Fairly efficient or efficiently fair: success factors and constraints of payment and reward schemes for environmental services in Asia

Payment for environmental service (PES) is strictly defined as a market-based environmental policy instrument to achieve environmental protection in the most efficient way. However, an increasing body of literature shows that the prescriptive conceptualization of PES cannot be easily generalized and implemented in practice and the commodification of ecosystem services is problematic. To investigate the underlying causes, this PhD study combines a quantitative and qualitative research approach using case studies in Indonesia, the Philippines and Nepal. The empirical observations on emerging PES-mechanisms in the Asian case studies show that interdependency of fairness and efficiency should be the main consideration in designing and implementing a PES scheme in developing countries. Neither fairness nor efficiency alone should be the primary aim but an intermediate PES that is “fairly efficient and efficiently fair” may bridge the gap between PES theory and the practical implementation of PES to increase ES provision and improve livelihoods.