Economic Evaluation of Sustainable Development


Book Description

This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license. This book presents methods to evaluate sustainable development using economic tools. The focus on sustainable development takes the reader beyond economic growth to encompass inclusion, environmental stewardship and good governance. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide a framework for outcomes. In illustrating the SDGs, the book employs three evaluation approaches: impact evaluation, cost-benefit analysis and objectives-based evaluation. The innovation lies in connecting evaluation tools with economics. Inclusion, environmental care and good governance, thought of as “wicked problems”, are given centre stage. The book uses case studies to show the application of evaluation tools. It offers guidance to evaluation practitioners, students of development and policymakers. The basic message is that evaluation comes to life when its links with socio-economic, environmental, and governance policies are capitalized on.




Economic Growth and Sustainable Development


Book Description

Economic growth, reflected in increases in national output per capita, makes possible an improved material standard of living and the alleviation of poverty. Sustainable development, popularly and concisely defined as ‘meeting the needs of the present generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs,' directly addresses the utilization of natural resources, the state of the environment, and intergenerational equity. Now in its second edition, Economic Growth and Sustainable Development features expanded discussion of income distribution, social capital and the insights of behavioural economics for climate change mitigation. Boxed case studies have been added which explore the impact of economic growth on people and countries in both the developed and developing world. This text addresses the following fundamental questions: What causes economic growth? Why do some countries grow faster than others? What accounts for the extraordinary growth in the world’s population over the past two centuries? What are the current trends in population and will these trends continue? How do we measure sustainable development and is sustainable development compatible with economic growth? Why is climate change the greatest market failure of all time? What can be done to mitigate climate change and global warming? With a blend of formal models, empirical evidence, history and policy, this text provides a coherent and comprehensive treatment of economic growth and sustainable development. It is suitable for those who study development economics, sustainable development and ecological economics.




Sustainable Growth and Development of Economic Systems


Book Description

This contributed volume presents the outcomes of multidisciplinary studies on the problem of sustainable economic development. The key issues addressed here are economic transformation, crisis management, formation and implementation of industrial policy in the innovative economy, and the development of individual industries (oil refining, transport, education, tourism, the financial sector, etc.), as well as the problem of resistance to changes in the economy. Special attention is paid to economic growth under unstable conditions and the impact of digitalization on the development of economic processes. This book is dividided into five parts, the first of which deals with factors and conditions determining the sustainable development of different socio-economic systems, as well as issues in connection with the post-crisis development of regional economies. In turn, the second part is devoted to an analysis of the innovative development of the economy, risk assessment for innovation projects, readiness for changes and innovations, and various instruments of innovative economic development. Prospects for the digitalization of the economy and the current changes in economic systems caused by digitalization are considered in the third part of the book. In the fourth part, the authors discuss the specific features of labor market development, and professional competencies that will be essential to the sustainable development of the economy. In closing, the fifth part presents sectoral and intra-organizational aspects of sustainable economic development.




OECD Insights Sustainable Development Linking Economy, Society, Environment


Book Description

A succinct examination of the concept of sustainable development: what it means; how it is impacted by globalisation, production and consumption; how it can be measured; and what can be done to promote it.







Beyond Growth


Book Description

"Daly is turning economics inside out by putting the earth and its diminishing natural resources at the center of the field . . . a kind of reverse Copernican revolution in economics." --Utne Reader "Considered by most to be the dean of ecological economics, Herman E. Daly elegantly topples many shibboleths in Beyond Growth. Daly challenges the conventional notion that growth is always good, and he bucks environmentalist orthodoxy, arguing that the current focus on 'sustainable development' is misguided and that the phrase itself has become meaningless." --Mother Jones "In Beyond Growth, . . . [Daly] derides the concept of 'sustainable growth' as an oxymoron. . . . Calling Mr. Daly 'an unsung hero,' Robert Goodland, the World Bank's top environmental adviser, says, 'He has been a voice crying in the wilderness.'" --G. Pascal Zachary, The Wall Street Journal "A new book by that most far-seeing and heretical of economists, Herman Daly. For 25 years now, Daly has been thinking through a new economics that accounts for the wealth of nature, the value of community and the necessity for morality." --Donella H. Meadows, Los Angeles Times "For clarity of vision and ecological wisdom Herman Daly has no peer among contemporary economists. . . . Beyond Growth is essential reading." --David W. Orr, Oberlin College "There is no more basic ethical question than the one Herman Daly is asking." --Hal Kahn, The San Jose Mercury News "Daly's critiques of economic orthodoxy . . . deliver a powerful and much-needed jolt to conventional thinking." --Karen Pennar, Business Week Named one of a hundred "visionaries who could change your life" by the Utne Reader,Herman Daly is the recipient of many awards, including a Grawemeyer Award, the Heineken Prize for environmental science, and the "Alternative Nobel Prize," the Right Livelihood Award. He is professor at the University of Maryland's School of Public Affairs, and coauthor with John Cobb, Jr., of For the Common Good.




