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Certification schemes are becoming increasingly important within aquaculture management, but the indicators that are used by these schemes are subject to considerable debate. Many have questioned their actual impact on improving the industry, and whether they effectively address the many externalities of aquaculture production. In this paper, we study the choice of indicators in eight major certification scheme standards for salmon aquaculture and examine to what degree they manage to address impacts beyond individual production sites. We find that, in accordance with the criticism, the majority of indicators pertain only to the site-level. However, indicators related to traceability, and to coordination and sharing of information among producers can elevate local concerns to a higher level of impact. We, therefore, argue that among all the certification scheme standards considered here, these types of indicators should be emphasized to a larger extent.

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to study how the central government can use well-known game-theoretical concepts in order to stimulate provision of local public facilities. Design/methodology/approach The authors use the classical adverse selection framework to discuss how the central government can use investment transfers as efficiently as possible to stimulate increased provision of local public facilities. Findings The benefits of local public facilities, such as kindergartens, schools, and primary healthcare institutions are greater than what each local government takes into account. Consequently, the central government, which maximizes social welfare in total, wants more local public facilities than the individual local government find optimal to supply. The central government thus would want to stimulate additional provision of local public facilities using contracts where local governments receive a transfer as compensation for increasing their supply. Since local governments differ regarding their efficiency in supplying facilities, the required amount of facilities and the corresponding transfer size should be allowed to vary across local governments. Originality/value Almost all countries are organized with multiple tiers of government, and local governments are important providers of many important welfare services. After labor, facilities are probably the second most important input in production of local public services. This paper offers insights into how the central government can efficiently stimulate the production of local public facilities.