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This thesis discusses A.S. Byatt’s writing about nature in Possession: A Romance and The Biographer’s Tale. It examines how the duality of nature, symbolic and material, manifests itself in the two novels and how that relates to broader questions about fiction and reality. The purpose of this study is to explore the conceptualisation of nature by humans in conjunction with the physical existence of the natural world. The biographical aspect of the texts is juxtaposed with a discussion of the natural sciences and the evolutionary process, which enables Byatt’s human characters’ existence to be analysed in less anthropocentric terms, against the wider organic context of nature and life. This study draws upon ecocritical perspectives which are applied to explore the complex and intertwined connections between the cultural and physical aspects of nature, the human and the non-human, and the mind and the body. As Byatt’s novels mix realism and fantasy, such approaches enable the duality of the natural world to be analysed as relational instead of being treated as oppositional: the human-nature relationship operates on biological and abstract levels simultaneously. The distinction between language, a product of the human mind, and the embodied physical reality of nature is at the core of the analysis conducted. The body and the mind are examined both in human terms and in relation to the non-human. This thesis argues that there are underlying systemic contexts, both biological and cultural, within which Byatt’s human characters and her narratives operate in Possession and The Biographer’s Tale. Alongside the exploration of human and natural histories, origins and relationality emerge as key themes in the two novels, connecting the fragmented and uncertain existence of postmodern individuals with the more solid and timeless systems of the natural world.

In Finland the recovery of pure economic loss in tort law is regulated under Chapter 5, Section 1 of the Tort Liability Act. The section identifies three possible situations where pure economic loss may become recoverable; firstly, where the injury or damage has been caused by an act punishable by law; secondly, where the injury or damage is caused in the exercise of public authority; and lastly, where there are especially weighty reasons for the recovery. The recovery of pure economic loss has prompted a considerable amount of academic discussion, but the precise scope of application of the provision remains still somewhat unclear. This paper analyses the recovery of pure economic loss in tort law from an economic point of view. The main tool for analysis is an analytical framework provided by William Bishop. Bishop's analysis showed that a large divergence between private and social loss is characteristic to pure economic loss. The loss suffered by an injured party, when not resulting from an injury or property damage, is often merely private loss in a sense that there is a corresponding benefit to another person equal in amount to the loss suffered by the injured party. For example, the customers of the injured party may divert to another place of business, provided there is enough capacity available on the market to accommodate the flow of diverted customers. In such a case, the overall wealth of the society does not decrease, and the recovery of the loss would only increase the likelihood of inefficient outcomes. When analysed from an economic perspective, each of the three categories in Chapter 5, Section 1 of the Tort Liability Act require a different approach. The analysis in relation to the first category, an act punishable by law, is similar to the economic analysis of criminal law. Here, the recovery of pure economic loss is connected to activity that can be understood as coercive means of bypassing the market. The analysis in relation to the exercise of public authority, on the other hand, centres around the issues associated with providing public authorities with effective economic incentives to start with. The third category, especially weighty reasons, is more open-ended and allows for a wider range of economic considerations to be taken into account. The analysis points to the fact that the provision seems to promote economic efficiency in many respects. However, to properly accommodate for economic considerations, the recoverability of pure economic loss should be extended beyond the three categories outlined in the provision.

Fishing vessels run on fossil fuels that produce greenhouse gases, which are harmful to the environment and costly to society. Since fuel use in fisheries is often subsidized through tax concessions, private fuel consumption will be higher than what is socially optimal. Furthermore,fuel tax concessions will lead to greater fishing effort, with overfishing as a possible consequence. This thesis deals with these negative externalities associated with fisheries. The aim of the study is to elicit the economic and environmental effects fromremoving fuel tax concessions, and to view these effects in relation to the results of current and optimal fisheries management.To this end, four different fuel costscenarios are introducedas basis for the analysis.The current situation of the fishery is compared to an optimized fishery with fuel tax concessions maintained andremoved, i.e. with fuel costs implemented. The target of the studyis thecommercial Baltic salmon fishery, which is a small-scale coastal fishery carried out with trapnets. The analysis employs a bioeconomic model, which accounts for the economic and biological features of this specific fishery. Results from the analysis conveyed that the fishery is currently unprofitable, and therefore not capable of coping withadditional costsimposed on it. However, results from the optimization suggest that economic performance can be improvedby managing the fishery in an optimal way, i.e. by adjustingthe fishing effort to an efficient level. Furthermore, amovement to optimal management is suggested to be an efficient way of gaining both economic and environmental benefits. An optimally managed fishery is thus better equipped to pay for the external costs fromtheCO2 emissions arising from its fishing operations.

