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on Project, Program and Portfolio Management |
| By: | Sofia Moroni |
| Abstract: | We consider a moral hazard problem in which a principal provides incentives to a team ofagents to work on a risky project. The project consists of two milestones of unknown feasibility.While working unsuccessfully, the agents’ private beliefs regarding the feasibility of theproject decline. This learning requires the principal to provide rents to prevent the agents fromprocrastinating and free-riding on others’ discoveries. To reduce these rents the principal stopsthe project inefficiently early and gives identical agents asymmetric experimentation assignments.The principal prefers to reward agents with better contract terms or task assignmentsrather than monetary bonuses. |
| Date: | 2019–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pit:wpaper:6631&r=all |
| By: | Schmidt, Thomas; Baumgardt, Sandra; Blumenthal, Antonia; Burdick, Bernhard; Claupein, Erika; Dirksmeyer, Walter; Hafner, Gerold; Klockgether, Kathrin; Koch, Franziska; Leverenz, Dominik; Lörchner, Marianne; Ludwig-Ohm, Sabine; Niepagenkemper, Linda; Owusu-Sekyere, Karoline; Waskow, Frank |
| Abstract: | With the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), the countries of the United Nations have set themselves the goal of reducing food waste along the entire value chain by 2030. The aim of the REFOWAS project was to analyze the German agri-food sector with regard to the production of food waste and, in particular, the share of avoidable waste, and to identify and test strategies and starting points for waste reduction measures. The project combines two levels of analysis. The first, a holistic analysis of the German food sector, was carried out with regard to the waste generated by avoidable and unavoidable food waste and the related environmental effects. At the same time case studies were used to examine various subsectors in more detail (fruit and vegetables, baked goods, school meals) and a social empirical study (private households) was carried out. The methods chosen include: technical discussions; round tables; status quo and control measurements; household survey analyses; guided expert interviews; workshops and field tests to validate results and previously established options for action. The sector-wide investigations are largely based on data from the Federal Statistical Office and derived literature values. In the case studies food waste was quantified and reduction measures tested. From the varied and differentiated findings, recommendations for action for actors in politics, business and society could be derived. The results of the project were communicated in particular through the practically tested and evaluated measures, the subsequent information materials such as articles, brochures and video clips, as well as the wide-ranging discussion of results with lectures and workshops (see REFOWAS website - https://refowas.de). |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety |
| Date: | 2019–10–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:jhimwo:294006&r=all |
| By: | Ostfeld, R.; Reiner, D. |
| Abstract: | Scotland offers a case study of a country with significant fossil energy resources that has recently moved to rapidly decarbonize its economy and deploy renewable energy sources. We review the key policies that have facilitated a 47% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels and almost 75% of Scottish electricity being produced from renewable energy. Public views on climate policy, renewable energy, and low-carbon technologies are explored using focus groups we conducted in Aberdeen, Peterhead, and Edinburgh and citizens’ juries held in Aberdeen and Edinburgh. The deliberative processes reveal strong public support for continued diversification of Scotland’s energy portfolio to include more renewable energy sources, particularly at the local level. We also found support for a greater role for state-led involvement in the energy sector. Pro-renewables sentiments and skepticism of industry pervade even in Aberdeen, the main UK hub for oil and gas exploration, alongside support for further exploration of low-carbon technologies such as carbon capture and storage (CCS). Although Peterhead stood to benefit from a major CCS project, there was little awareness of the proposed project among residents nor its cancellation. Finally, we argue deliberative processes can help both policy-makers and developers gauge where they can (and cannot) expect support. |
| Keywords: | Citizens' jury, focus groups, energy transition, climate policy, renewable energy, low-carbon technologies, Scotland, carbon capture and storage |
| JEL: | Q42 Q54 Q58 |
| Date: | 2019–10–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cam:camdae:1987&r=all |
| By: | Martin Borowiecki; Diogo Machado; Caroline Paunov; Sandra Planes-Satorra |
| Abstract: | This document presents nine innovation policy initiatives from different OECD countries that support research and innovation for sustainable development by embracing systemic solutions to address the challenge. The three types of initiatives reviewed include: i) grant schemes that support the development of environmental technologies; ii) programmes that foster research collaborations to address environmental challenges; and iii) smart city initiatives that support sustainable development in urban areas often by leveraging the use of digital technologies. The nine policy initiatives, which were selected based on an overview of initiatives gathered by the EC-OECD STIP Compass database, are described with regards to their main features, including policy objective, policy instrument(s) implemented, target groups, selection criteria and procedures, implementation challenges faced as well as their impact. |
| Keywords: | environmental technologies, innovation policy, research, sustainable development |
| JEL: | Q01 Q55 Q56 Q58 O13 O30 |
| Date: | 2019–10–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:stiaac:78-en&r=all |
| By: | Michael Woolcock (Center for International Development at Harvard University) |
| Abstract: | Many development agencies and governments now seek to engage directly with local communities, whether as a means to the realization of more familiar goals (infrastructure, healthcare, education) or as an end in itself (promoting greater inclusion, participation, well-being). These same agencies and governments, however, are also under increasing pressure to formally demonstrate that their actions ‘work’ and achieve their goals within relatively short timeframes – expectations which are, for the most part, necessary and desirable. But adequately assessing ‘community-driven’ approaches to development requires the deployment of theory and methods that accommodate their distinctive characteristics: building bridges is a qualitatively different task to building the rule of law and empowering minorities. Moreover, the ‘lessons’ inferred from average treatment effects derived from even the most rigorous assessments of community-driven interventions are likely to translate poorly to different contexts and scales of operation. Some guidance for anticipating and managing these conundrums are provided. |
| Keywords: | Leadership in Development |
| Date: | 2019–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cid:wpfacu:355&r=all |
| By: | Benjamin Chambelland (Passages - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Université Bordeaux Montaigne - UPPA - Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour - MCC - Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication - UB - Université de Bordeaux) |
| Date: | 2019–07–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02303103&r=all |