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The objective of this paper is to investigate the determinants of the adoption of green public procurement (GPP) practices at the local authority level. A conceptual contribution of the paper is an analytical framework, which acknowledges that the adoption of green criteria in tenders should be modelled as a conditionally independent decision from the decision to rely on GPP strategies (guidelines). This approach can help provide novel insights into how various political, organizational, and individual characteristics influence GPP. The paper provides an empirical illustration by concentrating on the role of organizational size. This analysis is based on survey responses from civil servants representing 140 Swedish municipalities. The results are based on the bivariate ordered probit estimator and suggest that large municipalities are more likely to rely on GPP strategies but also less prone to adopt green criteria in tenders when controlling for the presence of such strategies. In large organizations, the centralization of the procurement implies efficiency gains, but it will often be accompanied with longer organizational distances between the procuring and the environmental departments. The paper also highlights the wider implications of the proposed framework, including how future research on GPP practices could approach the role of various political and individual factors. • The purpose is to investigate the determinants of green public procurement (GPP) practices. • The key contribution is an analytical framework addressing the endogeneity of GPP decisions. • The value of the framework is shown empirically by focusing on role of organizational size. • Survey answers from procurement managers are studied in a bivariate ordered probit model. • Large organizations often rely on GPP guidelines but may not adopt green criteria in tenders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Real capital investments are important for a transition to a more sustainable economy and for the continuous process of creative destruction and economic development. At the same time investments have negative environmental effects. In this paper we analyze to what extent the current investments in real capital (i.e., buildings, machinery and infrastructures) in Sweden are sustainable in regard of the most important resources used in investments and in terms of CO 2 emissions. This is evaluated based on Sweden's share of a sustainable use of these resources and our share of the remaining carbon budget for achieving the Paris agreement. In the analysis we have used best publicly available data and methods to indicatively establish sustainable levels of resource use and emissions. We find that 1 million invested SEK (US$ 110,000) generate 15–75 tonnes of CO 2 emissions and use 80–260 MWh of energy, and on average 4.8 tonnes of iron, 0.2 tonnes of aluminum, 260 tonnes of gravel and sand and 6 tonnes of timber. Our analysis shows that within 50 years current investment would use up Sweden's CO 2 budget available for achieving the Paris agreement, leaving no room for emissions from consumption. The use of timber, gravel and sand is above Sweden's share of a global yearly sustainable production. The current use of iron and aluminum can be maintained for 20–50 years, but approaches the sustainability criteria with a 200 year perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Livestock depredation by large carnivores entails economic damage to farmers in many parts of the world. The aim of this paper is to analyse and compare the costs of livestock depredation by carnivores in Sweden across different carnivore species and counties. To this end, we estimate the government's compensation cost function using Swedish data on the county level over the period of 2001 to 2013. Compensation costs due to depredation by three large carnivores are considered: the brown bear ( Ursus arctos ), the wolf ( Canis lupus ) and the lynx ( Lynx lynx ). The results show that a 1% increase in the density of the carnivores leads to a 0.3–0.4% increase in compensation costs, whereas a 1% increase in the density of sheep results in a 0.8 and 1.1% increase in the compensation costs for brown bears and wolves, respectively. A larger share of unfenced pastures is associated with higher compensation costs for brown bear. The marginal cost of an additional carnivore individual varies considerably between counties, ranging between 1 and 82 EUR for lynxes, 0 and 266 EUR for brown bears, and 52 and 1067 EUR for wolves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Values act as driving forces for individuals to behave in a certain way or to choose certain actions. They may explain current differences of converted organic land among EU countries. In this paper, we identified and compared the types of values, economic and other, that motivate farmers to choose certified organic or conventional production systems in France, Ireland and Sweden. To identify these values, we analysed and compared attribute-consequence-value representations of the choice of production systems among farmers, using a Means-end chain approach. Seventy-eight in-depth laddering interviews were conducted to explore how farmers characterised their choice, the consequences they perceived from these characteristics and the values they associated with these consequences. The uncovered values were classified along Rokeach's typology to distinguish between instrumental and terminal values. Results indicate that both farmers with a conventional farm and farmers with a certified organic farm are driven by complex sets of financial, business, or productivity values and by non-financial, non-business, or