Synopses & Reviews
The major elements of environmental economics are clearly described and illustrated for the noneconomist in this timely work. Business practitioners, environmental scientists, planners and engineers, and students will gain a broad understanding of what economics may contribute to environmental assessment and decisionmaking. The presentation is largely nonmathematical.
Review
Environmental managers often find economics mystifying. Barron demystifies it and illuminates modern regulatory innovations like pollution rights trading, voluntary programs, and market incentives.William K. Reilly Former Administrator (1988-1992) The United States Environmental Protection Agency
Review
This book moves economics from the abstruse and esoteric to what it is in the hands of a skilled practitioner; a way of thinking and a set of tools for helping solve real environmental problems when information is limited, time is short and the stakes are high.Milton Russell Senior Fellow, Joint Institute for Energy and Environment University of Tennessee
Review
It has long been my concern as a teacher and a policy analyst that environmental managers are not equipped for, or even open to dealing with the economic complexities of environmental policy. Now we have a volume that makes it possible for them to understand the common sense of environmental economics and to obtain sound advice on the application of economics to environmental problems.Robert K. Davis Former Head of the Economics Staff Office of the Secretary, U.S. Department of the Interior
Review
This book helps to fill a large and growing gap in the literature. Practitioners will find from it that economic analysis has an enormous amount to contribute to the resolution of environmental problems...the authors succeed in striking the right balance between theoretical correctness and commonsense. This rare event should make this book required reading for government and developmental agency officials, industry leaders and members of the general public seriously concerned about the difficult choices to be made in reconciling environmental, economic and social objectives in the quest for 'sustainable development.'Jeremy J. Warford Visiting Professor, Centre for Social and Economic Research on the Global Environment University College, England
Synopsis
Presents the major elements of environmental economics, focusing on the applications to environmental decisionmaking.
About the Author
WILLIAM F. BARRON is Associate Professor of Environmental Management at the University of Hong Kong.ROBERT D. PERLACK is the leader of a biomass and resource systems group at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.JOHN J. BOLAND is Professor of Geography and Environmental Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Table of Contents
Preface
An Economics Perspective on Environmental Management
Basic Concepts in Supply and Demand
Assessing Economic Efficiency: Comparing Values at the Margin
Externalities and Property Rights
Overuse of Common Property Resources
Benefit-Cost Analysis for Environmental Management
Monetary Valuation Techniques: Potentials and Limitations
Time-Dependent Valuation
Dealing with Risk and Uncertainty
Policy Instruments for Environmental Management
Applications of Environmental Economics: Illustrative Examples
Bibliography
Index