Biochar is a porous, carbon-rich material, made from organic material by pyrolysis in low oxygen conditions, and it can be used to sequester carbon into the soil. This review aspires to give an overview of the economic dimensions of using biochar in Finnish (Boreal and sub-boreal) forests. A literature review was conducted to collect and summarize the information about studies and applications elsewhere, and how we could possibly apply them into Finnish forest ecosystems. This thesis is done as part of Helsus Co-Creation Lab -project, where our group was tasked with looking into how biochar could enhance biodiversity in soil and accelerate transformation to low carbon economy. From this larger topic, this paper is looking into the economic side, and whether it is economically viable to use biochar to enhance and uphold biodiversity. This is evaluated by reviewing and categorizing 164 papers and conducting a literature review. My conclusions are that the current biochar applications show lower economic efficiency than other carbon dioxide abatement technologies. The stability of biochar in soil is a key factor, as the half-lives of biochars may not be as long as commonly suggested. Furthermore, competition for biomass resource use can restrict the availability of feedstock, and make it more expensive. Subsidies for biochar application are required if biochar is to be- come a significant part of the national or global climate mitigation policy. The results in different articles are quite variable and there is currently no standard approach to them. There is a need for specific research on what kind of biochar benefits what soil and vegetation, which is expensive. A primary goal is to incorporate a consistent and standardized testing or analysis method for biochar stability into the certification programs run and administered by the International and the European Biochar Initiatives. In the foreseeable future, biochar by itself is unlikely to play a significant role in climate mitigation strategies. Biochar might be just one of several alternatives in a bundle strategy to re- duce carbon emissions. However, its potential use must still be researched more.

Goals Economics and fertility are widely studied areas, and the link between economics and fertility is well proven. However, less research exists concerning economics as a life course factor to fertility. The first aim of this study is to research whether the 90's depression impacted Finnish children's future fertility. The hypothesis is that if the family's economic situation decreased during the 90's depression, the children would be less willing to have children of their own later in life. The other aim is to clarify whether this effect is different depending on children's age during the depression. Methods Participants in this study were selected among the FinnFamily-register data, consisting of a longitudinal following of 60000 Finish families for four generations. Among the FinnFamily data, 43 432 participants who were born between 1975-1989 were included in this study. Participants and their parents were followed to the end of 2012. Analyses were made using Cox regression. The robust covariance matrix -method was used to allow correlation among members of the same family. Results and conclusions A change in the parents' economic situation during the 90's depression was not connected to a decrease in the child's future fertility. Neither evidence of interaction between parents' income change and child's age was found. However, it was found that the decrease and a major increase in parents' income during the 90's depression was connected to the increase in the probability of having a first child in later life. The connection between income decrease and later fertility remained statistically significant after controlling the education level, sex, age cohort, and number of siblings. The connection between a major income increase and later fertility disappeared when the number of siblings was controlled. The finding was somewhat unexpected, and more research is needed to clarify the reasons behind this effect. Particularly longitudinal research, including measurements of participants' subjective experiences and narratives associating with parents' economic difficulties, is needed in the future.

Biodiversity degrades at an alarming rate, both globally and in Finland. Habitat loss is the most significant threat for biodiversity. Biodiversity offsets (also called ecological compensation) are becoming a common market-based policy instrument, aimed at balancing economic development and conservation of ecosystems and species. Offsets are designed to compensate for the residual environmental impacts of development projects, after avoiding and minimizing impacts on site. The idea is that costs of conservation are allocated to the party responsible for habitat degradation, thus a polluter pays principle is implemented. Offsets complement the pre-existing conservation instruments. Ecological risks as well as the theoretical and practical challenges of offsetting are widely discussed in literature but economic analysis on biodiversity offsetting schemes is limited to few. The aim of this thesis is to increase the understanding of the economic basis of biodiversity offset markets and in particular, the influence of trading ratios and intermediaries. I developed an equilibrium model, and applied it to Finnish data and three selected habitat types: abundant mires, scarce herb-rich forests, and laborious and valuable rural biotopes. The supply of offsets comes from habitat restoration and nature management. Data on the areas suitable for habitat restoration, restoration measures and associated costs were obtained from several documented sources. I utilized the results of the working group on improving the status of habitats in Finland (ELITE, Kotiaho et al. 2015), and supplemented it with an expert survey that I designed to estimate the changes in the selected habitat types after restoration and management under uncertainties. I used Monte Carlo simulation to examine the impacts and risks of uncertainties. Further, I estimated demand based on a report by Tiitu et al. (2015) where they predict the increase of built-up areas and infrastructure in Finland for a time period of 2013-2040. I examined how the market equilibrium, prices, and quantities traded depended on trading ratios. Trading ratios differ depending on whether biodiversity losses from development are ecologically equivalent to gains from compensation or not. I also examined the role of an intermediary, a broker firm. The intermediary helps demanders and suppliers meet each other with minimal transaction costs, safeguards against risks and guarantees maturity and quality of offsets. The analysis showed that the presence of the intermediary affects the trading ratios as there is a time delay between losses and gains which must be discounted to present time if the intermediary is not in the market guaranteeing mature offsets. Time discounting further increases trading ratios. The results show that the market size could be considerable and providing offsets could be a profitable business for landowners. There is enough land for compensations in Finland, even when trading ratios are relatively high. The presence of the intermediary in the market decreases both the trading ratios and credit prices, which lowers the costs of compensation for developers. Both ecological and economic risks may decrease as the intermediary safeguards against failures in restoration by guaranteeing that all offsets provide good quality. Pricing these services in the market does not excessively increase offset prices and shrink the market size.

