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Economics and the Environment
Eban S. Goodstein (Author), Jason C. Wong (Author), Stephen Polasky (Author)
9781394307951, Wiley
Paperback / softback, published 1 May 2025
464 pages
25.2 x 20.3 x 2 cm, 0.794 kg
Enables students to understand and shape environmental policy through economics Economics and the Environment equips students with a structured and insightful approach to examining critical questions at the heart of contemporary policy and sustainability debates through the lens of economics. Empowering students to evaluate real-world issues while building a strong foundation in environmental economics, this popular textbook explores critical questions such as “How much pollution is too much?” and “Is the government up to the job?” The fully updated tenth edition of Economics and the Environment combines theoretical rigor with practical application, employing case studies, illustrative examples, and end-of-chapter exercises that enhance understanding and retention. Each concise chapter is designed to foster critical thinking, covering topics including pollution control, government policy, clean technology, and sustainable development. Throughout the text, students are encouraged to consider economic incentives, ethical implications, and the role of global cooperation in the context of pressing environmental issues. A vital tool for analyzing and addressing environmental issues in today’s world, Economics and the Environment, Tenth Edition is perfect for undergraduate and graduate courses on environmental economics, policy analysis, and sustainable development within economics, business, and environmental studies programs. New to this Edition: Wiley Advantage:
Preface ix 1 Four Economic Questions About Climate Change 1 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Four Questions 2 1.3 How Much Pollution Is Too Much? 5 1.4 Is Government Up to the Job? 9 1.5 How Can We Do Better? 9 1.6 Can We Resolve Global Issues? 12 1.7 Summary 13 Part I How Much Pollution Is Too Much? 2 Ethics and Economics 19 2.1 Introduction 19 2.2 Utility and Utilitarianism 20 2.3 Social Welfare 22 2.4 Summary 24 3 Pollution and Resource Degradation as Externalities 27 3.1 Introduction 27 3.2 The Open- Access Problem 29 3.3 The Public Goods Problem 32 3.4 Is Sustainable Business a Solution? 35 3.5 Summary 36 4 The Efficiency Standard 40 4.1 Introduction 40 4.2 Efficiency Defined 40 4.3 Efficient Pollution Levels 43 4.4 Marginals and Totals 46 4.5 The Coase Theorem Introduced 47 4.6 Air Pollution Control in Baltimore: Calculating the Efficient Standard 48 4.7 The Ethical Basis of the Efficiency Standard 50 4.8 Real- World Benefit–Cost Analysis 51 4.9 Summary 54 5 Measuring the Benefits of Environmental Protection 63 5.1 Introduction 63 5.2 Use, Option, and Existence Value: Types of Nonmarket Benefits 64 5.3 Consumer Surplus, WTP, and WTA: Measuring Benefits 65 5.4 Risk and the Value of Statistical Life 67 5.5 Revealed Preference I: Hedonic Regression 72 5.6 Revealed Preference II: Travel Cost 73 5.7 Revealed Preference III: Defensive Expenditures 75 5.8 Stated Preference: Contingent Valuation 76 5.9 Summary 81 Appendix 5A: WTA and WTP Redux 86 5A.1 An Indifference Curve Analysis 86 5A.2 The Endowment Effect or Substitutability? 88 6 Measuring the Costs of Environmental Protection 90 6.1 Introduction 90 6.2 Direct Costs of Environmental Regulation 91 6.3 Opportunity Costs of Environmental Regulation: Productivity 93 6.4 Opportunity Costs of Environmental Regulation: Employment 95 6.5 General Equilibrium Effects and the Double Dividend 101 6.6 A Final Look at Benefit–Cost Analysis 102 6.7 Summary 105 7 The Safety Standard 109 7.1 Introduction 109 7.2 Defining the Right to Safety 110 7.3 The Safety Standard: Inefficient 112 7.4 The Safety Standard: Not Cost- Effective 113 7.5 The Safety Standard: Environmental Justice or Regressive Impact? 114 7.6 Siting Hazardous Waste Facilities: Safety versus Efficiency 116 7.7 Summary 119 8 The Sustainability Standard 123 8.1 Introduction 123 8.2 Sustainability: Neoclassical and Ecological Approaches 124 8.3 Future Benefits, Costs, and Discounting 127 8.4 An Example of Discounting: Light Bulbs 129 8.5 Savings, Investment, and Market Interest Rates 130 8.6 The Social Discount Rate and Dynamic Efficiency 131 8.7 Discounting Climate Change 134 8.8 Ecological Economics, Strong Sustainability, and the Precautionary Principle 136 8.9 Strong Sustainability in Practice: Endangered Species, EIS, and Reach 137 8.10 Summary 139 9 Measuring Sustainability 143 9.1 Introduction 143 9.2 Malthus and Ecological Economics 144 9.3 Modern Debates: Limits to Growth and Planetary Boundaries 146 9.4 Measuring Strong Sustainability: Impacts and Footprints 148 9.5 Measuring Weak Sustainability: Net National Welfare and Inclusive Wealth 152 9.6 Natural Capital Depreciation 156 9.7 Are We Achieving Sustainability? 