| 1. |
- Barrett, Scott, et al.
(författare)
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Social dimensions of fertility behavior and consumption patterns in the Anthropocene
- 2020
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. - : Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. - 0027-8424 .- 1091-6490. ; 117:12, s. 6300-6307
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We consider two aspects of the human enterprise that profoundly affect the global environment: population and consumption. We show that fertility and consumption behavior harbor a class of externalities that have not been much noted in the literature. Both are driven in part by attitudes and preferences that are not egoistic but socially embedded; that is, each household's decisions are influenced by the decisions made by others. In a famous paper, Garrett Hardin [G. Hardin, Science 162, 1243-1248 (1968)] drew attention to overpopulation and concluded that the solution lay in people abandoning the freedom to breed. That human attitudes and practices are socially embedded suggests that it is possible for people to reduce their fertility rates and consumption demands without experiencing a loss in wellbeing. We focus on fertility in sub-Saharan Africa and consumption in the rich world and argue that bottom-up social mechanisms rather than top-down government interventions are better placed to bring about those ecologically desirable changes.
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| 2. |
- Söderqvist, T., et al.
(författare)
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Bringing Ecologists and Economists Together : the Askö Meetings and Papers
- 2011
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Bok (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The Askö meetings are an annual forum where leading economists and ecologists come together to discuss the myriad issues and challenges surrounding sustainable development. Organized by the Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics and held on the Island of Askö in the Stockholm Archipelago, Sweden, the meetings facilitate a dialogue in which various players with differing perspectives can arrive at common conclusions and solutions that benefit us all. Bringing Ecologists and Economists Together showcases ten papers chosen from Askö meetings held from 1993 to 2002. Most of them were written for a wide audience and published in well-renowned journals, and each one is introduced by an ecologist and an economist who place the papers in a contemporary context. Lucid and accessible, these papers are important reading for students and researchers in ecology, economics and environmental sciences as well as anyone else interested in how ecologists and economists can agree upon crucial sustainability issues. "Meeting the sustainability challenge on our human-dominated planet requires creative, interdisciplinary collaborations like those that take place at the Askö meetings. The results of such collaborations, like this collection of Askö-essays and commentaries, represent a significant contribution to our future." Jane Lubchenco, Professor of Marine Biology and Oregon State University Distinguished Professor of Zoology and the administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) “The Askö meetings were extraordinary and full of impassioned debate. The bridges we did find in rare moments were formed between scholars who recognized the need for a minimum level of complexity, enjoying exploring the full range of non-linear behavior, with unexpected flips and unknowns, where transformations are possible, where novelty dominates. Such periods are often viewed as a curse, not as an opportunity, but these wonderful, flexible meetings opened some of our eyes.” Buzz Holling, Professor in Ecological Sciences at the University of Florida “The bright minds that the Askö meetings bring together have shaped an essential cross-border research agenda and societal discussion. It is wonderful to read this overview and realize how relevant these ideas still are.” Aart de Zeeuw, Professor in Environmental Economics at Tilburg University and Director, Tilburg Sustainability Institute
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| 3. |
- Fredga, Karl, et al.
(författare)
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Life Cycle Analyses and Resource Assessments
- 2010
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Ingår i: Ambio. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0044-7447 .- 1654-7209. ; 39:Suppl. 1, s. 36-41
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Prof. Ulgiati stresses that we should always use an ecosystem view when transforming energy from one form to another. Sustainable growth and development of both environmental and human-dominated systems require optimum use of available resources for maximum power output. We have to adapt to the laws of nature because nature has to take care of all the waste products we produce. The presentation addresses a much needed shift away from linear production and consumption pattern, toward reorganization of economies and lifestyle that takes complexity—of resources, of the environment and of the economy—into proper account. The best way to reach maximum yield from the different kinds of biomass is to use biorefineries. Biorefinery is defined as the sustainable processing of biomass into a spectrum of marketable products like heat, power, fuels, chemicals, food, feed, and materials. However, biomass from agricultural land must be used for the production of food and not fuel. Prof. Voss focuses on the sustainability of energy supply chains and energy systems. Life cycle analyses (LCA) provides the conceptual framework for a comprehensive comparative evaluation of energy supply options with regard to their resource requirements as well as the health and environmental impact. Full scope LCA considers not only the emissions from plant operation, construction, and decommissioning but also the environmental burdens and resource requirements associated with the entire lifetime of all relevant upstream and downstream processes within the energy chain. This article describes the results of LCA analyses for state-of-the-art heating and electricity systems as well as of advanced future systems. Total costs are used as a measure for the overall resource consumption.
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| 4. |
- Mäler, Karl-Göran, et al.
