It is widely accepted that natural resource wealth, especially in the form of oil and minerals, can be a key factor in inhibiting economic development. Many of the countries that are richest in natural resources - including oil, metals and diamonds - are amongst the world's poorest. Why? Fiscal Policy and the Natural Resources Curse re-examines this ancient, unsolved puzzle, asking why many governments of natural resource-intensive countries are incapable, in a globalised world, of dealing with the natural-resource curse. This book offers a detailed analysis of the power-relationships which underpin the natural resource curse, using both statistical analysis and country case studies from Africa and Latin America to pinpoint the strategies that have enable developing countries to break out of the poverty trap. The book differs from other works on this subject, as it not only identifies the issues at stake but also offers solutions in the form of a series of suggested policy measures. The work focusses in particular on fiscal escape routes, namely measures to develop and diversify the tax system, and to reallocate and target public expenditure. This volume will be of great interest to scholars of economic development, the economics of natural resources and economic growth as well as all those with an interest in development, global politics and anti-poverty policies.

The passage of the Clean Air Act and the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1970 marked a sweeping transformation in American politics. In a few short years, the environmental movement pushed Republican and Democratic elected officials to articulate a right to clean air as part of a bevy of new federal guarantees. Charged with delivering on those promises, the EPA represented a bold assertion that the federal government had a responsibility to protect the environment, the authority to command private business to reduce their pollution, and the capacity to dictate how they did so. In Valuing Clean Air, Charles Halvorson examines how the environmental concern that propelled the Clean Air Act and the EPA coincided with economic convulsions that shook the liberal state to its core. Business groups, public interest organizations, think tanks, and a host of other actors, including Ralph Nader, wasted little time after the EPA's creation in identifying and trying to pull the new levers of power. As powerful businesses pressed to roll back regulations, elected officials from both political parties questioned whether the nation could keep its environmental promises. In response, the EPA's staff and leadership practiced a politics of the possible, adopting a monetized approach to environmental value that shielded the agency's rulemaking but sat at odds with environmentalist notions of natural rights and contributed to the elevation of economics as the language and logic of policy. As Halvorson demonstrates, environmental protection came to serve as a central battleground in larger debates over markets, government, and public welfare. For anyone who has wondered where cap and trade came from and how environmental activists came to discuss wetlands protection, air pollution, and fracking in the language of cost-benefit analysis, Valuing Clean Air provides an insightful look at a half-century of the making of US environmental policy.

Economists are concerned by a wide range of environmental impacts from pollutants, as they affect human welfare and not just human health. This insightful book demonstrates how economic analysis can contribute to decision making in environmental policy and discusses the theoretical limitations of economic valuation.Through detailed case studies including land contamination and ecosystem damage, the expert contributors illustrate the range of methods economists currently employ to address and manage the impacts of pollutants, such as multiple criteria analysis, hedonic pricing and contingent valuation. They explore applications of the cost-benefit approach to the environment but also raise questions as to its continued role compared to alternative methods. By presenting the ongoing work of economists involved with environmental management the authors hope that understanding of typical economic practice can be enhanced and perhaps complemented by natural scientists working in the fields of ecotoxicology, epidemiology and ecology. The book also discusses how the sometimes difficult interaction between natural science and economic analysis can be managed. By adopting an international perspective and providing a critical overview of contemporary economic research into environmental pollution, this book will become essential reading for environmental economists, scientists and policymakers.