Sustainable Development Concepts


Book Description

Concepts; The growing recognition of sustainable development as a policy goal; Purpose of this paper; Methodology used; Structure of the paper; Some issues to be addressed; Measuring the economy and the environment; Definitions of growth, development, and sustainability concepts; Optimal control and sustainability; Applications; Economic growth and the environment - balancing consumption and clean-up expenditure; Non-renewable resources I: sustainability and the discount rate; Non-renewable resource II: sustainability and environmental dependence combined; Non-renewable resources III: the role of investment, and technological limits to growth; Renewable resources: poverty, survival, and outside assistance; Income distribution and sustainable development; Are discount rates too high? Information and uncertainty; Operationality: putting the ideas into practice; Conclusions and suggestions for further work.




The Economics of Sustainable Development


Book Description

This book applies rigorous economic analysis to the question of sustainable development. It considers the inter-relationship between growth and sustainability showing that one does not necessarily exist to the detriment of the other. Sustainability may be measured and defined in national accounting terms and the contributors explore a potentially powerful theoretical definition. Case studies on Morocco and China examine some of the domestic policy requirements of sustainability, revealing the desirability of quite complex combinations of policies. International policy aspects of sustainability are considered, such as technology transfers and the establishment of workable agreements to reduce global pollution. The volume demonstrates the need to build the sustainability debate on sound economic foundations, and the ability of economists to provide such foundations.




Sustainable Economic Development


Book Description

This book introduces the influence and impacts of green economy and green growth on sustainable economic development. Combining empirical and theoretical information, it provides detailed descriptions of state-of-the-art approaches, methods and initiatives from around the globe that illustrate green policies and demonstrate how green growth can be implemented on an international scale. It also includes analyses of specific issues, such as public policies and sustainable development plans that influence industry and increase trade in environmental goods and services – the way to a greener economy, green tourism, green agriculture, green learning and green equilibrium in modern society. Matters such as green procurement, environmentally oriented implementation strategies, and the importance of employee skills in the development of a sustainable future workforce are described, as well as a selection of tools that can be used to foster sustainable growth, green economies and green growth. The book also offers a timely contribution to the dissemination of approaches and methods that improve the way we perceive and utilize natural resources and the technologies designed to protect them. Puts forward new ideas for creating a more sustainable future.




Economy & Ecology: Towards Sustainable Development


Book Description

After a period of relative silence, recent years have been marked by an upswing of interest in environmental issues. The publication of the report of the World Commission on Environment and Development on 'Our Common Future' (1987) has acted as a catalyst for a revival of the environmental awareness, not only regarding local and daily pollution problems, but also -and in particular- regarding global environmental decay and threats to a sustainable development. In a recent study by W.M. Stigliani et al., on 'Future Environments for Europe' (Executive Rep~rt 15, IIASA, Laxenburg, 1989) the environmental implications of various alternative socioeconomic development pathways with respect to eleven environmental issues that could become major problems in the future are analysed. These issues include: Managing water resources in an era of climate change. Acidification of soils and lakes in Europe. Long-term forestry management and the possibility of a future shortfall in wood supply. Areas of Europe marginalized by mainstream economic and agricultural development. Sea level rise. Chemical pollution of coastal waters. Toxic materials buildup and the potential for chemical time bombs. Non-point-source emissions of potentially toxic substances. Transportation growth versus air quality. Decreasing multi-functionally of land owing to urban and suburban land development. Increasing summer demand for electricity, and the impact on air quality.