non-productivity values. Findings are useful to policy makers and farm advisors, who can use these results to develop more efficient communication schemes to promote organic farming. The findings can also be communicated to consumers and the public in order to encourage consumption. • Organic and conventional farmers share some economic, social and lifestyle values. • Organic farmers display relatively more complex ways of reasoning, in two countries. • Our cross-country comparison can be used to adapt communication to countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate if Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified Norway lobster fishing vessels in Sweden got higher prices and sold larger quantities after certification was introduced in 2015. Using detailed daily panel data and exploiting the fact that the same fishing water contains both certified and non-certified vessels, we use a difference-in-difference model for analysing demand effects of MSC-certification. We find a price premium the first months after the launch of the certification scheme for the initial adopters. However, this price premium dissipates over time and is mainly found for trawler vessels. For trawlers, we also find a negative effect on sold quantities the first months after certification but a positive effect a few years after certification. Creelers, on the other hand, got a positive effect on quantities sold both immediately after certification and after a few years. No general effect of MSC certification is found on neither prices nor quantities when the entire period January 2012 – January 2018 is investigated. • The paper investigates effects of Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification. • Effects on ex-vessel prices and quantities sold of Nephrops in Sweden are analysed. • Results show no general effect on prices or quantities of MSC certification. • Short-term and long-term effects differ. • Price increases in the short term for trawlers but not for creelers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public acceptability appears an essential condition for the success of low-carbon transition policies. In this paper, we investigate the role of self-interest on citizens' preferences for the distribution of costs and environmental benefits of energy efficiency policies. Using a discrete choice experiment on nationally representative household samples of Sweden, Italy, and the United Kingdom, we first investigate preferences for national burden-sharing rules and for the distribution of environmental benefits accruing primarily in rural and/or urban areas. We examine the role of self-interest and self-serving bias in a correlational manner by looking at the effects of income and location of residency on preferences for these policy attributes. Moreover, we investigate the effect of self-serving bias on preferences for burden-sharing rules in a causal manner by experimentally priming randomly assigned groups of participants to feel either rich or poor. Our results suggest that the accountability rule is the most popular and the equal-amount rule the least popular burden-sharing rule. Further, policies with environmental benefits accruing primarily in rural areas are least preferred. We find some evidence for self-interest, especially through our correlational approach. Finally, across country samples, our results reveal heterogeneity in preferences for policy attributes and in the prevalence of self-interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies how different NO x abatement technologies have diffused under the Swedish system of refunded emission payments (REP) and analyzes the determinants of the time to adoption. The policy, under which the charge revenues are refunded back to the regulated firms in proportion to energy output, was explicitly designed to affect investment in NO x -reducing technologies. The main finding is that REP had a significant effect on the adoption of post-combustion technologies. Moreover, we also find some indications that the effects of REP have been enhanced by the existing system of individual emission standards. In particular, the effect of REP speeding up the pace of adoption of post-combustion technologies is considerably larger in those counties where stringent standards are in place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of biomass, in particular wood, has increased this last decade as a result of the European Union's objectives to reduce the use of fossil energies. This has amplified the use of whole-tree harvesting and the exploitation of forest residues from traditional timber harvest. However, these practices have some ecological consequences because they remove nutrients from the forest, thus potentially reducing soil fertility. To compensate for this nutrient loss, it has been proposed to recycle wood ash to reintroduce the exported nutrients. In this paper, we assess private forest owners' willingness to pay to spread ash in Västmanland, Sweden, where ash recycling is not widely adopted, though an increasing supply of wood ash. In particular, we take into account behavioural motives that may explain forest owners' willingness to pay (Theory of Planned Behaviour and environmental sensitivity). We conclude that Swedish forest owners generally have a positive willingness-to-pay for wood ash application in their forests, but that this measure is highly dependent on their attitudes. We also show that a forest owner's decision to apply ash to all or a portion of his/her forest is explained by two different characteristics: the landowner's environmental sensitivity and his/her perceived control of wood ash recycling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]