Consensus is growing internationally that traditional command-and-control approaches to environmental regulation have borne much of their low-hanging fruit. Yet it is far from clear what should complement or replace them. Regulatory agencies and policy-makers are struggling with a lack of information about regulatory reform, about what works and what doesn't, and about how best to harness the resources of both government and non-government stakeholders. Progress is being impeded unnecessarily by a lack of shared knowledge of how similar agencies elsewhere are meeting similar challenges and by a lack of data on the success or otherwise of existing initiatives. Despite recent and valuable attempts to deal with such problems in the European Union and North America, these remain islands of wisdom in a sea of ignorance. For example, when it comes to dealing with small and medium-sized enterprises, very little is known, and what is known is not effectively distilled and disseminated. Much the same could be said about the roles of third parties, commercial and non-commercial, as surrogate regulators, and more broadly of many current initiatives to reconfigure the regulatory state. Based on the authors' work for the OECD, Victorian Environmental Protection Authority and the Western Australian Department of Environment Protection, Leaders and Laggards addresses these problems by identifying innovative regulatory best practice internationally in a number of specific contexts, evaluating empirically the effectiveness of regulatory reform and providing policy prescriptions that would better enable agencies to fulfil their regulatory missions. Focusing primarily on the differing requirements for both corporations and small and medium-sized enterprises in North America and Europe, the book aims to complement existing initiatives and to expand knowledge of regulatory reform by showing: how existing experience can best be put to practical use "on the ground"; by drawing lessons from experiments in innovative regulation internationally; by reporting and extrapolating on original case studies; and by advancing understanding on which instruments and strategies are likely to be of most value and why. The authors argue that the development of theory has outstripped its application. In essence, Leaders and Laggards aims to ground a myriad of theory on the reinvention of environmental regulation into practice. The book will be essential reading for environmental policy-makers, regulatory and other government officials responsible for policy design and implementation, academics and postgraduate students in environmental management, environmental law and environmental policy, and a more general readership within environmental policy and management studies. It will also be of interest to those in industry, such as environmental managers and corporate strategists, who are considering the use of more innovative environmental and regulatory strategies, and to environmental NGOs.

The idea and practice of the 'green economy' is gaining momentum, coinciding with financial instability and continued economic woe in the Global North, but generally more positive economic circumstances in the Global South. 'Green economic initiatives' in the Global South are multiplying, and include carbon payments, ecotourism, community-based wildlife management, sustainability certification initiatives, and offsets by mining companies exploiting new resources. These initiatives are reallocating resources, redefining inequalities and redistributing the fortune and misfortune of participants of the green economy and those excluded from it. They have also led to resistance - locally, nationally, and transnationally - and to demands for alternatives to market-driven instruments and solutions, which are generally gaining strength and coherence. The articles included in this volume bring together a multi-disciplinary team of scholars from North and South to provide nuanced analyses of green economy experiences in the Global South - analysing the opportunities they provide, but also the redistributions they entail and the kinds of resistances they face. The ultimate aim of the collection is to provide a critical, but balanced, overview of the emerging green economy in the Global South and point the way to possible adjustments, alternatives or radical resistance, depending on different situations. This book was originally published as a special issue of Third World Quarterly.

In this concise, engaging, and at times provocative work, Richard Porter introduces readers to the economic tools that can be applied to problems involved in handling a diverse range of waste products from business and households.

Emphasizing the impossibility of achieving a zero-risk environment, Porter focuses on the choices that apply in real world decisions about waste. Acknowledging that effective waste policy integrates knowledge from several disciplines, Porter focuses on the use of economic analysis to reveal the costs of different policies and therefore how much can be done to meet goals to protect human health and the environment. With abundant examples, he considers subjects such as landfills, incineration, and illegal disposal. He discusses the international trade in waste, the costs and benefits of recycling, and special topics such as hazardous materials, Superfund, and nuclear waste.

While making clear his belief that not every form of waste presents the same amount of risk or should be taken with the same amount of seriousness, Porter stresses the need for open-minded approaches to developing new policies. For students, policymakers, and general readers, this book provides insight and accessibility to a subject that others might leave out-of-sight, out-of-mind, or buried under an impenetrable prose of statistics and jargon.

"A comprehensive, careful, and interesting treatment." --Terry M. Dinan, Congressional Budget Office

This volume presents the results of a three-year collaborative effort involving research institutions in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America. Case studies demonstrate the diversity of environmental problems to which a variety of economic instruments can be applied - air and water pollution, packaging, deforestation, over-grazing, wildlife. They also show what is needed for them to work successfully and the pitfalls to avoid in introducing them, providing guidance for future applications. Written to be accessible to non-economists, the book offers source material for students and academic economists, as well as for professionals working with economic instruments.

Water Resources and Climate Change presents an authoritative collection of key articles which explore the impact and effect of climatic change on all aspects of the hydrologic cycle.The articles selected focus upon the hydrological implications of climate change and its potential impact on water systems and water use, issues in climate impact assessment, planning and adaptation strategies and socioeconomic assessments of particular case studies. This important volume will be an essential source of reference for water managers and planners as well as those interested in understanding the hydrological, ecological, and socioeconomic implications of climate change.

