[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecolec/v159y2019icp148-156.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Ecological Economics and Opening up of Megaproject Appraisal: Lessons From Megaproject Scholarship and Topics for a Research Programme

Author

Listed:
  • Lehtonen, Markku
Abstract
Ecological economics has paid little attention to the assessment and evaluation of megaprojects – large, complex infrastructure projects often delivered via public-private partnerships, which entail deep uncertainties, considerable economic and political stakes, and significant impacts on society. Megaprojects proliferate, despite their problematic relation with sustainability. Developing approaches and methods for the appraisal of megaprojects therefore constitutes a major task for ecological economics. To provide a basis for an ecological economics approach to megaproject appraisal, this article first reviews the ‘mainstream’ and ‘alternative’ strands of megaproject appraisal literatures. It then explores the possible contributions to megaproject appraisal from two ideal-typical branches of ecological economics: ‘institutionalist deliberationism’ and the environmental justice approach. Both can help to ‘open up’ megaproject appraisal 1) beyond the ‘iron triangle’ of project appraisal criteria employed by the mainstream megaproject scholarship; 2) to a broader range of appraisal perspectives; and 3) towards ‘informal’ appraisal, i.e. the wider sociopolitical discourse including media interventions and NGO initiatives. Conclusions suggest four areas of further work: 1) integrating formal and informal appraisal; 2) role of appraisal and the appraiser in megaproject governance; 3) role of deliberation in the face of power asymmetries; and 4) the possibility of sustainable megaprojects.

