Understanding the Benefits of Diversification in Ownership, Tenure, and Control — Scottish Land Commission

Alma Economics was commissioned by Scottish Land Commission (SLC) to review the literature concerning the benefits of different models of ownership, tenure and control. As well as considering land models, including crofting and community ownership, the study also sought to understand the benefits that can flow from diversification of ownership, tenure and control in corporate governance, specifically looking into co-operatives, mutual organisations, and firms with employee codetermination.

Crofting and community ownership are two models which facilitate more diversified ownership, tenure and/or control of land in Scotland. Such models can promote a wide range of social, economic, and environmental benefits. Key benefits include fostering community pride and ownership; surplus generation for community benefit; local economic development; sustaining local culture, tradition, and social networks; improved stewardship of the local environment; and population retention.

In the context of corporate governance, greater employee ownership and/or control have been found to promote a range of “non-financial” benefits for members, who can include employees, customers, and suppliers. These benefits can include greater job security, improved flow of knowledge and ideas, and sharing of surpluses amongst members. Importantly, these benefits do not appear to come at the expense of reduced financial performance, with evidence even suggesting such models can increase business resilience and longevity. Overall, our review of the evidence suggests that policy reforms that seek to increase diversity of land ownership and control in Scotland are likely to generate significant and wide-ranging benefits.

➥ The report can be found here.

Development of a Flats Recycling Package calculator tool — ReLondon

Alma Economics worked with ReLondon to create an online analysis tool to enable users to assess the costs and benefits of the Flats Recycling Package, a set of measures designed to increase recycling rates. The tool is aimed at housing providers, building managers and others who want to implement the package to improve recycling and waste collection services in apartment blocks.

Our developer team based the tool on a granular cost-benefit analysis framework designed by our researchers. Users of the tool receive a breakdown of the estimated costs of implementing the Flats Recycling Package, divided into initial setup costs and ongoing maintenance costs. The environmental benefits of improved recycling were quantified to develop monetised estimates, focusing in particular on carbon emissions. The social value of improved recycling was calculated based on a survey exploring residents’ willingness to pay for improvements.

The tool was extensively piloted in coordination with several London boroughs and housing associations to ensure it was user-friendly and intuitive.

➥ The tool can be found here.

Offshore wind energy in Greece: Estimating the socio-economic impact — ELIAMEP

Offshore wind energy can play a key role in helping Greece become carbon neutral by 2050. Alma Economics was commissioned by ELIAMEP, with funding from EEA Grants, to explore the socio-economic value that can be generated from floating offshore wind farms in the Greek seas.

We developed a Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) framework which incorporates investment, environmental, social, and economic costs and benefits that can flow from a hypothetical offshore farm to (i) the international community, (ii) Greek society, and (iii) host communities. Our framework explored the welfare gains from reduced CO2 emissions, as well as the welfare losses to local communities and visitors as a result of visual disamenity and environmental effects.

Key findings from this research and the accompanying CBA framework will support evidence-based decision making about future investments in offshore wind power in Greece. 

➥ Read a summary of our research on the Eliamep website 

➥ Read the full report on the socio-economic impact of offshore wind energy in Greece 

➥ Download the Cost Benefit Analysis tool 

Exploring the use of council tax and business rates to incentivise energy efficiency 

Alma Economics was commissioned by Leeds City Council, Hull City Council and Barnsley Council to explore the scope of using council tax and business rates to incentivise households and businesses in the Yorkshire region to invest in improving the energy efficiency of their properties.

The project assessed the feasibility of four broad classes of policy options, employing a mixed-methods approach. This included a detailed review of the existing literature on the adoption of energy efficiency measures and of past schemes. We engaged with businesses and residents in the region by means of a series of focus groups, capturing and analysing stakeholders’ opinions on barriers to energy efficiency and their expected benefits. For the same purpose, we conducted interviews with representatives from government and non-profit organisations. We then modelled the financial implications and the scale of the impact of each option, e.g. in terms of expected reductions in carbon emissions.

A final element of our approach was a legal analysis, assessing the legitimacy of every taxation option and providing recommendations to improve their feasibility, based on UK law. To the extent that a policy option was deemed viable, our research involved proposing the outline of a suitable pilot scheme.

Our tax study contributed to regional councils’ approach to incentivising energy efficiency and identified optimal options for policy interventions.

The Green Pivot: Cyprus and the regional market — Peace Research Institute Oslo

Cyprus is an island with no current interconnection with other countries, dealing with high electricity prices and heavily relying on fossil fuels. Alma Economics, commissioned by the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) and under the auspices of the Mediterranean Growth Initiative (MGI), reviewed the existing state of play in Cyprus and set an indicative pathway for the future of the Cypriot green energy market and interconnectivity in the region. The Nordic model was also examined, aiming at identifying key differences between the Norwegian and Cypriot power markets, as well as any lessons learnt from the Norwegian power market that could be applied in Cyprus.

Our team summarised current plans and further arrangements required for Cyprus to move to a green interconnected market-based energy model, and discussed the challenges as well as benefits expected to arise from such a transition. Apart from a thorough evidence review, our team also conducted interviews with sector experts from Cyprus and Norway to better understand the current and future state of play in both countries.

Among key findings of our research was that moving toward a green interconnected market-based model will generate benefits for Cyprus, including lower CO2 emissions, security of energy supply and lower electricity costs. Under a set of reasonable assumptions, we estimated that such a transition would result in each electricity consumer saving €200 per year through lower energy bills.

➥ Our research findings were presented at the Cyprus Forum 2022.

➥ Read our report here.

➥ Check our key research findings here.

Economic Evaluation of the Black Spots to Bright Spots project — Natural Resources Wales

Our team was commissioned by Natural Resources Wales, the Welsh Government body responsible for managing the country’s natural resources, to evaluate the environmental, social and economic impact of the Black Spots to Bright Spots project. What makes this project unique, is its proactive approach to addressing the problem of fly-tipping on the Gwent Levels, located in South East Wales.

We created an evaluation framework to explore how the project can generate impact, as well as to quantify key benefits compared to a ‘do nothing’ scenario assuming that largely reactive approaches are adopted to tackle fly-tipping on the Gwent Levels. Our framework, including a detailed Theory of Change and Cost-Benefit Analysis tool, drew from a comprehensive review of relevant literature, as well as from in-depth discussions with key stakeholders. 

Our research contributed to a deep understanding of how proactive environmental interventions can create substantial benefits, and it informed evidence-based policy decision making for protecting the environment. Our comprehensive literature review and stakeholder engagement activities also helped us create an evidence base on the impact of similar interventions that can be used to inform future work in this area. 

Draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan: Analysis of Consultation Responses — Scottish Government

Between January 2023 and May 2023, the Scottish Government held a public consultation on its Draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan, providing an opportunity for various stakeholders – including communities, workers, citizens, businesses and other organisations – to engage in the process of designing Scotland’s energy transition. Alma Economics was commissioned by the Scottish Government to analyse and report on the main themes emerging from the consultation responses.

The consultation included 58 open-format questions with free-text fields. In total, 1,598 responses to the consultation were received. All responses were consolidated into a unified database and manually screened for offensive, abusive, or explicitly vulgar content, as well as to identify duplicated responses and coordinated campaigns.

All responses were then read in full by our team of researchers, with thematic analysis of each response conducted to capture the main opinions expressed by respondents in overarching themes, as well as to understand the reasoning behind answers. The most relevant themes for each question were summarised in the final report in order of their prevalence, as measured by the frequency of respondents raising each theme. Throughout the report, supplementary quotes from respondents were included to highlight key themes and viewpoints.

➥ Read our report here