Economics and Ecology: New frontiers and sustainable development

218 Pages·1993·5.137 MB·English

by  Edward B. Barbier (auth.), Edward B. Barbier (eds.)

Economics and Ecology
ECONOMICS AND
ECOLOGY
New frontiers and sustainable development
Edited by
Edward B. Barbier
Senior Lecturer
Department of Environmental Economics
and Environmental Management
University of York
UK
n
ID I
Springer-Science+Business Media, B. V
First edition 1993
Reprinted 1994
©1993 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
Originally published by Chapman & Hall in 1993
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1s t edition 1993
ISBN 978-94-010-4663-3 ISBN 978-94-011-1518-6 (eBook)
DOl 10.1007/978-94-011-1518-6
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Contents
List of Contributors ix
Preface xi
Acknowledgements xiii
1 Introduction: economics and ecology - the next frontier 1
Edward B. Barbier
1.1 A short parable 1
1.2 Natural capital, economics and ecology in development 2
1.3 Outline of the book 5
References 8
2 Environmentally sustainable development: optimal economic
conditions 11
Edward B. Barbier and Anil Markandya
2.1 Introduction 11
2.2 A model of environmentally sustainable economic activity 14
2.3 Optimal sustainable economic growth 20
2.4 Conclusions 25
References 26
3 Ecological economic systems analysis: order and chaos 29
Robert Costanza
3.1 What is systems analysis? 29
3.2 Scientific uncertainty: beyond risk, into the abyss 37
3.3 Conclusions 42
Acknowledgements 42
References 43
vi Contents
4 Sustainable agriculture: the trade-offs with productivity, stability
and equitability 46
Gordon R. Conway
4.1 Introduction 46
4.2 Agroecosystems 47
4.3 The measurement of agroecosystem properties 50
4.4 Trade-offs 58
4.5 Conclusions 63
References 63
5 Stress, shock and the sustainability of optimal resource utilization
in a stochastic environment 66
Charles Perrings
5.1 Introduction 66
5.2 An ecological model 68
5.3 The management problem 74
5.4 A simulation 78
5.5 The economic environment and ecological stress 83
5.6 Stress, shock and the discount rate 89
5.7 Conclusions 92
References 94
6 Economic and ecological carrying capacity: applications to pastoral
systems in Zimbabwe 96
Ian Scoones
6.1 Introduction 96
6.2 The productivity of CA cattle: what is the economic CC? 99
6.3 Ecological sustainability: limits to livestock numbers in CAs 102
6.4 Investigating land degradation 105
6.5 The determinants of ecological CC: how do cattle survive in
CAs? 109
6.6 Livestock management in variable environments: some policy
implications 112
6.7 Conclusions 115
Acknowledgements 115
Archival sources 115
References 116
Contents vii
7 Tropical forests and biodiversity conservation: a new ecological
imperative 118
Ian R. Swingland
7.1 What is biodiversity? 118
7.2 What do we know about biodiversity? 119
7.3 The role of tropical forests as 'sources' of global biodiversity 121
7.4 Interpretations of biodiversity for planning 123
7.5 Issues concerning biodiversity and tropical forests 124
7.6 Empirical efforts to research and resolve these issues 126
7.7 Conclusion 128
References 128
8 Optimal economic growth and the conservation of biological
diversity 130
Scott Barrett
8.1 Introduction 130
8.2 The species-area relation 133
8.3 The model 136
8.4 Solution to the autonomous control problem 138
8.5 Solution to the nonautonomous control problem 138
8.6 Conclusions 143
Acknowledgements 143
References 144
9 The viewing value of elephants 146
Gardner Brown Jr and Wes Henry
9.1 Introduction 146
9.2 The viewing value of elephants 147
9.3 Contingent valuation method 151
9.4 Safari expenditures in Kenya 154
References 155
10 Ecology and economics in small islands: constructing a framework
for sustainable development 156
Stephen M.J. Bass
10.1 Introduction 156
10.2 The vulnerabilities of island economies and island ecologies 161
10.3 Islands as opportunities for sustainable development 169
10.4 Frameworks for sustainable development 171
References 175
viii Contents
11 Sustainable economic development: economic and ethical
principles 177
R.K. Turner and D.W. Pearce
11.1 Introduction 177
11.2 Weak and strong sustainability paradigms 179
11.3 The valuation of environmental resources 182
11.4 Sustainability and ethics 190
11.5 Conclusions 192
References 193
12 Postscript 195
Edward B. Barbier
References 197
Index
Contributors
Edward B. Barbier
Senior Lecturer,
Department of Environmental
Economics and Environmental
Management,
University of York
UK
Scott Barrett
Assistant Professor of Economics,
London Business School
UK
Stephen M.J. Bass
Associate Director,
Forestry and Land Use Programme,
International Institute for Environment and Development
Gardner Brown Jr
Professor of Economics,
University of Washington
USA
Gordon R. Conway
Vice Chancellor of the University of Sussex,
Sussex House, University of Sussex
UK
x Contributors
Robert Costanza
Director,
Maryland International Institute for Ecological Economics
UK
Anil Markandya
Harvard Institute for International Development
London
UK
David W. Pearce
Director,
Centre for Social and Economic Research on the Global Environment
(CSERGE),
University College London and University of East Anglia
UK
Charles Perrings
Professor & Head of Dept.
Department of Environmental Economics and Environmental Management,
University of York
UK
Ian Scoones
Research Associate,
London Environmental Economics Centre
UK
Ian R. Swingland
Founder and Research Director,
The Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology
UK
R. Kerry Turner
Executive Director,
Centre for Social and Economic Research on the Global Environment
(CSERGE),
University of East Anglia
UK
Preface
In the Summer of 1991, Bob Carling, who was then Life Sciences Editor of
Chapman & Hall, approached me over the possibility of producing an
edited volume of works on economics and ecology. As we discussed the
matter further, what became clear is that there is a growing literature on
the' frontiers' of both disciplines that has involved economists 'borrowing'
from ecology and ecologists 'borrowing' from economics. We decided that
this volume should try to provide a small cross-section of that literature.
I was very much interested in editing this volume for several reasons.
First, one of my principal interests in economics has been how the economic
analysis of natural resource and environmental problems can benefit from
the concepts and lessons learned from other disciplines, in particular
ecology. I was grateful at having the opportunity to pull together a selection
of readings that illustrate how the integration of the two disciplines can
lead to fruitful analysis. Second, I was also aware that, as Director of the
London Environmental Economics Centre and as a Senior Researcher at the
International Institute of Environment and Development, I was fortunate
to have worked with or to have known a number of economists and
ecologists whose work would be ideal for this volume. I was delighted that
so many of my friends and colleagues were as enthusiastic about this
project as I, and agreed to participate. Finally, I felt that there would indeed
be interest in such a volume from economists, ecologists and others because
of recent attempts to establish an intellectual' dialogue' between the two
disciplines. Of the fora that I have participated in, the two that stand out
most in my mind are the International Society of Ecological Economics, and
their new journal Ecological Economics, and the Beijer International Institute
of Ecological Economics of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Hope
fully, there will be more in the future.
One cannot, of course, ignore recent developments on the policy-making