State climate and clean energy policy will play a critical role in the future of the political dialogue and economic development. Policymakers from around the world already recognize the leadership of American states in this domain. Rooted in public policy theory, and employing a mixed-methods approach that includes advanced economic analysis and qualitative research, Benjamin H. Deitchman explores the policy tools that address the politics and economics of clean energy development and deployment across all 50 states. Deitchman includes in his analysis international case studies of this policy context in Canada, Germany, and Australia to reveal different state-level policy tools, the politics behind the tools, and the economic implications of alternative approaches. The rigorous analysis of the politics of state level institutions and economic implications of subnational climate and clean energy actions offers researchers, students, and policymakers with practical information to advance their understanding of these options in the policy process.

This book brings together a group of distinguished international authors to analyze and comment upon the various roles of evaluation and valued ideas, in planning and education of planners. Topics covered include the nature of aesthetic judgement and of practical judgement, the implications for planning of various theories of environmental ethics, and the significance of key concepts such as heritage, justice, professional ethics and the public interest in orienting planning practice. Contributors relate their ideas about planning to a wide range of philosophical and social theories and debates, including feminist writings, discussions of post modernism, critical theory and the work of Anglo-American analytical philosophers. These essays will prove stimulating not only to planning theorists and practitioners, but to anyone interested in the way evaluations and key concepts contained in them can and should influence public policy.

In a context of growing social and environmental concerns, the role of large enterprises and corporations in encouraging sustainability has drawn increasing attention in recent years. Both academic debates and public-opinion research have called into question the extended responsibilities of firms in our increasingly inter-connected world. By studying issues associated with the greatest challenges mankind is currently facing - from climate change to social exclusion - the scientific community is aware of the need to account for the actions and agendas of companies, especially large ones. They are becoming important global political actors with great power, but also unprecedented responsibilities. With this in mind, the authors believe that it is more important than ever that large enterprises, on the one hand, take into account the opinion of their stakeholder while defining their strategies and, on the other hand, disclose material and relevant information on their ability to contribute to sustainability while delivering value for all of their stakeholders. A consensus is being reached on the responsibility of large enterprises to report in a triple bottom perspective - not only on their financial performances, but also on their social and environmental outcomes. Consequently, it is important to understand what elements organizations need to report on in order to provide stakeholders with relevant and comprehensive sustainability reports. Against this background, this book presents a significant and original contribution, both empirically and theoretically, to the social and environmental accounting literature by studying the various features of stakeholder engagement in sustainability reporting.

Finance is a critical issue for municipal governments around the world, and a major constraint on the delivery of pro-poor services at the local level. In many countries, decentralisation has brought the issue of municipal finance to the fore. This sourcebook provides a framework for analysing municipal finance capacity and ways of addressing financial constraints. The ideas come from real-life innovative practice in four countries - India, Brazil, Kenya and Uganda - with additional examples from elsewhere. Emphasis is given to how those innovations and improvements were developed and sustained. The book identifies a strategic framework for diagnosing municipal finance capacity and focusing financial goals. It applies the analysis to a number of critical areas of municipal finance including local taxes, charges for services, budgeting, cost control, accounting reforms and investment finance. This is the third in a series of capacity-building sourcebooks that includes Focusing Partnerships: A Sourcebook for Municipal Capacity Building in Public-Private Partnerships and Municipalities and Community Participation: A Sourcebook for Capacity Building.

Much is written in the popular literature about the current pace of technological change. But do we have enough scientific knowledge about the sources and management of innovation to properly inform policymaking in technology dependent domains such as energy and the environment? While it is agreed that technological change does not 'fall from heaven like autumn leaves, ' the theory, data, and models are deficient. The specific mechanisms that govern the rate and direction of inventive activity, the drivers and scope for incremental improvements that occur during technology diffusion, and the spillover effects that cross-fertilize technological innovations remain poorly understood. In a work that will interest serious readers of history, policy, and economics, the editors and their distinguished contributors offer a unique, single volume overview of the theoretical and empirical work on technological change. Beginning with a survey of existing research, they provide analysis and case studies in contexts such as medicine, agriculture, and power generation, paying particular attention to what technological change means for efficiency, productivity, and reduced environmental impacts. The book includes a historical analysis of technological change, an examination of the overall direction of technological change, and general theories about the sources of change. The contributors empirically test hypotheses of induced innovation and theories of institutional innovation. They propose ways to model induced technological change and evaluate its impact, and they consider issues such as uncertainty in technology returns, technology crossover effects, and clustering. A copublication o Resources for the Future (RFF) and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA).

