Open Access

Local fishers have historically been subjected to the detrimental effects of overfishing, a consequence of open access practices that are likely to persist in the coming decades. The open-access nature of many fisheries is a significant driver of overfishing, which poses a substantial threat to marine ecosystems and their livelihoods that depend on them. The concept of common property theory provides a theoretical framework that can be used to explain the phenomenon of overfishing due to open access practices. Fishery resources are regarded as examples of a common property, implying that these resources belong to all fishers. This assumption gives rise to intense competition among fishers to exploit the fishery resources. One potential solution to this problem is to establish a territorial use rights system (TURF) that would prevent open-access practices. This thesis argues that all relevant stakeholders in small-scale fisheries management should prioritize environmental stewardship, regardless of the system used to address the overfishing problem caused by open-access practices, as this constitutes a principal factor in determining sustainability. This perspective is particularly relevant in the context of TURF implementation as numerous studies have demonstrated that TURF is an effective means of fostering stewardship. This thesis presents a collection of three studies that address the two primary topics of TURF and stewardship. While this thesis is primarily based on a case study of TURF implementation and stewardship actions (fishing logbook) in Kepulauan Seribu, Indonesia, I hope that the resulting publications will serve as additional references and contribute to the global discussion on TURF and stewardship.

This thesis studies energy system integration, that is mechanisms coordinating electricity sector with the broader energy system. More specifically, it utilizes microeconomic modeling and academic insights from industrial and institutional economics to develop coordination mechanisms capable of addressing flawed stakeholder coordination occurring within the electricity sector and at its interface to other energy sectors. This cumulative dissertation consists of five papers that together cover all three layers of energy system integration. Paper 1 addresses the whole-network optimization layer and asks whether independent operators of electricity networks have an incentive to cooperate in optimizing their interconnected networks. It demonstrates an incentive problem in power network operator interactions that turns these into game-theoretical problems like prisoner’s dilemma and chicken game. This makes optimization of electricity network as a single system difficult. Papers 2, 3 and 4 explore the whole-chain optimization layer of energy system integration which focuses at coordination between electricity network and power generation, storage, and consumption. Paper 2 evaluates the economic efficiency of administrative network congestion management, that is addressing network congestion by an administrative rule, and provides a policy advice on an efficient design. Paper 4 provides a similar result for market-based alternatives, where network congestion is addressed by market-based coordination between network and network users. Paper 3 reviews the empirical experience with such market-based type of congestion management. Paper 5 is concerned with the cross-system optimization layer. Aiming to provide a policy advice on a coherent institutional framework governing investment in the future hydrogen infrastructure, which is expected to be dispersed across multiple energy sectors, it reviews and evaluates current governance proposals raised by the European institutions.

This thesis analyses pricing and market design to allocate network access and recover network cost in electricity distribution networks with distributed generation and flexible consumers. The challenge of coordinating new, flexible, and increasingly active network users is the overarching motivation for the analyses in the four different papers. First, an introduction gives an overview of the background, main contents and conclusions. This is followed by the four academic papers, each picking up a separate, topical aspect of coordinating new network users in distribution grids. The first paper contributes to the ongoing debate on integrating self-supply into the tariff structure of distribution grids and provides options to prevent a potentially inefficient, self-reinforcing dynamic. By analysing the evolution of self-supply shares in distribution grids depending on network charges, several options are revealed that adjust common charging parameters in order to maintain or restore financial stability. Paper 2 analyses the theoretical efficiency limits of the two-part tariff which is common in practice and trades-off economic efficiency with other requirements for the design of network charges. A formal comparison to the efficient benchmark of peak-load pricing reveals specific circumstances under which a two-part tariff simply cannot deliver fully efficient incentives. Paper 3 applies this to the practical challenge of steering investments into new technology for network users efficiently with network tariffs, thus broadening the perspective of the thesis from just self-supply and mere financial stability to efficient integration of active network users. The analysis shows how common uniform pricing distorts not only operation of existing assets, but also investments into new ones and thereby may lead to developing the distribution system inefficiently. The last paper focuses on access rights allocated by market mechanisms as an alternative or complement to regulated, listed access prices. Thus, it presents an account of different dimensions of access and the design of products and market rules for market-based allocation of access to electricity distribution grids. The paper finds that while differentiated access rights can theoretically be allocated efficiently by regulated, listed prices as well as in a market-based setting, pricing requires information on demand which network users ideally reveal in a market setting. A discussion of options for product and market design for access auctions carves out the potential benefits, as well as remaining challenges with market-based allocation.

How can plastic bag use in Indonesia be reduced? This dissertation attempts to answer this question applying two approaches: (1) Utilizing qualitative and quantitative research to investigate crucial factors explaining plastic bag use; (2) Conducting natural field experiments to identify effective behavioral interventions reducing the use of plastic bags in Indonesia. The pollution of the oceans by plastic waste is a growing threat to marine life, ecosystems, livelihoods of coastal communities and the health of human beings in general. Indonesia is the world’s second largest source of marine plastic pollution. Regulations and policies have shown to be effective in the reduction of the use of and pollution by plastic bags in a number of countries. But for the Indonesian Government and many other governments the feasibility of implementing and enforcing such measures is limited. Given this situation, there is an urgent need to investigate and find effective alternative approaches to reduce plastic bag use. Such alternative approaches include non-governmental organizations, environmental groups and social enterprises. This research aims to explain plastic bag use with the help of research methods from cultural anthropology. Qualitative and quantitative methods were applied along with different types of triangulation to examine people’s concepts of nature, the perceived benefits and disadvantages of plastic bag use, and promising local initiatives. To find effective behavioral interventions for reducing plastic bag use we conducted natural field experiments. These tested normative and economic interventions in combination with ecofriendly reusable shopping bags. Specific interventions ranged from social norms and different societal authorities to indirect monetary incentives and bonus schemes. In this context we also analyzed socio-economic factors and environmental awareness in relation to frequency of plastic bag use.

How do changes in the resources influence the individual behavior? This dissertation aims at answering this question by using laboratory experiments to investigate the behavior of actors that face considerable changes in the environment they are acting in. Resource changes and resource stock levels in common-pool resources have received relatively little attention by academic research so far, even though, in the modern world, the distribution of resources is in constant change, be it drastic or gradual. We are continuously observing changes in the resource balance across the world, with the menace of even greater changes in the future, both global (e.g. climate change) and local (e.g. natural disasters). Given these premises, knowing which conduct to expect from the resource users across the world in those cases is certainly useful in order to be able to ensure that future policies will be able to reduce the possible non-cooperative, and unsustainable behavior that could arise in such situations. This research tackles these aspects of cooperation in the management of common resources by conducting three laboratory experiments, using two different experimental tools. We tried to recreate in a controlled situation the challenges that changes in ecosystems pose to people in sensitive areas and examine how they react to gradual changes or sudden shocks, and how trust between actors and tendency to adopt cooperative strategies may vary. The first objective of this work is, as already mentioned, to investigate which reactions can be expected from resource users that face different types of resource changes, to pinpoint which of these changes can be critical hindrances for sustainable management. The second objective is to improve experimental research on this topic, by introducing in the experimental environment several ecological aspects, i.e. regeneration patterns, spatial distribution, and time continuous interactions, which have not been extensively studied as of yet.