Emerging from the ruins of the World War II, European states sought to prevent new wars from breaking out by initiating a process of economic integration. The first step on the path to economic integration was the establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community in 1951, with further deepening by the establishment of the European Economic Community, eventually culminating in the establishment of the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) in the 1990s. Although the EMU can be considered the Holy Grail of European integration, its structure has significant shortcomings: monetary integration is strong, but economic integration remains superficial. This thesis examines the development of economic and fiscal integration in the European Union (EU) from the World War II to the 2020s. The analysis particularly seeks to answer how crises have impacted the progression of economic integration within the EU and what is the impact of the EU’s recent crisis response measures on the trajectory of fiscal integration. The thesis begins by examining the establishment of the EU and its initial stages of economic integration after the World War II. It focuses on the role of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in deepening integration, examining its methods of interpretation of Treaties to promote an ever closer Union. The thesis progresses chronologically, addressing the significance of the Eurozone crisis in deepening economic and fiscal integration. Regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, it focuses on the EU's strong response in the form of the recovery instrument and its impact on the progress of fiscal integration and the structural asymmetry of the EMU. The main conclusions of the thesis are that European economic and fiscal integration have deepened significantly because of existential crises, even beyond what the Treaty provisions would prima facie allow, thus raising questions of constitutionality. Integration has been facilitated in part by the vague language of the Treaties and the Court’s creative, pro- integrative approach to legal interpretation, resulting in the EU gaining new competences beyond those explicitly granted to it. EU crisis management measures have acted as clear steps towards a fiscal union, thus correcting the original asymmetry of the EMU, but they do not in themselves create a genuine fiscal union.

Globally, there is a constant shortfall of financial resources in conservation, which has partially been supplemented by combining conservation and conservation-compatible businesses. Many protected and conserved areas in sub-Saharan Africa are largely funded by revenues generated within the area, mainly through ecotourism. While ecotourism revenues are bringing in money into the system, dependency on this single type of revenue source is making conservation areas – or even the whole protected area system – vulnerable to changes in visitor numbers, which are prone to different political or socio-economic disturbances (such as conflicts, economic recession, and epidemics). A sudden substantial decrease in revenues or increase in costs may threaten the existence, extent, and quality of conservation areas in terms of biodiversity conservation. Collecting and analysing economic information on protected and conserved areas can help investigate their long-term sustainability and resilience to financial threats, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and related economic outcomes. In this thesis, I assess how conservation costs and revenues vary between different types of protected and conserved areas, how financially self-sufficient they are, and how economically resilient these areas may be in the face of global changes. The analysis is based on financial data from different types of protected and conserved areas in South Africa: state-owned national parks (South African National Parks, later SANParks), provincial parks (Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife, later Ezemvelo) and private conserved areas. With the use of simulation modelling and resilience theory, I discuss how potential economic resilience varies between protected areas. The findings indicate that there are significant differences in the cost-revenue structure of different kinds of protected and conserved areas, and especially between public and private. Ezemvelo receives most of its funds from the provincial government, whereas SANParks covers the majority of its costs from tourism revenues. Private game reserves again need to cover their costs independently. According to the findings, size is an important attribute to predict the per hectare net income and running costs of public protected areas but has no significant influence on those of private game reserves. For public protected areas, the running costs per hectare are significantly higher for protected areas less than 1000 hectares. Based on the economic modelling and resilience theory, I concluded that private game reserves are generally financially more viable, but their vulnerability lies in their lack of embeddedness within a larger system (e.g., a conservation organization) that could support them during difficult times and require and encourage a long-term commitment to conservation. The economic resilience of public protected areas is more closely tied to the political atmosphere regarding conservation funding: self-generated revenues form only a part of the budgets of public protected areas. In addition, protected areas which have large fixed costs and depend on high tourism revenues are likely to be less economically resilient. Because of the higher running costs and resultant sensitivity of net income to changes in costs and revenues, parks that are home to the “Big Five” species (lion, leopard, rhino, elephant and buffalo) are in a more vulnerable position in the face of disturbances, as the pandemic. To address the threats that upcoming socio-economic disturbances pose to the funding base of protected and conserved areas, more focus should be given to the economic resilience of these areas, especially in countries and occasions where the areas rely on self-generated revenues.

