environmental policy instruments design.