Resource Economics engages students and practitioners in natural resource and environmental issues from both local and global standpoints. The 4th edition of this approachable but rigorous text provides a new focus on risk and uncertainty as well as new applications that address the effect of new energy technologies on scarcity and climate change mitigation and adaptation, while preserving and systematically updating the approach and key features that drew many thousands of readers to the first three editions.More comprehensive than its competitors, this new edition frames issues and policies from resource scarcity and basic ecology to welfare criteria, property rights, and environmental ethics. Necessary economic, policy, and management concepts and tools are provided, along with applications to a variety of real-world problems. Also included are substantial treatments of new energy technologies, including fracking for oil and natural gas, solar and wind energy, and chapter length analyses of air quality, land markets and use, water resources, climate change, and sustainability.Primarily a textbook, this teaching tool is perfect for undergraduate and graduate students alike who are studying natural resource and environmental economics, as well as sustainability. Additionally, natural resource, environmental policy, and management decision-makers in the private and public sectors will find the content of this book useful for guiding real-world management and policy decisions. Academic, government, and NGO researchers will also find this to be a valuable resource.
Contents: PART I NATURAL RESOURCE AND ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY AND NATURAL RESOURCE SUPPLY AND SCARCITY1. Economic Growth, Resource Scarcity, and Environmental Degradation: Where Have We Been and Where are We Going? 2. Ecosystem Goods and Services: How Does a Healthy Environment Support Economic Production, Consumption, and Quality of Life? 3. Resource Supply and Scarcity: How Do We Define, Measure, and Monitor Natural Resource Supply and Scarcity? 4. Natural Resources, The Environment, and Policy: What is the Public Policy Context for Natural Resource and Environmental Economics? PART II MICROECONOMIC THEORY FOUNDATIONS FOR EFFICIENCY, WELL BEING, AND THE PROBLEM OF RISK 5. Economic Efficiency: How Does a Healthy Economy Allocate Natural Resources to Economic Production and Consumption? 6. Intertemporal Efficiency: How Do We Efficiently Allocate Natural Resources Over Time? 7. Risk and Uncertainty: How Do We Assess Risk and Make Risky Decisions Involving Natural Resources and the Environment? PART III ECONOMIC THEORY AND INSTITUTIONS FOR PUBLIC POLICY 8. Criteria for Economic Policy: How Do We Tell a Good Natural Resource and Environmental Policy From a Bad One? 9. Rules of the Game: How do they Influence Efficiency and Equity and How Can We Get Them Right? 10. Market Failure and Inefficiency: What Could Cause an Undesirable Market Allocation of Resources? 11. Institutional Framework: What is the Social and Legal Context for Natural Resource and Environmental Decisions and Policy? PART IVMEASURING AND COMPARING BENEFITS AND COSTS OF NATURAL RESOURCE AND ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY AND PROJECTS 12. Benefit-Cost Analysis: How Do We Determine If the Benefits of a ResourcePolicy Outweigh the Costs? 13. Measuring Economic Values: How Do We Account For All Relevant Benefits and Costs In Natural Resource And Environmental Decisions? PART V OPTIMAL MANAGEMENT OF NON-RENEWABLE AND RENEWABLE RESOURCES 14. Exhaustible Non-Renewable Resources: What Is The Optimal Use and Management of Non-Renewable Resources Over Time? 15. Renewable Resources: What Is The Optimal Use and Management of Renewable Resources Over Time? PART VI THE ECONOMICS OF AIR, LAND, AND WATER RESOURCE USE AND POLICY 16. The Control of Polluting Emissions: How Can We Protect the Environment and People From Air Pollution? 17. The Economics of Land: How Do Land Markets Work and How Do We Manage Land Use? 18. The Economics of Water: How Is Water Valued and Allocated? PART VII ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS, CLIMATE CHANGE, SUSTAINABILITY, CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE FUTURE 19. Understanding Sustainability: What Can Economics Tell Us About Using and Managing Resources in a Sustainable Manner? 20. Climate Change: The Earth's Climate Is Changing - Can Economics Help Us Figure Out What, If Anything, To Do About It? 21. Economics and Environmental Ethics: What Are the Ethical Implications of the Economic Approach to Conservation and Preservation and What Can We Learn From Other Ethical Approaches? 22. Economic Science, Economic Policy, and Doing the Best We Can: How Do We Find Our Way Forward? Index
