Economics of the Environment

1. Front Matter

   Pages I-XIV

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2. Introduction

   1. The Problem

      Pages 3-6

   2. Using the Environment — An Allocation Problem

      Pages 7-24

3. Static Allocation Aspect

   1. Production Theory and Transformation Space

      Pages 27-41

   2. Optimal Environmental Use

      Pages 43-57

   3. Environmental Quality as a Public Good

      Pages 59-95

   4. Property-Rights Approach to the Environmental Problem

      Pages 97-104

4. Environmental-Policy Instruments

   1. Incidence of an Emission Tax

      Pages 107-125

   2. Policy Instruments

      Pages 127-152

   3. Policy Instruments and the Casuistics of Pollution

      Pages 153-162

   4. The Political Economy of Environmental Scarcity

      Pages 163-170

5. Environmental Allocation in Space

   1. Environmental Endowment, Competitiveness and Trade

      Pages 173-194

   2. Transfrontier Pollution

      Pages 195-207

   3. Global Environmental Media

      Pages 209-224

   4. Regional Aspects of Environmental Allocation

      Pages 225-244

6. Environmental Allocation in Time and under Uncertainty

   1. Long-Term Aspects of Environmental Quality

      Pages 247-262

   2. Economic Growth, Sustainability and Environmental Quality

      Pages 263-280

   3. Risk and Environmental Allocation

      Pages 281-293

7. Back Matter

   Pages 295-325

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„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.

• European Union (EU)
• allocation theory
• biodiversity
• economic growth
• environment
• environmental allocation
• environmental economics
• environmental policy
• political economy
• pollution
• public goods
• sustainability

• Kiel Institute of World Economics, Kiel, Germany

  Horst Siebert

• Johns Hopkins University, Bologna, Italy

  Stephen Muller

Policies and ethics