Search Results (44)

Hydrogen energy has emerged as a strategic pathway for decarbonization, industrial transformation, and energy security across major economies. This study does not directly evaluate ex post policy outcomes. Instead, it develops a Four-Dimensional Governance Framework to assess the structural effectiveness and implementation-oriented capacity embedded within national hydrogen policy frameworks. The analysis examines G20 countries through four dimensions, namely policy objectives, policy intensity, policy tools, and policy subjects. Using the entropy weighted TOPSIS method, the study compares the relative coherence of hydrogen governance architectures across countries. The results show that countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Canada and Japan consistently rank among the leading group in the comparative evaluation, while other countries occupy intermediate or lower positions according to the composite index results. Policy subjects and policy objectives receive relatively higher weights in the empirical analysis, indicating their stronger contribution to cross-national differentiation within the constructed index. The study provides a structured basis for comparing hydrogen governance frameworks and offers a replicable method for future research linking policy design to implementation evidence. Full article

Background: Spare parts distribution networks (DNs) play a strategic role in retailers’ profitability. Among DN configuration decisions, selecting the optimal stock deployment policy—centralised, decentralised, or hybrid inventory allocation across distribution centres (DCs)—critically affects service levels and logistics costs. This decision becomes more complex with additive manufacturing (AM) as an alternative to conventional manufacturing (CM). While AM enables production with shorter lead times, its higher costs alter stock deployment cost-effectiveness. Given the complexity of joint stock deployment and manufacturing decisions, retailers require decision support systems (DSSs). Methods: To address this need, we develop a DSS through a three-step methodology: (i) a mathematical model evaluates logistics costs across different stock deployment policies and manufacturing technologies; (ii) parametric analysis tests the model across 2000 realistic scenarios; (iii) Random Forest trained on this dataset predicts optimal solutions, with SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) interpreting post hoc recommendations. Results: The DSS achieves 93.4% prediction accuracy—outperforming (+16.4%) the only comparable literature DSS (77%)—while explaining recommendations. SHAP reveals that AM and CM unit costs dominate decision-making, followed by backorder costs. Conclusions: Beyond individual spare parts recommendations, the DSS provides guidelines enabling retailers to maintain cost-effective DNs aligned with evolving customer needs and to plan valuable investments in AM. Full article

The energy transition represents a complex, multi-level system subject to profound uncertainty and recurrent shocks. Current policy design approaches predominantly rely on static optimization frameworks (centralized, calculative models that presume stable conditions and predictable technological trajectories). Yet evidence from the 2021–2023 energy crisis in Europe, coupled with structural challenges in market liberalization and renewable integration, demonstrates persistent challenges in policy implementation. Price interventions affect competitive dynamics; subsidies influence technology selection; capacity mechanisms create coordination tensions; and rigid tariff structures create misalignments with evolving grid needs. This paper argues that these recurrent policy tensions stem not from implementation gaps, but from an inadequate theoretical foundation: the treatment of energy systems as optimizable rather than as complex, adaptive systems operating under Knight–Mises uncertainty and Huerta de Soto dynamic efficiency. This work explores an alternative framework grounded in dynamic efficiency, complex–uncertain systems, decentralized incentives, and adaptive governance (international–domestic, public–private, etc.). This review uses the theoretical and methodological framework of the Heterodox Synthesis, an alternative to the Neoclassical Synthesis. There is a reinterpretation of some insights from Knight and Mises (uncertainty), Hayek (distributed knowledge), Huerta de Soto (dynamic efficiency) and contemporary complexity economics into operational criteria applicable to energy policy design: (1) robustness to deep uncertainty; (2) preservation of price signals and risk-bearing mechanisms; (3) alignment of incentives across distributed actors; (4) institutional adaptability; and (5) minimization of ex post policy corrections. Through illustrative application to four critical policy instruments (price caps, renewable subsidies, capacity mechanisms, and network tariff design), it is shown how this framework identifies systematic tensions and consequences that conventional analysis overlooks. The contribution is exploratory in a bootstrap way: theoretical, by integrating classical and contemporary economics into energy governance; methodological, by operationalizing dynamic efficiency into evaluable criteria distinct from existing adaptive governance frameworks; and sectorial, by providing policymakers and regulators with diagnostic tools for assessing design robustness in conditions of deep uncertainty and rapid transition. According to this review, improved energy policy design under uncertainty is not achieved through more sophisticated optimization (in a calculative way), but through institutional architectures that preserve creative and adaptive learning, maintain distributed decision-making capacity, and remain functional when assumptions prove incorrect or not well-known. Full article