Considers the role of economics in discussions about the depletion of finite stocks of natural resources including oil.

As Thomas Sterner points out, the economic "toolkit"for dealing with environmental problems has become formidable. It includes taxes, charges, permits, deposit-refund systems, labeling, and other information disclosure mechanisms. Though not all these devices are widely used, empirical application has started within some sectors, and we are beginning to see the first systematic attempts at an advanced policy design that takes due account of market-based incentives.

Sterner's book is an attempt to encourage more widespread and careful use of economic policy instruments. Intended primarily for application in developing and transitional countries, the book compares the accumulated experiences of the use of economic policy instruments in the U.S. and Europe, as well as in select rich and poor countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Ambitious in scope, the book discusses the design of instruments that can be employed in a wide range of policy areas, including transportation, industrial pollution, water pricing, waste, fisheries, forests, and agriculture.

While deeply rooted in economics, Policy Instruments for Environmental and Natural Resource Management is informed by perspectives drawn from political, legal, ecological, and psychological research. Sterner notes that, in addition to meeting requirements for efficiency, the selection and design of policy instruments must satisfy criteria involving equity and political acceptability. He is careful to distinguish between the well-designed plans of policymakers -- and the resulting behavior of society.

A copublication of Resources for the Future, the World Bank, and the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA).

Environmental justice is one of the most controversial and important issues in contemporary social science. Volume 8 of the "Energy and Environmental Policy" series challenges our understanding of environmental justice in a global context. It includes theoretical investigations and case studies by leading authors in the field. Global forces of technology and the development of global markets are transforming social life and the natural order. These changes require a critical examination of nature-society relations. Increasingly, modernization assigns the risks of modernity to those with the least power and greatest vulnerability to environmental harm. Conventional environmentalism, which focuses on critique of the effects of humanity against nature, is inadequate to the challenges of globalization. In particular, it fails to explain sources of persistent patterns of social injustice that accompany escalating environmental exploitation. As the capacity for environmental destruction expands, broader concerns about environmental injustice have come to the fore, including awareness of threats to whole cultures, ways of life, and entire ecologies. The volume's authors consider the links between expanded patterns of environmental injustice and the structures and forces underlying and shaping the international political economy. Environmental injustice is examined across a variety of cultures in the developed and developing world. Through case studies of climate colonialism, revolutionary ecology, and environmental commodification, the global and local dimensions of the problem are presented. The latest volume in this important series demonstrates that environmental justice cannot be reduced to simple parables of indifference, prejudice, or appropriation. It forges understanding of environmental injustice as a development of international political economy itself. Likewise, initiatives on behalf of environmental justice are seen as elements of broader movements to secure self-determination in a globalizing world. This book will be of interest to policymakers, energy and environmental experts, and all those interested in the environment and environmental law. It provides new perspectives on the place of environmental justice in international political and economic conflict. John Byrne is director of the Center for Energy and Environmental Policy, University of Delaware. Leigh Glover is a research fellow at the same Center. Cecilia Martinez is a professor of ethnic studies at the Metropolitan State University (Minnesota) and a research associate of the American Indian Research and Policy Institute.

World population is set to increase by a third in the next 25 years, with no corresponding increase in global rainfall. About seventy per cent of the world's abstracted water is used in farming and therefore the economics of irrigation is becoming an increasingly important issue for sustainable development. Water for Agriculture provides a thorough overview of this highly topical subject, written in a clear and accessible style.
The scope of the book is wide both in its analysis and in its geographical coverage. Topics covered include the infrastructure, operation and maintenance of irrigation service supply, the supply of drainage services, economic cost benefit analysis, water resource planning at the regional scale, political economy and irrigation policy. The content of Water for Agriculture is enhanced by numerous tables, diagrams, and in-depth case-studies.
This book will be an essential read for those professionals involved in the planning of water resources, and for advanced students studying this topic as part of agriculture, development studies, economics, engineering, environmental science, geography, hydrology and planning courses.

