An Introduction to Ecological Economics

✍ Scribed by Robert Costanza, John H Cumberland, Herman Daly, Robert Goodland, Richard B Norgaard

• Publisher: CRC Press
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 275
• Edition: 1
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Ecological economics is a way of rethinking the relationship between humans and the environment and working out the implications of how we manage our lives and the planet. An Introduction to Ecological Economics offers a starting point for undergraduate and graduate students and environmental professionals interested in this transdisciplinary field. Beginning in Section 1 with a description of some current problems in society and their underlying causes, Section 2 then takes a historical perspective to explain how world views regarding economics and ecology have evolved. Section 3 presents the fundamental principles of ecological economics, and Part 4 outlines and discusses a set of policies for creating a sustainable society as well as instruments that could be used to implement those policies. A conclusions section summarizes the main points of the book and proposes prospects for the future. Let An Introduction to Ecological Economics introduce you to important issues affecting our ecology, our economy, our world.

✦ Table of Contents

AN INTRODUCTION TO ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS......Page 2
Preface......Page 8
Acknowledgments......Page 9
Contents......Page 4
CHAPTER 1: HUMANITY’S CURRENT DILEMMA......Page 10
1.1 The Global Ecosystem and the Economic Subsystem......Page 15
1.2 From Localized Limits to Global Limits......Page 16
First Evidence of Limits: Human Biomass Appropriation......Page 17
Second Evidence of Limits: Climate Change......Page 18
Third Evidence of Limits: Ozone Shield Rupture......Page 20
Fourth Evidence of Limits: Land Degradation......Page 21
Fifth Evidence of Limits: Biodiversity Loss......Page 22
1.3 Population and Poverty......Page 23
1.4 Beyond Brundtland......Page 24
1.5 Toward Sustainability......Page 25
1.6 The Fragmentation of Economics and the Natural Sciences......Page 26
CHAPTER 2: THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF ECONOMICS AND ECOLOGY......Page 28
Adam Smith and the Invisible Hand......Page 32
Thomas Malthus and Population Growth......Page 34
David Ricardo and the Geographic Pattern of Economic Activity......Page 36
Sadi Carnot, Rudolf Clausius, and Thermodynamics......Page 37
Charles Darwin and the Evolutionary Paradigm......Page 38
John Stuart Mill and the Steady-State......Page 41
Karl Marx and the Ownership of Resources......Page 42
Ernst Haeckel and the Beginnings of Ecology......Page 45
Alfred J. Lotka and Systems Thinking......Page 47
A. C. Pigou and Market Failure......Page 48
Harold Hotelling and the Efficient Use of Resources over Time......Page 51
2.2 Economics and Ecology Specialize and Separate......Page 55
2.3 The Reintegration of Ecology and Economics......Page 57
General System Theory......Page 60
Open-Access Resource Management and Commons Institutions......Page 62
Energetics and Systems......Page 65
Spaceship Earth and Steady-State Economics......Page 71
Adaptive Environmental Management......Page 72
Coevolution of Ecological and Economic Systems......Page 73
The Role of Neoclassical Economics in Ecological Economics......Page 78
Increased Efficiency and Dematerialization......Page 81
Ecosystem Health......Page 82
Environmental Epistemology......Page 83
Conclusions......Page 84
CHAPTER 3: PROBLEMS AND PRINCIPLES OF ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS......Page 86
3.1 Sustainable Scale, Fair Distribution, and Efficient Allocation......Page 89
From Empty-World Economics to Full-World Economics......Page 92
Reasons the Turning Point Has Not Been Noticed......Page 93
Complementarity vs. Substitutability......Page 94
Policy Implications of the Turning Point......Page 95
Initial Policy Response to the Historical Turning Point......Page 100
3.2 Ecosystems, Biodiversity, and Ecological Services......Page 101
Biodiversity and Ecosystems......Page 103
Ecosystems and Ecological Services......Page 104
Defining and Predicting Sustainability in Ecological Terms......Page 105
Ecosystems as Sustainable Systems......Page 108
3.3 Substitutability vs. Complementarity of Natural, Human, and Manufactured Capital......Page 109
Growth vs. Development......Page 111
More on Natural Capital......Page 113
Sustainability and Maintaining Natural Capital......Page 115
3.4 Population and Carrying Capacity......Page 117
3.5 Measuring Welfare and Well-Being......Page 120
The GNP and Its Political Importance......Page 121
GNP: Concepts and Measurement......Page 123
From GNP to Hicksian Income and Sustainable Development......Page 129
From GNP to a Measure of Economic Welfare......Page 136
The Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare......Page 141
Toward a Measure of Total Human Welfare......Page 144
Alternative Models of Wealth and Utility......Page 148
3.6 Valuation, Choice, and Uncertainty......Page 149
Fixed Tastes and Preferences and Consumer Sovereignty......Page 150
Valuation of Ecosystems and Preferences......Page 151
Uncertainty, Science, and Environmental Policy......Page 153
Technological Optimism vs. Prudent Skepticism......Page 157
Social Traps......Page 160
Escaping Social Traps......Page 161
The Dollar Auction Game......Page 163
3.7 Trade and Community......Page 165
Free Trade?......Page 166
Community and Individual Well-Being......Page 167
Community, Environmental Management, and Sustainability......Page 168
Globalization, Transaction Costs, and Environmental Externalities......Page 173
Policy Implications......Page 176
4.1 The Need to Develop a Shared Vision of a Sustainable Society......Page 185
4.2 History of Environmental Institutions and Instruments......Page 188
4.3 Successes, Failures, and Remedies......Page 193
The Policy Role of Non-Government Organizations......Page 194
Adaptive Ecological Economic Assessment and Management......Page 195
Habitat Protection, Intergenerational Transfers, and Equity......Page 197
4.4 Policy Instruments......Page 200
Regulatory Systems......Page 203
Incentive-Based Systems: Alternatives to Regulatory Control......Page 205
The Role of Economic Efficiency......Page 206
Pollution Fees and Subsidies......Page 207
Popular Critiques of the Incentives for Efficiency Approach......Page 208
Advantages and Disadvantages of Incentive-Based Systems of Regulation......Page 212
Three Policies to Achieve Sustainability......Page 214
Natural Capital Depletion (NCD) Tax......Page 215
The Precautionary Polluter Pays Principle (4P)......Page 217
Toward Ecological Tax Reform......Page 223
A Transdisciplinary Pollution Control Policy Instrument......Page 225
Implementation and Operational Considerations......Page 229
The Local Level......Page 230
Land Purchasing and Conservation Easements.......Page 234
Full-Cost Pricing.......Page 235
The Regional Level: Reducing Counterproductive Interregional Competition for Growth......Page 236
The National Level: Toxic Release Inventory and the Public’s Right to Know......Page 238
The EIS as a National Policy Instrument.......Page 239
Other National Policies.......Page 240
The International Level and the Third World......Page 242
The Global Level......Page 244
Conclusions......Page 247
Further Reading......Page 251
References......Page 253
About the Authors......Page 274