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As we reach the end of the 20th century, the question of how to meet human needs and preferences while safeguarding the global environment is a major concern facing humanity. This book reflects the state of the art of thinking on the necessary concepts, tools and instruments that are likely to help producers, consumers and governments to adjust their policies and practices. It covers theories and concepts, practical approaches and visions of industry and government. The book has been written by a team of authors that includes the most forward thinking researchers and managers on the issue. It is a handbook for all those involved in decisions about product design and eco-efficiency, about environment and resource use policies. Moreover it can serve as a handbook for all those who are studying with the aim to become involved in such issues.
Is economic growth good for the environment? A number of economists have claimed that economic growth can benefit the environment, recruiting political support and finance for environmental policy measures. This view has received increasing support since the early 1990s from empirical evidence that has challenged the traditional environmentalist's belief that economic growth degrades the environment. This book reviews the theoretical and empirical literature on growth and the environment, giving an in-depth empirical treatment of the relationship between the two. Various hypotheses are formulated and tested for a number of indicators of environmental pressure. The test results indicate that alternative models and estimation methods should be used, altering previous conclusions about the effect of economic growth on the environment and offering an insight into the forces driving emission reduction in developed countries.
Developing countries are suffering from the multiple and overlapping problems of poverty, malnutrition, excessive population growth and also the increased environmental pollution due to rapid industrialization and urbanization, particularly in the existing urban centres. The migration from rural areas of agricultural population to urban areas is making this situation more problematic. The lack of established institutions leads to the failure of public policy no matter how efficiently it is formulated. The book discusses the major regional developmental problems in poor countries, covering economic, social and environmental problems. It deals with case-studies for a set of individual countries, and discusses their unique problems, investigating how the established methods of regional science can be used to solve some of these problems.
There is widespread concern for long-term environmental issues in relation to economic processes and developments. Among the concerned scientists are economists, who have taken up the challenge to apply economic insights and tools for the study of long-term environment-economy interactions, and to give the concept of sustainable development 'economic hands and feet'. This book presents a pluralistic perspective on efforts, problems and successes in this area. This collection of papers was originally prepared for an international symposium titled Economic Modelling of Sustainable Development: Between Theory and Practice, which was hosted by the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, on December 20t...
Jan Pronk The role of institutions in economic development has been debated at length. It is a major chapter in the history of economic thought. It was also a key - sue in comparisons of the effectiveness of Eastern and Western economic systems. Understanding the variety of social and cultural institutions has - ways been crucial in analysing development processes in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. Less attention has been given to institutions in studies of the economic performance of Western countries. This may be because economic policies in the West were mostly oriented to the short and medium terms rather than to the long-term perspective. In the short run ins- tutions a...
By their adoption of Agenda 21, most of the world's governments have acknowledged the need for sustainable development. This implies that new policies are needed, focusing on economic, social, cultural and ecological goals. At the same time, we also need to solve existing environmental and social problems, and prevent the occurrence of new ones. This volume presents, tests and illustrates a theoretically well-founded procedure for discovering regional opportunities for sustainable development, based on a systems approach to decision making. The procedure takes as its starting point the needs of the people involved, relating these to the measurement of available resources in order to find opportunities for multiple resource use and sustainable development. The needs of future generations and broader communities are taken into account throughout. The book studies regional planning and the implementation of plans, offering guidance and support to parties involved in debates on sustainable development, and improving the quality of their decision making.
A theoretical and empirical contribution to the quest for sustainability and environmental quality. The book examines the physical and economic aspects of flows of materials and products, as well as the policies and strategies designed to reduce the related resource depletion and environmental pollution. The `material-product chain' concept forms a general framework, defined as a system of linked flows of materials and products that support the provision of a certain service. Various economic models of material-product chains are studied, both theoretical and applied, such as static optimisation, dynamic simulation and general equilibrium models. Applications to metals, rain gutters and window frames are described. Audience: Readers in universities, research organizations and policy institutes interested in the environment, economics and government policy.
What is the role of government in environmental politics and policy? The answer to this question used to be relatively clear. Government was to regulate the environmental performance of state and non-state actors, to set standards, impose charges, and establish more or less stringent criteria of acceptable behavior. With the increasing appearance of the issues of globalization and global governance in the political science literature, however, the focus has turned to the role of non-state actors. Academic research and the popular debate have identified business, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and civil society as such as increasingly important and potentially powerful actors in the p...
Economic theory and empirical models suggest that economic instruments should help us to meet environmental goals at lower cost. Practical experience, however, shows that the cost savings of emission trading are smaller than expected and charges usually have had small incentive impacts. This book gives the first comprehensive review of economic theory, simulation models, and practical experience with the use of economic instruments. The book focuses on air pollution control. Part I examines theoretical aspects and simulation modeling in a national context. Part II surveys the practical experience in a variety of countries. Part III explores international issues, such as joint implementation. Because of its unique blend of theoretical and empirical research, the book will prove interesting for both economists and those interested in environmental policy.