Article
Ecology
Thomas Dietz, Lisa Biber-Freudenberger, Laura Deal, Jan Boerner
Summary: This study examines the success of sustainability certifications in promoting sustainable production practices and finds a limited success. Most evaluations are skeptical and there is no significant difference across economic, social, and environmental sustainability. The study also shows that evaluations are consistent across different types of certifications, and skeptical evaluations increase for outcome variables with high implementation costs. Overall, sustainability certifications have not achieved significant success.
ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS
(2022)
Article
Business
Hamish van der Ven, David Barmes
Summary: In this paper, the interactions between voluntary sustainability standards and domestic public policies in commodity-exporting countries are examined through case studies on soybean farming in Brazil, palm oil production in Indonesia, and pangasius aquaculture in Vietnam. The findings suggest that public and private governance interactions initially involve competition but eventually lead to reluctant complementarity, driven by the need of governments in commodity-producing countries to maintain export markets. This challenges the notion that complementarity between public and private sustainable commodity governance is driven by goal alignment and dampens expectations of standards and certifications mitigating deforestation.
BUSINESS STRATEGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Cecile Renier, Mathil Vandromme, Patrick Meyfroidt, Vivian Ribeiro, Nikolai Kalischek, Erasmus K. H. J. Zu Ermgassen
Summary: Cocoa production is a major driver of deforestation globally, but its specific impact on West Africa's deforestation dynamics remains unclear. Furthermore, it is unknown how much companies and international markets are able to trace their cocoa imports and meet sustainable sourcing commitments. This study analyzes publicly-available remote-sensing and supply chain data for Cote d'Ivoire, the largest cocoa producer, to quantify cocoa-driven deforestation, trace cocoa exports in 2019, and examine the associated deforestation from the department of origin to international markets. The findings reveal that cocoa is responsible for 2.4 million hectares of deforestation and degradation from 2000 to 2019, with an annual rate of 125,000 hectares, accounting for 45% of total deforestation and forest degradation during that period. Only 43.6% of exports can be traced back to specific cooperatives and departments, leaving a majority of cocoa untraced, either sourced indirectly through local intermediaries (23.9%) or exported by untransparent traders who disclose no supplier information (32.4%). The study highlights the need for transparency, collaboration, stronger regulations, and investments to preserve the remaining forests in West Africa.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Claudia Parra-Paitan, Erasmus K. H. J. Zu Ermgassen, Patrick Meyfroidt, Peter H. Verburg
Summary: The production and trade of agricultural commodities, such as cocoa, have significant impacts on farmers and the environment. However, there is a lack of cross-country data on the identity and market share of trading companies involved in these commodities. This study addresses this gap by compiling detailed shipping data from eight cocoa-exporting countries and assessing the adoption of sustainability commitments by traders. The findings reveal a highly concentrated market, with a low overall adoption of sustainability commitments and barriers such as limited traceability and transparency.
GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE-HUMAN AND POLICY DIMENSIONS
(2023)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Jakob Keller, Martin Jung, Rainer Lasch
Summary: The food industry is a major contributor to climate change and has significant impacts on developing countries. In response to sustainability concerns, consumers, governments, and NGOs are pressuring food companies to rethink their business practices. This study examines the governance of sustainability in the cocoa supply chain and finds differentiation in sustainability practices across different stages of the supply chain.
Article
Business
Susanne Koehler, Simon Bager, Massimo Pizzol
Summary: This study describes and evaluates 16 cases of blockchain-based technologies and voluntary sustainability standards in agro-food supply chain. It finds that the relationship between them can be coexisting, synergistic, or antagonistic. The study explains each type of relationship and shows that system architecture and implementation goals are key determinants of this relationship.
TECHNOLOGICAL FORECASTING AND SOCIAL CHANGE
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Dervis Kirikkaleli, Minhaj Ali, Mehmet Altuntas
Summary: This paper examines the impact of public-private partnerships investment in energy on CO2 emissions in Bangladesh, taking into account economic growth, foreign direct investment, and trade openness. The findings suggest a negative relationship between public-private partnerships investment, economic growth, and trade openness with environmental sustainability. The study recommends investing in technological advancements and promoting green energy through public-private partnerships to manufacture environmentally sustainable goods.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Wieke D. Pot
Summary: This article examines the challenges governments face in achieving sustainability objectives in their investment decisions, with factors like risk avoidance, goal satisfaction, and budget compliance interfering with the implementation of national and international sustainability goals. Therefore, there is a need to focus more on learning in procurement procedures, scale flexibility, and prioritization of long-term objectives to avoid implementation gaps.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2021)
Article
Management
Camilo Benitez-Avila, Andreas Hartmann
Summary: Project managers improve their working conditions by implementing three project governance practices and are able to influence the policy context and enhance their control position for future agreements. Emerging associativity and ideological legitimization are identified as core processes of managerial agency.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Industrial
Bo Tian, Zizhao Wang, Chunhao Li, Jiaxin Fu
Summary: This research investigates the impact of relational governance on the sustainability of PPP infrastructure projects and finds that public involvement plays a moderating role in this relationship. Furthermore, the study reveals that managerial innovation acts as a mediator between relational governance and the sustainability of PPP infrastructure projects.
