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Evaluating Institutional Performance: Payments for Environmental Services in Costa Rica
Author(s) -
Bollman Melissa,
Hardy Scott D.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
latin american policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.195
H-Index - 4
eISSN - 2041-7373
pISSN - 2041-7365
DOI - 10.1111/j.2041-7373.2012.00070.x
Subject(s) - transaction cost , equity (law) , accountability , payment , business , sustainability , latin americans , environmental economics , natural resource , ecosystem services , public economics , economics , finance , political science , law , ecology , ecosystem , biology
Payments for environmental services (PES) programs represent an innovative and increasingly popular approach to natural resource policy in Latin America. This article examines Costa Rica's PES program using evaluative criteria established using the institutional analysis and development (IAD) framework. First, three types of transaction costs (information, coordination, and strategic) involved with implementing the program are investigated, then the institutional performance of the PES program is assessed according to six benchmarks established using the IAD framework: economic efficiency, fiscal equivalence, redistributional equity, accountability, conformance to the values of local actors, and sustainability. Finally, recommendations for improving the program's overall performance and minimizing its transaction costs are offered.