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作者

Zbigniew Szkop

来源

URBAN FORESTRY & URBAN GREENING,Vol.62,Issue1,Article 127127

语言

英文

关键字

Urban greenery;Principal-agent problem;Ecosystem services

作者单位

University of Warsaw, Faculty of Economic Sciences, Długa Street 44/50, 00-241, Warsaw, Poland;University of Warsaw, Faculty of Economic Sciences, Długa Street 44/50, 00-241, Warsaw, Poland

摘要

This study analyzes the planting decisions made by urban greenery managers in Warsaw between 2012–2017. The results showed that the species composition of planted trees was suboptimal. The tree species with higher dieback were planted more often than the tree species with relatively lower dieback. Moreover, the conducted econometrical analysis revealed that this important characteristic was not statistically significant for the planting decisions made by the urban greenery managers. A closer look at the functioning of the urban greenery management system in Warsaw revealed that this situation could potentially result from the phenomenon described in the agency theory as a principal-agent problem. Dieback was a feature difficult to include in the decision-making process in Warsaw without conducting nonobligatory and effort-intensive in situ studies. Meanwhile, the contract between the greenery managers (agent) and the city authorities (principal) was not “incentive-compatible”. It favored less effort-intensive decision-making, i.e. making planting decisions by greenery managers based on their intuition and experience, rather than on effort-intensive in situ analyses. The study suggests that the principal-agent problem should be further investigated as a potential barrier to optimal management of urban greenery.