ENGINEERING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECTURAL MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Management
Zhibin Hu, Guangdong Wu, Huanming Wang, Guofeng Qiang
Summary: This study uses infrastructure PPPs in four Chinese municipalities as examples to illustrate the dynamic evolutionary roles of participants in collaborative networks. Based on China's PPP management policies, the infrastructure PPPs networks were divided into three stages and three governance patterns. The findings provide implications for government sectors to engage in public service delivery and governance strategies.
PUBLIC MANAGEMENT REVIEW
(2023)
Article
Development Studies
Ritika Batra
Summary: This paper focuses on identifying key issues for implementation of PPP in the housing sector and aims at exploring PPP for the linkages between urban functioning, governance, and management for housing provision. The results highlight key structural, contextual, environmental, financial, and execution issues that need to be addressed at the policy, governance, and industry level in order to unlock the considerable potential for the housing PPP market.
HABITAT INTERNATIONAL
(2021)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Guoli Feng, Shengyue Hao, Xiaoguang Li
Summary: This research focuses on the impact mechanism and path of the government's relation orientation on project sustainability. The research results show that different relation orientations have different effects on project governance and project sustainability, and relationship governance and contract governance play different mediating roles. The research provides new ideas and perspectives for improving project governance mechanisms and project sustainability in China's PPP projects.
Article
Public Administration
Yentl Dudink, Yvette Taminiau, Marcel Veenswijk
Summary: This study investigates the impact of imbalanced power dynamics on the success or failure of public-private partnerships, using the example of a bank coerced into collaboration to fight financial crime. The study reveals that organizational members respond to enforced hybridity through strategies of separation and transcendence. The enforced hybridity poses a threat to the private and commercial objectives of the bank. The study suggests that reputable collaborative relationships may conceal negative aspects and power imbalances to elicit compliance.
PUBLIC POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION
(2023)
Article
Management
Hatice Cigdem Demirel, Wim Leendertse, Leentje Volker
Summary: Despite the attention given to private financing of infrastructure projects, there is limited empirical research on financing public-private partnerships. This study investigates the mechanisms used by private financiers to protect their returns on investment and identifies nine control mechanisms they apply, including diversification strategies and governance mechanisms.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT
(2022)
Article
Economics
Verina Ingram, Marcus Ewane, Louis Njie Ndumbe, Abdon Awono
FOREST POLICY AND ECONOMICS
(2017)
Article
Forestry
V. Ingram
INTERNATIONAL FORESTRY REVIEW
(2017)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Verina Ingram, Jolanda van den Berg, Mark van Oorschot, Eric Arets, Lucas Judge
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
(2018)
Article
Forestry
D. M. Iponga, C. Mikolo Yobo, V. Ingram, N. Nssi Bengone, A. Ngoye
INTERNATIONAL FORESTRY REVIEW
(2018)
Article
Forestry
T. Bauer, V Ingram, W. De Jong, B. Arts
INTERNATIONAL FORESTRY REVIEW
(2018)
Article
Forestry
E. J. T. Van Gils, V. J. Ingram, D. Midoko Iponga, K. Abernethy
INTERNATIONAL FORESTRY REVIEW
(2019)
Article
Ecology
Andras Tothmihaly, Verina Ingram, Stephan von Cramon-Taubadel
ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS
(2019)
Article
Forestry
H. Willem, V. J. Ingram, M. R. Guariguata
INTERNATIONAL FORESTRY REVIEW
(2019)
Editorial Material
Forestry
Bas Arts, Verina Ingram, Maria Brockhaus
Article
Forestry
Intan Kurniati Ningsih, Verina Ingram, Sini Savilaakso
Article
Forestry
Mohammed B. Degnet, Edwin van der Werf, Verina Ingram, Justus H. H. Wesseler
Article
Food Science & Technology
Y. R. Waarts, V Janssen, R. Aryeetey, D. Onduru, D. Heriyanto, S. Tin Aprillya, A. N'Guessan, L. Courbois, D. Bakker, V. J. Ingram
Summary: The analysis of smallholder cocoa and tea farmers' data and literature reveals that a large proportion of them are unable to achieve a living income. Short-term interventions such as improving food security, health, finding alternative employment, and social assistance programs could be effective for households with a low likelihood of generating a living income.
Article
Environmental Studies
Mohammed B. Degnet, Edwin van der Werf, Verina Ingram, Justus Wesseler
Article
Information Science & Library Science
Loes Witteveen, Rico Lie, Margriet Goris, Verina Ingram
TELEMATICS AND INFORMATICS
(2017)