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Abstract This paper analyses 143 cases about the implementation of various and often interlinked, integrative, Resource Efficiency Measures (REMs). These REMs have been brought in a framework distinguishing on the one hand a cluster of supply side measures, demand side measures and life cycle measures with a synergistic mode of operation. They further have been related to clear classes or Business Model Changes (BMCs) that can support their implementation, notably changes in the supply chain (SC), internal processes (IP), customer interface (CI), financial model (FM) and the value proposition (VP). The BMCs were further characterised in terms of typical Implementation Barriers (IBs) that were reported in the cases, i.e. institutional, market, organisational, behavioural and technological barriers. Our study could not confirm some common theoretical wisdom, such as that firms mainly focus on 'simple' REMs like cleaner production and green products. Indeed, we could not confirm that REMs with a high scope and degree of change, often perceived as complex to implement, faced more Implementation Barriers than others. In general most Implementation Barriers play a role in all types of REMs and BMCs, although also some weak patterns were found. Internal processes BMCs were mainly hampered by institutional and technological factors. Value proposition and Financial model BMCs faced mainly behavioural and market barriers. Customer interface BMCs encountered additionally organisational barriers, while supply chain BMCs face a mix of all classes of barriers distinguished in this study. This is one of the first studies on business models and resource-efficiency looking at a large set of cases which is a step forward from the single case studies that dominate current literature. Yet, follow-up research should overcome weaknesses in our approach, such as a possible bias towards success cases and be more quantitative in analysing the effort it takes to overcome IBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acknowledging the diversity of preferences, goals and motivations of individuals is key to promote the effectiveness of incentive-based conservation interventions. This paper analyses the heterogeneity of motivations to adopt silvopastoral practices, a social-ecological innovation for soil conservation and carbon emission reduction. We use Q methodology to identify smallholders' views with regard to these practices in a community in the forest frontier in Chiapas (Mexico). The analysis uncovers three main perspectives: self-sufficient pioneers, environmentally-conscious followers and payment-dependent conservatives. We discuss these perspectives around three topics: smallholders' predisposition to adopt silvopastoral practices, their views about needing external payments to sustain their livelihood and the diffusion of innovative sustainable practices. We relate these perspectives with livelihood characteristics and with observed adoption levels under a pilot programme to promote silvopasture. Our findings suggest that incentives other than payments may be more appropriate for those more likely to adopt, and that payments could encourage rent-seeking strategies and not necessarily promote permanent behavioural change. We suggest ways for designing more effective and adaptive environmental conservation programmes to foster adoption and continuation of social-ecological innovations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of Brander and Taylor's (1998) model and its descendants from the following perspectives: population growth, substitutability, innovation, capital accumulation, property rights and institutional designs, and modeling approach. This survey aims to contribute to a better understanding of population and resource dynamics models in general and facilitate further application of the model framework to relevant circumstances. Although often treated as exogenous in optimal growth models, making population growth an endogenous function allows us to analyze broader effects of economic activities on population. The issues of substitutability, innovation and capital accumulation are intertwined; allowing a model to address the effect of an endogenous technological change on substitutability between natural and man-made capital facilitates our analyses of sustainability issues. To address internalizing inter-generational externalities in resource use, incorporating property right changes and institutional designs to this type of model is a useful exercise, but careful attention is needed for the consistency between such an arrangement and the mathematical representation of the depicted economy. Finally, although the common criticism regarding convenient mathematical assumptions applies to the existing BT-type models, the use of computer simulation can relax such assumptions, to better represent the intended relationships between the relevant variables. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The paper aims to substantiate the importance of endogenous innovations when evaluating the compatibility of natural resource use and economic development. It explains that technological change has the potential to compensate for natural resource scarcity, diminishing returns to capital, poor input substitution, and material balance restrictions, but is limited by various restrictions like fading returns to innovative investments and rising research costs. It also shows how innovative activities are fostered by accurate price signals and research-favouring sectoral change. The simultaneous effects of increasing technical knowledge, decreasing resource inputs, and increasing world population largely determine the chances of long-run sustainable development. Consequently, future research has to be directed at a more thorough understanding of the mechanisms driving innovations in the presence of natural resource scarcity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]