This study optimizes the management regime of boreal Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestric L.) stands. The aim is to compare the economic profitability of continuous cover management and clearcut management and to study the hypothesis that continuous cover forestry is more favorable in the case of Norway spruce, compared to Scots pine. Additionally, the study analyses the outcomes of two different growth models for these tree species and compares the results with the requirements of the Finnish Forest Act of 2014. Earlier studies comparing the suitability of Norway spruce and Scots pine to continuous cover forestry have applied unclear model specifications and unnecessary limitations in the optimization methods. In this study, the optimization is carried out using a theoretically sound economic optimization model that determines the choice of the management regime as an outcome of the optimization. The model uses empirically estimated ecological growth models and includes both fixed and variable harvesting costs. Two different empirically estimated ecological growth models are used and compared. The optimization model is solved as a bi-level problem where harvest timing is the upper-level problem and harvesting intensity the lower-level problem. The optimization is solved using gradient-based methods for the lower-level problems and genetic and hill-climbing algorithms for the upper-level problems. This is the first study using this method to solve optimal continuous cover solutions for Scots pine. The results show that the main differences in optimal solutions between the two species are independent of the ecological two growth models used. According to both ecological models, continuous cover forestry is less favorable for Scots pine compared to Norway spruce, in both low and average fertility sites. However, the magnitude of this favorability and the characteristics of the optimal solutions strongly depend on the ecological model. Optimal continuous cover solutions for Scots pine are also found to have very low stand densities. Almost all economically optimal solutions are illegal because of their low number of trees or basal area per hectare.

The thesis studies the economic policy of the United States from the first oil crisis of October 1973 to the 1980 elections via the perspective of Keynesian economic theorem. The main objective of the thesis is to analyze the perceived failure of Keynesianism during stagflation through practical policy and evaluate the policy connection to the economic theory paradigm shift that occurred in the late 1970s and early 1980s. This is done by reviewing primarily the fiscal policies of the Ford and Carter administrations coupled with an analysis of the policy recommendations made by the contemporary congressional Joint Economic Committees. The thesis aims to add a historically minded policy analysis into the mix when explaining the fall of Keynesianism and see how well it elucidates this on its own. In primary material the thesis relies on various documents produced by the Councils of Economic Advisors and Joint Economic Committees during the previously mentioned time period. In particular the annually or biannually formed economic policy publications and statements related to them are under scrutiny since by revealing the policy directions and proposals one can examine the wider economic theory context at play. In addition the primary material is complemented by using a wide-range of previous literature and contemporary newspaper articles. Methodologically the study employs directed qualitative content analysis as a research method which carefully takes into consideration the chosen contextual theory – Keynesianism – when analyzing the material. Furthermore, an adaption of Douglass C. North’s theory on economic change is applied to the subject in order to create a more comprehendible framework to examine the change in economic thinking taking place. The analysis of U.S. economic policy through the theoretical lenses of Keynes finds that the theory was badly miscomprehended and practiced already in the late 1960s which continued for the entire 1970s causing increasingly significant reputational damage to it. The study concludes that a lack of belief among the Ford and Carter administrations towards Keynesianism and the difficult politico-economic circumstances lead to economic policies that cannot be classified as Keynesian. Thus the results stand in opposition to the notion that the theory failed through trial and error during stagflation and indicate that intellectual preference towards neoclassical economics began to impact policy increasingly since the Ford administration. The study recommends that future research focuses more on linking economic policies and theories to their historical and political context. A further recommendation is made to increase the study of empirical policy analysis when explaining the fall of Keynesianism.