Environmental Economics in Developing Countries: Issues and Challenges

406 Pages·2022·7.875 MB·English

by  Achiransu Acharyya

‘Professor Rabindra Nath Bhattacharya’s research in environmental
economics ranges from the micro to the macro, from investigations
of common property resource institutions on land and at sea to the
interrelationships among economic growth, energy consumption, and
climate change. This volume assembles works written in his honour by a
distinguished group of scholars from institutions in South Asia and around
the world. In addition to paying tribute to Professor Bhattacharya’s
diverse contributions, the chapters demonstrate the ability of economics
to help us understand and address some of the most challenging problems
facing humanity.’
Jeffrey R. Vincent, Korstian Distinguished Professor in Forest
Economics and Management in the Nicholas School of the Environment
and Earth Sciences, Duke University, USA

Environmental Economics in
Developing Countries
The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the vulnerabilities of socio-economic
systems globally and exposed the risks that natural capital degradation imposes
on human health, economy, and society. This book studies the environmental
challenges faced by developing economies in a post-COVID-19 world.
Exploring diverse case studies from South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, the volume
discusses the impact that economic development and, recently, COVID-19 has had
on the environment, ecology, and economy of these regions. It analyzes Nature
conservation policies aimed at minimizing ecological damage arising from economic
development and discusses the policy objectives of sustainable development. It also
highlights the significant role that environmental economics networks have played
in capacity building, framing of policies using ecological economics tools, and
developing a local leadership trained in addressing local sustainability issues.
An important contribution to the study of environmental economics of the
Global South, this book will be of interest to students and researchers of economics,
environment, development studies, development economics, environmental policies,
and South Asia studies. It will also be useful for policymakers and NGOs working
in this field.
Achiransu Acharyya is Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics at
Visva-Bharati (A Central University) situated in Santiniketan, West Bengal, India.
Previously he has taught at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad,
and St. Xavier’s University, Kolkata, India. His areas of teaching and research are
mainly in natural resource and environmental economics, agricultural economics, and
economics of water resources. For the past several years, he has been working on
areas involving property rights and ownership of land and water, the economics of
groundwater resources in agriculture, the use of energy for agriculture, and sustainable
development. He has several national and international publications in journals and
books to his credit. He has worked on several national and international research
projects related to agriculture, the environment, and sustainable development. He
visited the University of Oregon, USA, on a teaching cum research fellowship. He has
also visited the University of Nijmegen in The Netherlands as a visiting scholar. He
has received various awards for his research, including the third prize in the James
D. Wolfensohn Essay Competition sponsored by The World Bank, Washington DC,
USA and the Dr. N.A. Mujumdar Prize awarded by the Indian Society of Agricultural
Economics, Mumbai, India. He is Chief Editor of the journal Indian Groundwater. He
is also Associate Editor of the reputed Bengali social science journal Anustup.

Environmental Economics in
Developing Countries
Issues and Challenges
Edited by Achiransu Acharyya
First published 2023
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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Acharyya, Achiransu, editor.
Title: Environmental economics in developing countries: issues and
challenges/edited by Achiransu Acharyya.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge, 2023. |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2022025954 (print) | LCCN 2022025955 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781032182919 (hardback) | ISBN 9781032384504 (paperback) |
ISBN 9781003253884 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Economic development–Environmental aspects–
Developing countries. | Sustainable development–Developing
countries. | Environmental economics–Developing countries.
Classification: LCC HC59.72.E5 E5844 2023 (print) | LCC HC59.72.E5
(ebook) | DDC 333.7/091724–dc23/eng/20220601
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022025954
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022025955
ISBN: 978-1-032-18291-9 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-38450-4 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-25388-4 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003253884
Typeset in Sabon
by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
Essays in Honour of Rabindra N.
Bhattacharya
Professor Rabindra N. Bhattacharya has been a pioneer in introducing the
subject of environmental economics to students and researchers in India in
the late 1980s. After obtaining a PhD from Utah State University, Logan,
Utah, USA, where he won the ‘Outstanding Achievement Award’, Professor
Bhattacharya joined the University of North Bengal in West Bengal, where
he taught for almost ten years before shifting to the University of Kalyani,
another University of West Bengal, India, from where he retired as Professor
in 2004. During his career, he has published many papers on environ-
mental economics in topmost journals. Professor Bhattacharya has been
a resource person for SANDEE (South Asian Network for Development
and Environmental Economics) for more than ten years and has imparted
knowledge on environmental economics to many students from South Asia.
This volume is a humble attempt to forward the legacy that he has cre-
ated. All the authors in this book have contributed their chapters in his
honour.

Contents
List of figures xii
List of tables xiv
List of contributors xvi
Foreword: Understanding the Role of Nature in
Economic Development xxiv
PARTHA DASGUPTA
Preface xxviii
Acknowledgements xxx
List of abbreviations xxxi
Introduction and Overview: Environmental Economics in
Developing Countries 1
ACHIRANSU ACHARYYA
PART I
Environment, Ecology and Development 35
1 Three Theories of Growth, Environment, and Poverty Nexus 37
M.N. MURTY
2 Natural Capital, Pandemic, and Development: Exploration of
Nexus and Solutions 51
PUSHPAM KUMAR, AMELIA HOLMES, AND SAMIA ISLAM
3 COVID-19: A Neo-Malthusian Event?: Ecological links,
Challenges, and Opportunities 81
RAMPRASAD SENGUPTA AND CHETANA CHAUDHURI
4 Electrification and Development: Empirical Evidence on the
Effect of Electricity Provision on Household Welfare 109
UJJAYANT CHAKRAVORTY AND MARTINO PELLI