Does environmental policy stringency foster organic agriculture? Evidence from OECD members, accession candidates, and key partner economies

This paper contributes to the understanding of how the environment, ethics, values, and historical contingencies shape public policy. It explains the accomplishment of petroleum resource management in the small open economy of Norway. The study is conducted by mapping policy decisions and the arguments behind them regarding environmental and ethical issues. This is done by studying available governmental and parliamentary papers along with statements from politicians and central governmental officials. The paper also seeks to illuminate some of the decisions by quantitative measures.
The paper firstly describes a model of Ricardian resource rent. Secondly, it investigates the set of values that were in place before the petroleum production started in the 1970s, as described in public documents. An important argument was to build a “qualitatively better society” for the benefit of the people. Thirdly, it traces the historical roots of these values by examining historical sources.
The main findings are that success lies in understanding the ethics behind the environmental resource rent harvesting of this non-renewable natural resource. The paper concludes that the focus on the natural environment and resource rent management can be attributed to popular values built on historical traditions. According to them, the state and the trust between the state and its citizens played key roles in shaping the policy. The careful policy can be illustrated by the fact that Norway has managed to build one of the largest sovereign funds in the world worth USD 1,200 billion for use by future generations. Only 3% of its value, significantly less than its historical net profit, should be used annually.

To improve the efficiency of organic farming, it is important to improve the management of agricultural enterprises (agrarian management). The research was based on the hypothesis that adequate provision with and the use of fixed assets, as well as the concentration of production, play a decisive role in improving the efficiency of organic farming. This makes it possible to minimize the cost of conducting environmentally safe agro-technical and biocenotic measures, as well as reducing specific production costs.
To identify the reasons that hinder the development of organic farming in Ukraine we conducted a survey of managers of 80 agrarian enterprises from different regions specializing in the growing and export of grain (including organic). 65% of the surveyed managers indicated that the reason for non-implementation of organic production was an expected increase in production costs and a decrease in profitability compared to the traditional production methods. The respondents mentioned the lack of logistics infrastructure as the second obstacle according to the intensity of its impact – 25.9% of responses.
It has been established that in Ukraine, in comparison with other countries, there is a negative tendency for companies to save money on expanded reproduction and improvement of production technologies. The analysis shows that in most countries organic farming is conducted mainly by small farms, while in Ukraine big farms are certified. In the conditions of the shortage of credit resources necessary for updating the material and technical base, monopolization of the market of organic seeds and systematic growth of prices on resources, big farms are the ones to increase the concentration of organic farming and the means to achieve the necessary efficiency of production.

Carbon taxes are increasingly recognized as a critical tool in mitigating climate change by reducing carbon emissions. This study analyzes research trends in carbon tax studies using bibliometric techniques and social network analysis to explore their environmental and economic impacts and policy implications. By analyzing 922 documents from 308 sources published between 1968 and 2024, the study identifies key topics, emerging trends, and collaboration patterns among researchers. The results show a significant increase in carbon tax publications and citations, particularly from 2000 to 2019, peaking around 2017–2019, followed by a decline after 2021. The most frequently studied topics include carbon tax effects on emissions reduction, economic balance, and environmental sustainability. Social network analysis reveals influential researchers and institutions driving the discourse on carbon taxes, highlighting the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration in shaping effective policies. These findings provide insights into the evolution of carbon tax policies and underscore the need for continued research on specialized themes such as the role of carbon taxes in supply chain management, social equity, and energy policy.

Acknowledgments
The authors would like to express their sincere gratitude to the Rector and the Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Business, Hasanuddin University for their unwavering support and invaluable assistance in this analysis. Their commitment to advancing academic research and community service has been instrumental in completing this study.