Environmental policy mixes and target group heterogeneity: analysing Danish farmers' responses to the pesticide taxes

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

Standard

Environmental policy mixes and target group heterogeneity : analysing Danish farmers' responses to the pesticide taxes. / Pedersen, Anders Branth; Nielsen, Helle Ørsted; Daugbjerg, Carsten.

In: Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning, Vol. 22, No. 5, 2020, p. 608-619.

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

Harvard

Pedersen, AB, Nielsen, HØ & Daugbjerg, C 2020, 'Environmental policy mixes and target group heterogeneity: analysing Danish farmers' responses to the pesticide taxes', Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning, vol. 22, no. 5, pp. 608-619. https://doi.org/10.1080/1523908X.2020.1806047

APA

Pedersen, A. B., Nielsen, H. Ø., & Daugbjerg, C. (2020). Environmental policy mixes and target group heterogeneity: analysing Danish farmers' responses to the pesticide taxes. Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning, 22(5), 608-619. https://doi.org/10.1080/1523908X.2020.1806047

Vancouver

Pedersen AB, Nielsen HØ, Daugbjerg C. Environmental policy mixes and target group heterogeneity: analysing Danish farmers' responses to the pesticide taxes. Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning. 2020;22(5):608-619. https://doi.org/10.1080/1523908X.2020.1806047

Author

Pedersen, Anders Branth ; Nielsen, Helle Ørsted ; Daugbjerg, Carsten. / Environmental policy mixes and target group heterogeneity : analysing Danish farmers' responses to the pesticide taxes. In: Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning. 2020 ; Vol. 22, No. 5. pp. 608-619.

Bibtex

@article{59a9c300ed554dadbc9979fe00d12396,
title = "Environmental policy mixes and target group heterogeneity: analysing Danish farmers' responses to the pesticide taxes",
abstract = "In this article, we challenge two assumptions embedded in many ex-ante analyses of environmental policy instruments. Firstly, it is often assumed that target groups in environmental policy are homogeneous and thus can be expected to respond to policy instruments in a similar manner. Secondly, individual target group members are expected to respond to policy instruments like {\textquoteleft}economic man{\textquoteright}, particularly in relation to MBIs applied in environmental policy. We argue that despite the {\textquoteleft}behavioural turn{\textquoteright} in public policy, the debate on policy instrument development and effectiveness has often neglected target group heterogeneity. E.g. members of a given policy target group may be driven by different motivations and each member may even act based on a combination of motivations. Target group heterogeneity suggests that rather than chasing a single perfect policy instrument, research and environmental governance should focus more on better policy mixes to match those differences in decision-making rationales. We argue that a focus on instrument combinations designed to effectively address policy problems where target groups are heterogeneous would mark a new and innovative stage in the research on policy instruments. We substantiate our argument by an empirical analysis of farmer responses to Danish agricultural pesticide taxes.",
keywords = "Target groups, motivation, environmental taxation, behaviour, farmer decision-making, policy instruments",
author = "Pedersen, {Anders Branth} and Nielsen, {Helle {\O}rsted} and Carsten Daugbjerg",
note = "Issue 5: 21 years of research for the twenty-first century: revisiting the journal of environmental policy and planning ",
year = "2020",
doi = "10.1080/1523908X.2020.1806047",
language = "English",
volume = "22",
pages = "608--619",
journal = "Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning",
issn = "1523-908X",
publisher = "Routledge",
number = "5",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Environmental policy mixes and target group heterogeneity

T2 - analysing Danish farmers' responses to the pesticide taxes

AU - Pedersen, Anders Branth

AU - Nielsen, Helle Ørsted

AU - Daugbjerg, Carsten

N1 - Issue 5: 21 years of research for the twenty-first century: revisiting the journal of environmental policy and planning

PY - 2020

Y1 - 2020

N2 - In this article, we challenge two assumptions embedded in many ex-ante analyses of environmental policy instruments. Firstly, it is often assumed that target groups in environmental policy are homogeneous and thus can be expected to respond to policy instruments in a similar manner. Secondly, individual target group members are expected to respond to policy instruments like ‘economic man’, particularly in relation to MBIs applied in environmental policy. We argue that despite the ‘behavioural turn’ in public policy, the debate on policy instrument development and effectiveness has often neglected target group heterogeneity. E.g. members of a given policy target group may be driven by different motivations and each member may even act based on a combination of motivations. Target group heterogeneity suggests that rather than chasing a single perfect policy instrument, research and environmental governance should focus more on better policy mixes to match those differences in decision-making rationales. We argue that a focus on instrument combinations designed to effectively address policy problems where target groups are heterogeneous would mark a new and innovative stage in the research on policy instruments. We substantiate our argument by an empirical analysis of farmer responses to Danish agricultural pesticide taxes.

AB - In this article, we challenge two assumptions embedded in many ex-ante analyses of environmental policy instruments. Firstly, it is often assumed that target groups in environmental policy are homogeneous and thus can be expected to respond to policy instruments in a similar manner. Secondly, individual target group members are expected to respond to policy instruments like ‘economic man’, particularly in relation to MBIs applied in environmental policy. We argue that despite the ‘behavioural turn’ in public policy, the debate on policy instrument development and effectiveness has often neglected target group heterogeneity. E.g. members of a given policy target group may be driven by different motivations and each member may even act based on a combination of motivations. Target group heterogeneity suggests that rather than chasing a single perfect policy instrument, research and environmental governance should focus more on better policy mixes to match those differences in decision-making rationales. We argue that a focus on instrument combinations designed to effectively address policy problems where target groups are heterogeneous would mark a new and innovative stage in the research on policy instruments. We substantiate our argument by an empirical analysis of farmer responses to Danish agricultural pesticide taxes.

KW - Target groups

KW - motivation

KW - environmental taxation

KW - behaviour

KW - farmer decision-making

KW - policy instruments

U2 - 10.1080/1523908X.2020.1806047

DO - 10.1080/1523908X.2020.1806047

M3 - Journal article

VL - 22

SP - 608

EP - 619

JO - Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning

JF - Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning

SN - 1523-908X

IS - 5

ER -

ID: 248029050