Public participation in Global South urban regeneration often exhibits a “high-commitment—low-conversion” gap between institutional intent and effective citizen influence. Taking Guangzhou, China, as a case, this study develops a Policy design–Implementation–Evaluation (P–I–E) framework to examine participation across the policy life cycle. We review 48 municipal policy documents (2009–2024) to code 34 participation elements, link them to implementation rates of 798 projects across 11 districts, and triangulate outcomes using a survey of 1000 residents. By operationalizing Arnstein’s ladder into an index and introducing an expert-scored Design Completeness (DC) measure, we identify a participation gradient in which refined, enforceable provisions cluster in ex post compliance, while early-stage agenda-setting remains weak. The persistent conversion gap is explained by contrasting governance mechanisms: procedural participation is administratively legible and low-cost to implement, whereas empowerment requires enforceable decision interfaces, multi-actor coordination, and closed-loop accountability. Empirically, symbolic instruments achieve high implementation, while power-sharing elements are rarely enacted; substantive co-creation bundled with early empowerment and feedback mechanisms is associated with higher resident satisfaction and greater uptake of citizen input. Strengthening legally binding decision interfaces and accountability infrastructures is therefore critical for advancing substantive participation. Full article

In the absence of ex-post empirical evidence on the implementation effects of the EU-Mercosur agreement, assessments of expected risks and benefits for the agri-food sector must rely on ex-ante reasoning rather than statistical identification. This paper develops a deductive ex-ante framework to assess how partial market integration under EU–Mercosur may affect the prices and profitability of two groups: agri-food processors and agricultural producers. Methodologically, we formalize a two-market setting (final food products and agricultural raw materials) and derive comparative-statics implications for microeconomic profitability indicators that guide agents’ choices. The main propositions are as follows. First, the integration of the sourcing base for processors is likely to increase the relative profitability of processing by improving the ratio of output to raw-material inputs and, crucially, by widening the price wedge between final food prices and agricultural input prices. Second, the same mechanism implies that agricultural producers in the EU face greater downside risk, as increased competition on the raw-material market tends to depress farm-gate prices; the resulting revenue effect is unlikely to be fully offset by higher sales volumes in the short run. Third, these asymmetric effects rationalize the divergence of perceived risks and benefits across processors and farmers, even when both operate within the same integrated market environment. In addition, we highlight a complementary risk channel: market integration can affect not only price levels but also price volatility in raw-material markets, which may further increase downside risk for farms. The proposed framework provides a disciplined basis for scenario and simulation analyses relevant to agricultural and trade policy, and yields testable predictions for future ex-post evaluation. Full article

Achieving sustainable development in the low-carbon transition requires securing critical raw materials (CRMs) while reducing environmental burdens and strengthening industrial resilience (SDGs 7, 9, 12, 13). This review synthesizes 2016–2025 evidence on how the European Union’s policy package—the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), the Batteries Regulation, the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) with Digital Product Passports (DPPs), and the recast Waste Shipments Regulation (WSR)—shapes markets for secondary supply in battery-relevant metals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper, aluminum, and rare earths. We apply a structured scoping review protocol to map the state of the art across policy instruments (EPR, ecodesign/DPP, recycled content mandates, recovery targets, shipment controls) and value chain stages (collection, preprocessing, refining, manufacturing). The analysis highlights benefits, including clearer investment signals, improved traceability, and emerging opportunities for industrial symbiosis, but also identifies drawbacks such as heterogeneous standards, compliance costs, and trade frictions. Evidence gaps remain, especially in causal ex post assessments, price pass-through, and interoperability of MRV/DPP systems. The paper contributes by (i) providing an integrative framework linking policy instruments, value chain stages, and investment signals for secondary CRM supply, and (ii) outlining a research agenda for rigorous ex post evaluation, improved MRV/DPP data architectures, and better alignment between EU trade rules, circularity, and a just energy transition. Full article

