Does research applying the DPSIR framework support decision making?

The Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) framework was developed in the late 1990s to structure and organize indicators in a meaningful way. Since then, the framework has increasingly been applied in research projects with the aim of supporting decision making. A number of attributes of the framework regarding structuring and communication issues in research further strengthen its original purpose of bridging the science policy gap. We reviewed several studies that were mainly concerned with criticism and drawbacks of the DPSIR framework. Based on these studies and our own experiences in applying the DPSIR framework in an EU project to develop a decision support tool, we developed two criteria that we believe are crucial for policy relevant research: (a) the development of conceptual models integrating knowledge from different disciplines, specialists and policy makers, as well as those affected by their decisions; and (b) the potential to explain the results and analysis of research to different disciplines, specialists, stakeholders and the public and to demonstrate alternatives and provide decision options. We analyzed 21 studies using the DPSIR framework with regard to their relevance for decision making. We analyzed the definitions of the five DPSIR elements and whether specific end users were addressed in the respective studies. We found that in many studies, the DPSIR elements were defined in literature review or by researchers and that only a few studies targeted specific government authorities as users of research results. Eight out of 21 studies applied transdisciplinary research concepts and integrated broad ranges of stakeholder opinions and values into the research. Nine out of 21 studies presented alternative outcomes to decision makers and used the valuation of these outcomes by stakeholders to add further support to the decision-making process. The different positive and negative implications of the DPSIR framework are discussed with reference to research that supports policy making. Finally, we conclude that studies employing DPSIR may provide effective solutions for “real world problems” by taking into account additional criteria based on knowledge integration, stakeholder involvement and the provision of alternatives. Therefore, DPSIR is a useful tool to support decision making by means of showing solid evidence with alternatives and decision options, rather than by presenting predetermined solutions.     

Book reviews

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

构建不确定时期的灵活供应链

“长鞭效应”系指公司供应商的信息流出现的扭曲现象。企业必须灵活应对,自我保护。     

Path Dependence in Russian Policy Making: Constraints on Putin's Economic Choice

A decade after the introduction of economic transition in Eastern Europe it was starting to become clear that initial beliefs in one-size-fits-all reforms had been unfounded. While some countries had made the grade, others- notably so Russia- had failed to live up to expectations. This article explores the Russian roots of that failure, arguing that the Russian reformers failed to take into account a deeply rooted Russian path dependence. By focusing narrowly on changes in the formal rules of the game, they neglected pressing needs for broader institutional change, including a credible commitment by the Russian government to impartially enforcing a rules-based system. It is argued that the legacy left for Vladimir Putin in important respects is even more dire than that left by Gorbachev for the El'tsin team.     

Der neue Kurs der Europ?ischen Zentralbank

In September 2012, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced its new “Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT)” programme, which entails unlimited purchases of member states’ government bonds. Following an idea by George Soros, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, the ECB intends to sterilise these purchases through the liabilities side of its balance sheet, i.e. through the issuance of ECB bonds. The article analyses this plan and argues that the ECB is introducing a second unlimited European Stability Mechanism (ESM). This clearly violates European law and is likely to be punishable under German criminal law.     

The mediterranean policy of the EC—The case of agriculture

The production structures of the majority of Mediterranean countries have traditionally been oriented towards the West European market. What effects will the southward enlargement of the EC have on the agricultural sector of the non-candidate Mediterranean countries? What can the EC do to alleviate the problems?