Direct Public Involvement in Environmental Policymaking: A Bargaining Model
University of Calgary, Economics Discussion Paper
17 Pages Posted: 27 Jan 2003
Date Written: October 2002
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to develop a model of one of the most ambitious forms of public participation, which I call public policymaking, but which is often called consensus-building or reg-neg. I investigate the bargaining process between two groups that I will call environmentalists and developers. The argument is presented in two stages. In the first, I employ a model developed by Zeuthen and Harsanyi to predict the nature of the bargained outcome under certain simplifying assumptions. In the second, I relax these assumptions to investigate the impact of alternative institutional arrangements on the bargaining process. I conclude that public policymaking offers some prospect for improving government policy with respect to environmental issues, if certain conditions are met.
Keywords: consensus-building, environmental dispute resolution, land use policy, public policymaking
JEL Classification: Q21, Q28
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation