Between markets and hierarchies: The challenge of governing ecosystem services

The spread of the ecosystem services framework has been accompanied by the promotion of market-based policy instruments for environmental governance. In this paper we clarify the rationale, policy goals and governance challenges of the ecosystem services framework. After systematizing the limitations of market-based policy tools for enhancing the provision of ecosystem services, we argue that hybrid regimes are more suitable (compared to pure markets or hierarchies) to deal with the governance challenges derived from the characteristics of ecosystem services, particularly their common good character and their intrinsic complexity. The paper pleads for an alternative conceptual underpinning of market-based instruments, in order to make them more compatible with hybrid forms of governance. We discuss the major implications of such analytical shift. Crown Copyright (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier B.V.