158 9.8 Discounting, Sustainability, and Investing for the Future 162 9.9 The Ecological–Neoclassical Debate in Context 164 9.10 Summary 165 10 Natural Resources and Ecosystem Services 171 10.1 Introduction 171 10.2 Nonrenewable Resources and the Hotelling Model 172 10.3 Testing the Nonrenewable Resource Model 178 10.4 The Roller Coaster Ride of Oil Prices 179 10.5 Peak Oil? 180 10.6 Renewable Resources 182 10.7 Renewable Resource Policy: Fisheries and Endangered Species 186 10.8 Ecosystem Services and Natural Capital 189 10.9 Summary 192 11 Is More Really Better? Consumption, Welfare, and Behavior 197 11.1 Introduction 197 11.2 Money and Happiness 198 11.3 Social Norms and the Rat Race 199 11.4 Positional Goods and Consumption Externalities 202 11.5 Welfare with Social Consumption 203 11.6 Overconsumption Policy Solutions 205 11.7 Behavioral Economics and Behavior Change 208 11.8 Summary 209 Part II Is Government Up to the Job? 12 The Political Economy of Environmental Regulation 215 12.1 Introduction 215 12.2 The Process of Environmental Regulation 216 12.3 Regulation under Imperfect Information 218 12.4 Bureaucratic Discretion and Political Influence 219 12.5 The Influence Game: Pre- 2016 221 12.6 The End of the Bipartisan Consensus 224 12.7 Better Information, More Democracy 229 12.8 Summary 231 13 An Overview of Environmental Legislation 235 13.1 Introduction 235 13.2 Cleaning the Air 236 13.3 The Clean Air Act and Climate Change 239 13.4 Fishable and Swimmable Waters 242 13.5 Hazardous Waste Disposal on Land 243 13.6 Chemicals and Pesticides 246 13.7 Endangered Species Protection 249 13.8 Summary 251 14 The Regulatory Record: Achievements and Obstacles 254 14.1 Introduction 254 14.2 Accomplishments of Environmental Regulation 254 14.3 Monitoring and Enforcement: Political Constraints 258 14.4 The Appeal of Incentive- Based Regulation 261 14.5 Beyond Regulation? Promoting Clean Technology 262 14.6 Summary 264 Part III How Can We Do Better? 15 Incentive- Based Regulation: Theory 271 15.1 Introduction 271 15.2 The Cost- Effectiveness Rule 272 15.3 IB Regulation and Cost- Effectiveness 275 15.4 IB Regulation and Technological Progress 278 15.5 Potential Problems with IB Regulation 279 15.6 Summary 285 Appendix 15A: Imperfect Regulation in an Uncertain World 288 15A.1 Minimizing the Costs of Being Wrong 289 15A.2 An Application to Greenhouse Gas Emissions 291 15A.3 Summary 292 Appendix 15B: Incentive- Compatible Regulation 293 15B.1 Incentives to Lie 293 15B.2 Incentives to Tell the Truth 295 15B.3 Summary 297 16 Incentive- Based Regulation: Practice 298 16.1 Introduction 298 16.2 Lead and Chlorofluorocarbons 299 16.3 Trading Urban Air Pollutants 299 16.4 Marketable Permits and Acid Rain 303 16.5 Carbon Trading in the Northeast and California 306 16.6 Two Failed U.S. Efforts: Mercury and Carbon 309 16.7 The European Emissions Trading System 311 16.8 Pollution Taxes and Their Relatives 313 16.9 Summary 317 17 Promoting Clean Technology: Theory 321 17.1 Introduction 321 17.2 Path Dependence and Clean Technology 322 17.3 Clean Technology Defined 323 17.4 If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Rich? 326 17.5 Picking the Winning Path 329 17.6 Promoting Early- Stage Clean Technologies 331 17.7 Promoting Late- Stage Clean Technologies 333 17.8 Clean Technology: Two Case Studies 336 17.9 Summary 341 18 Energy Policy and the Future 347 18.1 Introduction 347 18.2 Technology Options: Electricity and Heat 348 18.3 Policy Options: Electricity and Heat 357 18.4 Technology Options: Transport 361 18.5 Policy Options: Transport 365 18.6 Summary 370 Part IV How Can We Solve Global Challenges? 19 Poverty, Population, and the Environment 375 19.1 Introduction 375 19.2 Poverty and the Environment 377 19.3 The Population Picture in Perspective 380 19.4 An Economic Approach to Family Size 382 19.5 Controlling Population Growth 383 19.6 Consumption and the Global Environment 387 19.7 Envisioning a Sustainable Future 389 19.8 Summary 391 20 Environmental Policy in Low- Income Countries 394 20.1 Introduction 394 20.2 The Political Economy of Sustainable Development 394 20.3 Ending Environmentally Damaging Subsidies 397 20.4 Establishing and Enforcing Property Rights 398 20.5 Regulatory Approaches 401 20.6 Sustainable Technology: Development and Transfer 405 20.7 Resource Conservation and Debt Relief 407 20.8 Trade and the Environment 412 20.9 Summary 416 21 The Economics of Global Agreements 420 21.1 Introduction 420 21.2 Agreements as Public Goods 421 21.3 Monitoring and Enforcement 422 21.4 The Ozone Layer and Biodiversity 424 21.5 Stopping Global Warming: Theory 427 21.6 Stopping Global Warming: Reality 429 21.7 Summary 432 Selected Websites for Environmental and Natural Resource Economists 437 Index I- 1
Subject Areas: The environment [RN]
