Economics of the Environment Theory and Policy /

• Main Authors: Siebert, Horst (Author), Muller, Stephen (Author)
• Corporate Author: SpringerLink (Online service)
• Format: Electronic eBook
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin, Heidelberg : Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2005.
• Edition: Sixth Edition.
• Subjects: Economics.; Management science.; Environmental economics.; Economics, general.; Environmental Economics.

 „The labor of nature is paid, not because she does much, but because she does little. In proportion as she becomes niggardly in her gifts, she exacts a greater price for her work. Where she is munificently bene- cent, she always works gratis.“ David Ricardo* This book interprets nature and the environment as a scarce resource. Whereas in the past people lived in a paradise of environmental superabundance, at p- sent environmental goods and services are no longer in ample supply. The en- ronment fulfills many functions for the economy: it serves as a public-c- sumption good, as a provider of natural resources, and as receptacle of waste. These different functions compete with each other. Releasing more pollutants into the environment reduces environmental quality, and a better environm- tal quality implies that the environment’s use as a receptacle of waste has to be restrained. Consequently, environmental disruption and environmental use are by nature allocation problems. This is the basic message of this book. 

 The Problem -- Using the Environment — An Allocation Problem -- Static Allocation Aspect -- Production Theory and Transformation Space -- Optimal Environmental Use -- Environmental Quality as a Public Good -- Property-Rights Approach to the Environmental Problem -- Environmental-Policy Instruments -- Incidence of an Emission Tax -- Policy Instruments -- Policy Instruments and the Casuistics of Pollution -- The Political Economy of Environmental Scarcity -- Environmental Allocation in Space -- Environmental Endowment, Competitiveness and Trade -- Transfrontier Pollution -- Global Environmental Media -- Regional Aspects of Environmental Allocation -- Environmental Allocation in Time and under Uncertainty -- Long-Term Aspects of Environmental Quality -- Economic Growth, Sustainability and Environmental Quality -- Risk and Environmental Allocation.