BIOECON

Scientific partners

ETH_logo Professorship for Environmental Policy and Economics, Institute for Environmental Decisions, ETH Zurich

The Professorship for Environmental Policy and Economics (PEPE) is an inter-disciplinary team of economists, political scientists and a lawyer working with a range of methods (e.g., econometrics, ecological-economic modeling, economic experiments, network analysis) and engaging in environmental challenges across ecosystems and nations, from Alpine regions in Switzerland to forests in Ethiopia and freshwater ecosystems in Brazil.
We focus on the formal and informal rules of a society (policies, laws, norms, etc.) as important factors influencing human behaviour and decision making towards the environment, and as steering mechanisms towards more sustainable outcomes. In the course of global change, the way in which these rules are set has changed considerably over the past decades, a trend referred to as a shift ‘from government to governance’.
Our mission is to advance our knowledge of environmental governance in a changing world, in order to develop effective and efficient steering mechanisms for complex environmental challenges. Existing steering mechanisms, their evolution, strengths and weaknesses as well as their impacts are analyzed; and solutions are sought to improve environmental governance. PEPE´s research contributes to closing knowing-doing gaps through research, teaching, outreach and collaborations with academics as well as practitioners.

PEPE was established in April 2006 and forms part of the Institute for Environmental Decisions (IED).

PEPE's referent, Prof. Stefanie Engel is a member of the advisory board of the TEEB – Germany project.

Contact: prof. Stefanie Engel

CURRENT PROJECTS Start Date End Date URL
Collective action for public goods provision - - http://www.pepe.ethz.ch/research/core/collact
Policy and economics of ecosystem services - - http://www.pepe.ethz.ch/research/core/policy
Networks in environmental governance and politics - - http://www.pepe.ethz.ch/research/core/network