This study presents an integrated ex-post evaluation of a municipal window-retrofit program in Goyang, Republic of Korea (heating-dominated, Dwa). Using field surveys and pre- and post-utility bills for 36 dwellings, mainly pre-2000 low-rise reinforced-concrete buildings, we normalize climate with HDD and CDD and prices with CPI-deflated tariffs to isolate the intrinsic effect of window replacement. Area-normalized indicators ($∆e$, $\eta$, DPB, NPV, AC) were computed. Average annual savings were 30.2 kWh per m² per year ($\eta$ ≈ 16 percent), consisting of 10.6 kWh per m² per year of gas and 19.6 kWh per m² per year of electricity (n = 36). The median discounted payback was 7.0 years. Under a 50 percent subsidy, about 80 percent of projects recovered private investment within 15 years and showed positive NPV with a median of about USD 4944. The electricity-tariff multiplier had the largest influence on cash flows and payback. The median abatement cost was about USD 352 per tCO₂-eq. A portfolio view indicates that prioritizing low-cost cases maximizes total abatement, and that higher-cost cases merit design or cost review. Using the first post-retrofit year 2023, portfolio abatement is about 623 tCO₂-eq per year. The framework jointly normalizes climate and price effects and yields policy-relevant estimates for heating-dominated contexts. Full article

The global aquaculture sector faces mounting pressure to transition towards sustainable production, with innovation being a critical lever for change, especially among smallholder farmers who dominate the industry. This study examines the drivers of innovation in China’s freshwater aquaculture sector by constructing a multi-dimensional innovation index—encompassing infrastructure, machinery, inputs, environmental management, and production models—and analyzing survey data from 336 farmers. Our findings reveal that direct government funding is significantly associated with innovation, but its effect is narrow, primarily linked to machinery upgrades, and effective only in the developed eastern region. In contrast, indirect support through technical training shows a broader, stronger, and more consistent association with innovation across all types, with effects lagging by 1–2 years and yielding the highest returns in less-developed western China. Notably, farmers’ ex post evaluations of training are a stronger predictor of innovation than training frequency itself, underscoring the importance of quality and relevance. We further find that production scale and industrial organization are positively associated with innovation, with no evidence of an inverted U-shaped relationship, reflecting the sector’s small-scale structure. These results highlight the need for a differentiated policy approach: prioritizing high-quality, demand-driven training nationwide; targeting direct funding to where complementary capacities exist; and fostering cooperatives and scale-enhancing institutions to systematically strengthen the sector’s innovative capacity. Full article

Despite broad consensus on the importance of participatory processes in disaster risk management and urban resilience building, substantial gaps persist, including scarce research on monitoring and evaluating participation, lack of comparative studies, underexplored policy and institutional roles. The paper provides methodological and empirical insights by developing and validating two indicator-based tools: one for ex ante assessment of institutional capacity and the other for supporting monitoring and ex post evaluation of participatory processes. The paper also tests them through a comparative study employing a standardizable and reproducible methodology and synthesizes findings from a systematic review of case studies and a semi-systematic review of grey literature to compile a comprehensive pool of criteria and indicators. These are screened, assigned a weight (either by Equal Weight or Best Worst Method) and are aggregated in the two innovative tools mentioned above. These are tested on four case studies: recent local-scale participatory processes aimed at reducing disaster risk and promoting urban resilience addressing multi-hazard scenarios. The research quali-quantitatively demonstrates how, in the four case studies, greater institutional capacity turns into a higher-quality participatory process. Furthermore, the paper improves practical knowledge on participatory processes in disaster risk management and urban resilience building and lays the foundation for evidence-based innovative guidelines for their planning a priori. Full article