Suggested Citation

  • Lehtonen, Markku, 2019. "Ecological Economics and Opening up of Megaproject Appraisal: Lessons From Megaproject Scholarship and Topics for a Research Programme," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 148-156.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:159:y:2019:i:c:p:148-156
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2019.01.018
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800918311182
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2019.01.018?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dimitriou, Harry T. & Ward, E. John & Dean, Marco, 2016. "Presenting the case for the application of multi-criteria analysis to mega transport infrastructure project appraisal," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 7-20.
    2. Lehtonen, Markku, 2009. "OECD organisational discourse, peer reviews and sustainable development: An ecological-institutionalist perspective," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(2), pages 389-397, December.
    3. Cem Iskender Aydin & Begum Ozkaynak & Beatriz Rodríguez-Labajos & Taylan Yenilmez, 2017. "Network effects in environmental justice struggles: An investigation of conflicts between mining companies and civil society organizations from a network perspective," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(7), pages 1-20, July.
    4. Bent Flyvbjerg, 2009. "Survival of the unfittest: why the worst infrastructure gets built--and what we can do about it," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 25(3), pages 344-367, Autumn.
    5. Martinez-Alier, Joan & Munda, Giuseppe & O'Neill, John, 1998. "Weak comparability of values as a foundation for ecological economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 277-286, September.
    6. Spash, Clive L., 2013. "The shallow or the deep ecological economics movement?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 351-362.
    7. Dryzek, John S. & Pickering, Jonathan, 2017. "Deliberation as a catalyst for reflexive environmental governance," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 353-360.
    8. Ali Douai & Matthieu Montalban, 2012. "Institutions and the environment: the case for a political socio-economy of environmental conflicts," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 36(5), pages 1199-1220.
    9. Paavola, Jouni & Adger, W. Neil, 2005. "Institutional ecological economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(3), pages 353-368, May.
    10. Phelan, Anna (Anya) & Dawes, Les & Costanza, Robert & Kubiszewski, Ida, 2017. "Evaluation of social externalities in regional communities affected by coal seam gas projects: A case study from Southeast Queensland," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 300-311.
    11. Bruzelius, Nils & Flyvbjerg, Bent & Rothengatter, Werner, 2002. "Big decisions, big risks. Improving accountability in mega projects," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 9(2), pages 143-154, April.
    12. Anguelovski, Isabelle & Martínez Alier, Joan, 2014. "The ‘Environmentalism of the Poor’ revisited: Territory and place in disconnected glocal struggles," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 167-176.
    13. AvcI, Duygu & Adaman, Fikret & Özkaynak, Begüm, 2010. "Valuation languages in environmental conflicts: How stakeholders oppose or support gold mining at Mount Ida, Turkey," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(2), pages 228-238, December.
    14. Flyvbjerg,Bent & Bruzelius,Nils & Rothengatter,Werner, 2003. "Megaprojects and Risk," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521009461, September.
    15. Bent Flyvbjerg, 2014. "What You Should Know About Megaprojects, and Why: An Overview," Papers 1409.0003, arXiv.org.
    16. Thomas Gunton, 2003. "Megaprojects and Regional Development: Pathologies in Project Planning," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(5), pages 505-519.
    17. Conde, Marta, 2014. "Activism mobilising science," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 67-77.
    18. Vatn, Arild, 2005. "Rationality, institutions and environmental policy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(2), pages 203-217, November.
    19. Carolyn M. Hendriks, 2006. "Integrated Deliberation: Reconciling Civil Society's Dual Role in Deliberative Democracy," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 54(3), pages 486-508, October.
    20. Frame, Bob & Brown, Judy, 2008. "Developing post-normal technologies for sustainability," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(2), pages 225-241, April.
    21. Carolyn M. Hendriks, 2006. "Integrated Deliberation: Reconciling Civil Society's Dual Role in Deliberative Democracy," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 54, pages 486-508, October.
    22. Bromley, Daniel W., 2008. "Volitional pragmatism," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1-2), pages 1-13, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Michael B. Wironen & Robert V. Bartlett & Jon D. Erickson, 2019. "Deliberation and the Promise of a Deeply Democratic Sustainability Transition," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-18, February.
    2. Buchs, Arnaud & Petit, Olivier & Roman, Philippe, 2020. "Can social ecological economics of water reinforce the “big tent”?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    3. Rebecca Vine, 2020. "Riskwork in the construction of Heathrow Terminal 2," SPRU Working Paper Series 2020-20, SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex Business School.
    4. Spash, Clive L., 2013. "The shallow or the deep ecological economics movement?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 351-362.
    5. Andrius Montrimas & Jurgita Bruneckienė & Vaidas Gaidelys, 2021. "Beyond the Socio-Economic Impact of Transport Megaprojects," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-29, July.
    6. Pirgmaier, Elke, 2017. "The Neoclassical Trojan Horse of Steady-State Economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 52-61.
    7. Lowe, Benjamin H. & Genovese, Andrea, 2022. "What theories of value (could) underpin our circular futures?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    8. Kolinjivadi, Vijay, 2019. "Avoiding dualisms in ecological economics: Towards a dialectically-informed understanding of co-produced socionatures," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 32-41.
    9. Rachelle K. Gould & Austin Himes & Lea May Anderson & Paola Arias Arévalo & Mollie Chapman & Dominic Lenzi & Barbara Muraca & Marc Tadaki, 2024. "Building on Spash's critiques of monetary valuation to suggest ways forward for relational values research," Environmental Values, , vol. 33(2), pages 139-162, April.
    10. Allain, Sandrine & Plumecocq, Gaël & Leenhardt, Delphine, 2017. "How Do Multi-criteria Assessments Address Landscape-level Problems? A Review of Studies and Practices," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 282-295.
    11. Gregory, Julian, 2020. "Governance, scale, scope: A review of six South African electricity generation infrastructure megaprojects," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    12. Atif Ansar & Bent Flyvbjerg & Alexander Budzier & Daniel Lunn, 2016. "Big is Fragile: An Attempt at Theorizing Scale," Papers 1603.01416, arXiv.org, revised Jun 2017.
    13. Cahen-Fourot, Louison, 2020. "Contemporary capitalisms and their social relation to the environment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    14. Love, Peter E.D. & Ika, Lavagnon A. & Ahiaga-Dagbui, Dominic D., 2019. "On de-bunking ‘fake news’ in a post truth era: Why does the Planning Fallacy explanation for cost overruns fall short?," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 397-408.
    15. Chapman, Mollie & Satterfield, Terre & Chan, Kai M.A., 2019. "When value conflicts are barriers: Can relational values help explain farmer participation in conservation incentive programs?," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 464-475.
    16. Spash, Clive L. & Vatn, Arild, 2006. "Transferring environmental value estimates: Issues and alternatives," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(2), pages 379-388, December.
    17. Palola, Pirta & Bailey, Richard & Wedding, Lisa, 2022. "A novel framework to operationalise value-pluralism in environmental valuation: Environmental value functions," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    18. Muhammad Zeeshan Fareed & Qin Su, 2022. "Project Governance and Project Performance: The Moderating Role of Top Management Support," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-13, February.
    19. Lundgren, Jakob, 2022. "Unity through disunity: Strengths, values, and tensions in the disciplinary discourse of ecological economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    20. Ulrich J Frey & Frauke Pirscher, 2018. "Willingness to pay and moral stance: The case of farm animal welfare in Germany," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(8), pages 1-20, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:159:y:2019:i:c:p:148-156. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolecon .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.