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19 Int'l Env't Agreements: Pol. L. & Econs. 1 (2019)

handle is hein.journals/intenve19 and id is 1 raw text is: Int Environ Agreements (2019) 19:1-18 https://doi.org/1 0.1007/s10784-018-9423-z ORIGINAL PAPER CrossMark Effects of funding mechanisms on participation in multilateral environmental agreements Steffen Mohrenberg' - Vally Koubi - Thomas Bernauer Accepted: 5 December 2018 /Published online: 10 December 2018 © Springer Nature B.V. 2018 Abstract The rational design approach to studying international agreements holds that policy- makers evaluate costs and benefits of cooperation when designing treaties and subse- quently deciding on participation. To influence this cost-benefit calculus, treaty designers sometimes include a fund from which financial assistance is provided to treaty members and to which treaty members contribute. We argue that the inclusion of a funding mecha- nism in a treaty can increase but also decrease the costs (benefits) of membership and can thus influence state choices on participation in both directions. Specifically, we argue that: (1) overall, states are more likely to join international agreements that include a fund; (2) the probability of joining is higher for agreements including a fund if contributions to the fund are voluntary; and (3) countries are more likely to join agreements including a fund that disburses assistance only to a select group of treaty members. We test these arguments using a new dataset with information on 154 countries' ratification behavior toward 178 multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) from 1950 to 2011. Our findings are in line with these arguments. The main policy implication is that MEA designers interested in maximizing treaty participation should include a formal funding mechanism and, in an effort to balance out positive and negative effects this might have on participation, base this mechanism on voluntary contributions and selective entitlements. Keywords Multilateral environmental agreements - Ratification - Fund - Voluntary contributions - Fund usage We thank two anonymous reviewers, Gabriele Spilker, and Tobias Bthmelt for highly useful comments, and Ron Mitchell for providing us with data on treaties. We also thank Michelle Cohen, Eleanor Willi, Katherine Woolbright, and Mike Hudecheck for research assistance. This paper was written in the context of the Swiss National Center for Competence in Research (NCCR) Democracy in the 21st Century. E Vally Koubi koubi@ir.gess.ethz.ch ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland Springer

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