The 2020 Europe Strategy was designed as a comprehensive framework to promote smart, sustainable and inclusive growth in the European Union (EU), particularly emphasising the ‘20/20/20’ targets related to climate protection and energy policy. This study provides an ex post evaluation of the extent to which the strategy’s objectives were achieved in the member states of the EU in the period 2010–2020. The analysis is based on Eurostat data and uses Hellwig’s multidimensional comparative analysis to construct a synthetic indicator of progress. The results show that EU countries have made significant advances in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing the share of renewable energy in gross final energy consumption, with Sweden and Finland identified as leaders, while Malta and Hungary lagged behind. Primary energy consumption overall decreased, although only a minority of the member states reached the planned thresholds. Progress was less evident in research and development (R&D) expenditure, where the average value of the EU remained below the 3% GDP target, and strong disparities persisted between innovation leaders and weaker performers. Improvements in higher education attainment were observed, contributing to the long-term goal of a knowledge-based economy, although labour market difficulties, especially among young people, remained unresolved. The findings suggest that, although the Strategy contributed to tangible progress in several areas, uneven achievements among member states limited its overall effectiveness. The study is limited by the reliance on aggregate statistical data and a single methodological approach. Future research should extend the analysis to longer time horizons, include qualitative assessments of national policies, and address implications for the implementation of the European Green Deal and subsequent EU development strategies. Full article

This study aims to investigate a fundamental yet largely overlooked question: “Does investing in transportation infrastructure positively impact farms’ agricultural gross income?” It is examined based on the role of transportation infrastructure in ensuring equal access to market opportunities in the context of the widening regional economic disparity in Korea. The main novelty of this study lies in its attempt to introduce an accessibility measure for evaluating the benefits of transportation infrastructure in a rural setting, which has been limitedly applied in urban-centered studies. To accomplish this task, multilevel and spatial econometric models were employed to evaluate the ex-post impact of transportation accessibility on agricultural gross income from the perspectives of farmers, primarily, and rural autonomies, subsequently. This study found that the continuation of the current direction of transportation policy—without substantial consideration for agriculture as an industry and rural areas as living spaces—can intensify the economic alienation of agriculture and rural areas. This study concludes that opportunities for market access provided by the immense public investments in transportation infrastructure should be fairly distributed to farmers and rural autonomies to promote balanced regional development in Korea. Full article

The economic downturns in South Africa present a significant threat, with the potential to disrupt the nation’s notable advances in addressing the persistent challenges of high unemployment, widespread poverty and stark inequality. In the absence of substantial and extensive structural transformation, South Africa’s aspirations to achieve its ambitious development goals may remain unattainable. Building on the precedent of a blend of literature review, comprehensive ex post analysis, and applied general equilibrium modelling tailored for ex ante assessments, this paper assesses options and impacts of alternative ambitious developmental interventions. The results indicate that, despite implementing a variety of strategies, there remains a disheartening underperformance in economic indicators. However, ex ante evaluations indicate that with targeted interventions and supportive government policies, the country can achieve economic growth and job creation. Simulation results identify sectors of personal and social service activities, transport, finance, and insurance as having the most formidable potential to significantly reduce unemployment while simultaneously catalysing robust economic growth. These pivotal sectors, nestled within the broader services and industries, are uniquely poised to bolster overall productivity and diminish unemployment, while adeptly absorbing a considerable influx of highly educated and skilled labour. This suggests that South Africa can decisively accelerate its economic progress by embracing a dual-pronged approach: fostering structural shifts towards manufacturing and services, while steadfastly advancing the upskilling of its dynamic workforce. Full article