(författare)
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Measuring sustainability under regime shift uncertainty : a resilience pricing approach
- 2010
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Ingår i: Environment and Development Economics. - Uppsala : Department of Economics, Uppsala University. - 1355-770X .- 1469-4395. ; 15:Part 6 Sp. Iss. SI, s. 707-719
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper is concerned with the theory of resilience pricing and sustainability measurement in the presence of risk for regime shift in a dynamic economy-environment system. Following Holling (1973), we consider resilience as the maximal perturbation that the system can absorb without flipping into a qualitatively different state. Using a multisector growth model under uncertainty, we derive the shadow price of resilience that affects the probabilities of the system to flip in the future. We also analyze the role of resilience on sustainability with both ex-ante and ex-post welfare measures.
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| 5. |
- Walker, Brian, et al.
(författare)
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Incorporating Resilience in the Assessment of Inclusive Wealth : An Example from South East Australia
- 2010
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Ingår i: Environmental and Resource Economics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0924-6460 .- 1573-1502. ; 45:2, s. 183-202
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper explores the consequences of changes in a system’s resilience on the sustainability of resource allocation decisions, as measured by Inclusive Wealth (IW) (Arrow et al. in Environ Resour Econ 26:647–685, 2003). We incorporate an estimate of resilience in IW by taking account of known or suspected thresholds that can lead to irreversible (or practically irreversible) changes in the productivity and value of assets and hence social welfare. These thresholds allow us to identify policies or projects that may be leading to an increased risk of decline in capital stocks (the wealth of the region). Such risks are not reflected through usual measures of current system performance, e.g. agricultural production. We use the Goulburn-Broken Catchment in south-eastern Australia as a case study to explore the significance and practicality of including resilience in inclusive wealth estimates.
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| 6. |
- Mäler, Karl-Göran, et al.
(författare)
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Accounting for Ecosystems
- 2009
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Ingår i: Environmental and Resource Economics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0924-6460 .- 1573-1502. ; 42:1, s. 39-51
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Millennium Ecosystem Assessment documented the importance of ecosystem services. It is therefore important to include these services in the national system of economic accounts. This requires estimation of ""accounting prices"" for ecosystems, that is, the marginal value of a change in the size of the system. This raises a number of questions: What do we mean by the ""size"" of the system? What is the dynamics of the system? How do we quantify the impacts on services from a change in the size of the system and finally how do we value these impacts? We discuss these questions in a few examples of ecosystems, and valuation as such is not the major problem. The major problem is the lack of information of the appropriate dynamic model for most systems. We therefore suggest that economists and ecologists should set priorities on which ecosystems should be the first objects for study for these; we should test the possibilities of estimating the accounting prices.
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| 7. |
- Mäler, Karl-Göran, et al.
(författare)
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Pricing resilience in a dynamic economy-environment system : A capital-theoretic approach
- 2007
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This paper develops a theory for pricing ecological resilience in a dynamic economy-environment system. Following Holling (1973), we define resilience as the maximal perturbation that the system can absorb without flipping into an undesirable state. Based on a multisector growth model, we derive the shadow price of resilience with respect to the probabilities that the system will flip in the future. We also expore the implications of different stochastic processes characterizing the resilience stock. The theory is illustrated by a numerical example from southeast Australia.
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| 8. |
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| 9. |
- Mäler, Karl-Göran
(författare)
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Development, ecological resources and their management: A study of complex dynamic systems
- 2000
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Ingår i: European economic review. - : Elsevier B.V. - 1873-572X .- 0014-2921. ; 44:4, s. 645-665
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Human well-being depends to a large extent on services provided by ecological systems. In poor countries, this dependence is more transparent than in industrialised countries where the dependence is more indirect. Effective management of these systems requires a good understanding of their properties and in particular a knowledge of the dynamics of the systems.In the article, the dynamics of one “simple” system is analysed economically. The system is a lake and the interaction between the run-off of nutrients into the lake and the growth of either algae (eutrophication in lakes in northern Europe and North America) or water hyacinths (in lakes in southern and eastern Sfrica) is studied. It turns out that the dynamics exhibit bifurcation points so that there are two basins of attraction. If the system flips to one basin and it is regarded desirable to return to the other basin, there will be hysteresis. Assuming that there are different users of the lake, a differential game is constructed that captures the strategic interests of the users. The resulting equilibrium shows first the conventional negative externality that will force the system to a different basin od attraction. Finally, we investigate the use of a tax for bringing back the system to a Pareto optimum.
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| 10. |
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Current issues in environmental economics
- 1995. - 1
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Samlingsverk (redaktörskap) (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Eight papers discuss the contingent valuation method and experimental methods that can be used to value environmental assets, and show how altruistic concerns can be handled in evaluations of environmental change. Papers focus on current issues in the design, administration, and analysis of contingent valuation surveys; the interpretation of responses in contingent valuation surveys; preference uncertainty, optimal designs, and spikes; valuing changes in health; an experimental economics perspective on whether real environmental benefits can be estimated; current issues in resource accounting; environment-economy interactions in a computable general equilibrium model of Sweden; and intertemporal equilibrium modeling of energy and environmental policies. Contributors are mainly economists. Johansson and Kristrom are at the Stockholm School of Economics. Maler is at the Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics. Index.
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