Search results for ""Author Charles Perrings""

Economics of Ecological Resources presents new or recently published work on ecological economies, sustainability, poverty, resource degradation and decision-making under uncertainty.The book explores the allocation of resources in jointly determined ecological-economic systems. An introductory chapter examines the work of other major contributors to the field of ecological economics and introduces Professor Perrings's work and the material in this volume. The first of three parts is concerned with the dynamics of joint systems and with the implications for the control and conservation of ecological resources. The second part focuses on the conditioning effect of the economic environment on private decisions in low income resource-dependent economies. The final part considers the way that decision makers handle the uncertainty that is an integral feature of the evolution of the ecological-economic system.Economics of Ecological Resources will be of interest to academics, researchers and students of ecological and environmental economics.

Read more less

This authoritative book presents the results of important new research into the economics of biodiversity conservation in sub-Saharan Africa. The contributors offer case studies of the economic causes of biodiversity loss in a range of ecosystem types - wetlands, montane forests, tropical moist forests, semi-arid savannas and lakes - and discuss the policy options for biodiversity conservation in each case. They also provide an in-depth analysis of the environmental consequences of policy reform at the macro- and micro- levels and offer practical recommendations for the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity.The Economics of Biodiversity Conservation in Sub-Saharan Africa will prove invaluable to scholars and policymakers working within the areas of environmental economics, environmental science and sustainable development.

Read more less

A unified theory of conservation that addresses the broad problem of conservation, the principles that inform conservation choices, and the application of those principles to the management of the natural world. The conservation of natural resources, like that of any other asset, involves trade-offs. Yet, in a world faced with the harsh realities of climate change, crafting the right environmental policies is an increasingly urgent task. In Conservation, Charles Perrings and Ann Kinzig bring together new research in economics and biodiversity to investigate conservation decisions and the theory behind them. Perrings and Kinzig apply the concept of conservation broadly to examine how the principles of conservation apply to the management of the natural world. They demonstrate that the same basic principles serve as the foundation of all rational conservation decisions, from managing financial assets to safeguarding at-risk ecosystems. Whether someone is deciding to hold or dispose of a stock or whether to exploit or preserve a natural resource, they are better off choosing to conserve a resource when its value to them, if conserved, is greater than its value when converted. The book also considers the context of such conservation decisions. Just as national tax rules influence choices about financial investments, environmental regulations within countries, and environmental agreements between countries, impact the decisions regarding natural resources. Building on their basic theory of conservation, Perrings and Kinzig address key issues in the field of environmental economics, including the valuation of ecosystem services and environmental assets; the limits on the substitutability of produced and natural capital; and the challenges posed by the often weak markets for ecosystem services oriented toward the public good. They also address the problem of scale: while decisions might be easier to make at the local level, many conservation policies need to apply at either the national or international level to succeed. Written by experts from both social and hard sciences, this book presents a unified theory of conservation and provides a model for a more effective way to approach the vitally important issue.

Read more less

In this important book some of the world's leading scholars in environmental economics explore the theoretical and empirical problems to be solved if policymakers are to develop accounts to capture the sustainability of economic development. The development indicators that have been used over the last half century and more, GDP and GNP, fail to record the change in the value of a nation's natural or environmental capital. The contributions to this volume consider why this is so, and what is required of genuine sustainability measures. They include both theoretical papers on the identification of sustainability measures in optimising and non-optimising economies, and empirical applications of the theory of green accounting to different sectors in developing countries. The extensive introduction surveys the state-of-the-art on natural resource accounting for economic development.The book makes a substantial contribution to the development of an important field of environmental economics. It should be read by all environment and development economists, and policymakers with a particular interest in natural resource accounting, sustainability and development.

Read more less

This major authoritative collection prepared by leading figures from North America and Europe presents a careful selection of the most important published articles and papers on ecological economics.Ecology and economics have developed as separate disciplines throughout their recent histories in the twentieth century. A signal contribution of this important collection is that it brings these different traditions together and successfully integrates the natural and social sciences in a volume that will be indispensable to anyone interested in ecological economics.This unique volume contains both classics in the field and contemporary research and gives a coherent picture of the development of the major threads in ecological economics.This collection is a "sampler" in the transdiciplinary field of ecological economics which paints a coherent picture of the development of some of the major threads in this new endeavour. It consists of a selection of both classics in the field and contemporary research, and is intended both for formal courses in ecological economics and for interested independent readers. The book contains 43 papers divided into six sections: 1. Historical Roots and Motivations; 2. Basic Organizing Principles of Ecological Economics; 3. Material and Energy Flows in Ecological and Economic Systems: Theory and Applications; 4. Accounting for Natural Capital, Ecological Limits, and Sustainable Scale; 5. Valuation of Ecological Services; and 6. Integrated Ecological Economic Modeling and Assessment.

Read more less

Biological invasions - the introduction of living organisms beyond their original range - are one of the main drivers of biodiversity loss. They are a major threat to human health and a source of pests and pathogens in the world's farms, forests and fisheries.The growth of international trade and travel means that more species are being introduced to more places than ever before. This book represents the first concerted effort to understand the economic causes and consequences of biological invasions. The volume discusses the theoretical and methodological issues raised by invasion, including control strategies, modelling options, and a study of the economic, institutional and policy conditions that predispose countries to biological invasions. Also included are case studies of fisheries, agricultural systems, tropical forests and protected areas affected by invasive species in locations such as the Black Sea, Australia and Africa, and an evaluation of control programmes.The Economics of Biological Invasions provides an important first step towards codification of the advice needed to develop decision rules, tools and protocols for the effective management of invasive biological species.This volume will be a fascinating read for researchers, academics and students in ecology, economics and environmental science with an interest in the biodiversity problem. The book will also prove to be essential reading for policymakers responsible for health, agriculture, forestry, fisheries and the environment in both developed and developing countries.

Read more less