The ability of the agriculture sector, which is exposed to climate hazards, to cope with climate challenges and to strive in spite of them, is conceptualized as the resilience of agriculture. In enhancing climate-resilient agriculture, the cash reserve ratio (CRR) is generally perceived to serve two crucial functions: first, encouraging banks to allocate credit to agriculturalists for climate-resilient agricultural practices; second, enhancing agriculturalists’ ability to sustain agricultural output growth in spite of climate crises. In light of this, we conducted an ex post evaluation of the effect of the currently in-use CRR on bank loans to climate-challenged Nigeria’s agriculture sector for climate-resilient agricultural practices. Additionally, this study investigates the CRR’s impact(s) on agricultural output growth amidst climate challenges. Other additional independent variables include monetary policy rate, government capital expenditures on agriculture, and government recurrent expenditures on agriculture, as well as temperature, precipitation, and the renewable energy supply. Using annual data from 1990 to 2022, the results from an autoregressive, distributed lag approach suggest that the standard CRR stipulated by the Central Bank of Nigeria in the present era of climate change cannot entirely sustain climate-resilient agriculture, evident in the present study’s discoveries on its inability to perform its two major functions (credit and growth) in enhancing agricultural resilience. These findings highlight the need for the green differentiation of the CRR to ensure its effective utilization in enhancing climate resilience. Full article

Effective monitoring and evaluation (M&E) are essential for ensuring that Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) contributes to the sustainable development of the blue economy while maintaining alignment with institutional frameworks. The study presented in this paper develops a stakeholder-driven M&E framework for sustainable MSP, emphasizing a participatory methodology to enhance the relevance and applicability of performance assessment. Using a structured mutual learning approach, the research engaged stakeholders in two iterative rounds: the first identified key strategic objectives for a sustainable blue economy through dialogue and a complementary questionnaire survey, while the second refined these into corresponding specific objectives. This process was applied in the context of a case study in Greece, where MSP implementation is shaped by national and EU regulatory frameworks and the socio-economic dynamics of the coastal and maritime sectors. The case study provided a practical testing ground for the proposed methodology, involving stakeholders from government, industry, and civil society to ensure a comprehensive perspective. The insights gained informed the design of a key performance indicator (KPI) framework, integrating qualitative and quantitative metrics tailored to the regional maritime governance landscape. These metrics were selected based on the SMARTIE (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-Bound, Inclusive, Equitable) criteria and were clearly aligned with the established objectives. The frequency of measurements, appropriate data collection methods, and indicative data sources were also defined to provide a complete KPIs framework. This stakeholder-driven methodology strengthens the adaptive capacity of MSP by ensuring continuous assessment and revision aligned with sustainability objectives and facilitating ex ante, intermediate, and ex post evaluations. The proposed framework is scalable and transferable, offering a systematic approach to improving policy coherence and decision-making across different geographic, administrative, and sectoral contexts, enabling sustainable governance and maritime governance. Full article

The achievement of net-zero emissions is a major governmental challenge to ameliorate the adverse impacts of climate change, and to reduce the health risks associated with poor air quality. In Australia, the transport sector is a major contributor to particulate matter and greenhouse gas emissions, especially in urban areas. The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Government recognises that one of the greatest sustainability challenges to achieving a carbon-neutral society with net-zero emissions is the transport sector because it contributes 60 percent of all emissions under its jurisdiction. The ACT is a suitable case study on climate change, energy policy, and transport emissions because its electricity is powered by renewable energy; its governance has included a continuous planning philosophy of integrating transport with land use. The methodology is based on identifying and summarising the international literature on net-zero emissions policy (n = 50), the relevant policy documents and reports by the Australian Government (n = 8) and by the ACT Government (n = 32). An appraisal of policy outcomes in the ACT is based on an analysis of quantitative and qualitative data. In a car-dependent city (77% of trips by private transport), the most realistic policies for achieving net-zero emissions are to encourage, through fiscal incentives and regulations, the adoption of electric vehicles for buses and private cars, electric or hydrogen vehicles for the commercial fleet, and regulations to phase out petrol- and diesel-powered vehicles. Full article