Book Description

One of the cornerstones of environmental economics is examining various causes of market failure. A market failure is said to have occurred when resources are not distributed in the most efficient manner, usually because of imperfect knowledge among the members of the market. The problem, then, is said not to be with the free market concept itself, but with the limitations of human understanding of market forces. Ideally, environmental economics views a healthy market as functioning such that all resources are distributed in such a way that they provide the greatest benefit to society; when this does not occur, the market can be said to have failed. One key cause of market failure as seen by environmental economics is a misuse of common property. This was perhaps best elaborated in 1968 by Garrett Hardin as the Tragedy of the Commons. Simply put, the tragedy is that even when it is in everyone’s best interest to use a resource reasonably, ensuring it remains around to deliver yields to everyone, a small handful of individuals can destroy the resource by acting out of greed. As technological development has increased, a number of finite commons have become apparent that were once viewed as infinite, and environmental economics, therefore, looks at them as potential sources of tragedy. Air, for example, is a common property, shared by all people of all nations. Useful as a textbook at the graduate and post-graduate levels, it caters to the needs of students, teachers, researchers, environment managers and policy-makers in India. Contents: • Overview of Environmental Economics • Ecological Issues of Farming • Protecting Natural Resources • Environmental Regulation and Energy • Marine Resources Management • The Economic Dynamics of Natural Resource • Energy and Environmental Politics • Renewable Energy Sources for Development • Sustainability Measurement • Economic Dimension and Development