The changing economic environment for the consumer that is emerging from the wreckage of the financial credit crunch plays directly into the importance of food spending. This is certainly true from the perspective of food prices in the short run, but also from the perspective of sustainability and reducing the impact of the environmental credit crunch. The economic changes we experience now have a bearing on our ability to manage the environmental credit crunch that looms. Food Policy and the Environmental Credit Crunch: From Soup to Nuts elaborates on the issues addressed in the authors' first book, From Red to Green?,and asks whether the financial credit crunch could ameliorate or exacerbate the emergent environmental credit crunch. The conclusion drawn here is that a significant and positive difference could be made by changing some of the ways in which we procure, prepare, and consume our food. Written by an economist and an investment professional, this book addresses the economic and environmental implications of how we treat food. The book examines each aspect of the 'food chain', from agriculture, to production and processing, retail, preparation, consumption and waste.

Published in 1999, this book discusses the role that marginality has had in the past, has today and will have in the future. The Commission on Dynamics of Marginal and Critical Regions held its annual conference in Harare, Zimbabwe in July 1997. This volume represents a carefully selected, revised and reviewed selection of the papers presented at this conference. The articles reflect the various aspects of marginality currently existing in the world and it is the intention of the Commission to pursue research that would eventually result in a more coherent approach towards the issues of marginality in space. The articles in the book are grouped into three main parts. The first part discusses the role of theory and also methodological aspects and approaches towards the question of marginality. The second part gives a 'time-space' perspective by examining the past, present and future aspects of marginality. The third part is dedicated to empirical evidence about the changes in existing marginality and its possible future implementations. The conclusions of the book summarize the various and sometimes conflicting, aspects of marginality and its 'images' both in space and in time.

This volume includes many of the most influential and interesting academic articles related to the economics of mobile source pollution control. The papers included explore why vehicles and vehicle markets are unique, provide estimates of the type and magnitude of the social costs of driving and examine estimation methods and estimates of the various elasticities of vehicle demand. Analysis of the social costs and policies to reduce both traditional air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions are included. Selected articles review the range of evaluation of both regulatory and market-based approaches to controlling emissions. The complexity of the effects of different policies are emphasized and the unintended consequences of regulation are explored in the context of vehicle emissions reduction policies.

...the writing is solid, and there is no doubt that the book sheds considerable light on the development and implications of Georgescu-Roegen's illustrious career. These characteristics are certainly good reasons for readers to engage with this text - Land Economics, Richard B. Howarth, Dartmouth College

'Mayumi shows himself to be a master of the subject, and well ahead of most of his contemporaries in both the breadth and the deapth of his treatment. The book should be in every university library and be essential reading for researchers.' - Ecological Economics, John Peet, University of Canterbury

'Georgescu-Roegen would be proud to have someone as capable as Mayumi take up the reins of his work.' - Michael Perelman, Research History of Economic Thought and Methodology

Farmers' cooperatives are very prevalent in the European Union, where they account for approximately half of agricultural trade and thus are key to articulating rural realities and in shaping the sustainability credentials of European food and farming. This book analyses to what extent farmers' cooperatives are working to benefit their members, are showing concern for their communities and are promoting cooperative economies. It offers a multilevel set of theoretical, disciplinary, methodological, empirical and social perspectives, using the UK and Spain as contrasting examples, and analyses whether agricultural cooperatives contribute to achieving sustainable food systems. The book presents empirical data from diverse and rich case studies, from large, international cooperatives, to small, multi-stakeholder initiatives. This provides an alternative viewpoint to that of economics, which tends to dominate the study of agricultural cooperatives. The author presents a new theoretical framework that provides a novel lens to study farmers' cooperatives as organisations deeply embedded in power dynamics of the food system and agricultural policy that shape and constraint their potential to adopt cooperative and sustainable practices. The book is a major addition to the study of agricultural cooperatives and their impact in the development of fairer and more sustainable food systems and it is one of the first detailed accounts of multi-stakeholder food and farming cooperatives in Europe. It is a valuable resource for all scholars working on cooperatives, as well as for students studying agricultural and food policy, environmental justice and rural sociology.

Reauthorization of the Superfund law continues to be a major source of controversy among political leaders and environmental activists. Some seek a major overhaul of the statute, arguing that considerable cleanup still needs to be done. Others oppose major changes, asserting that cleanup is almost complete. One of the most contentious issues in the debate is whether the taxes that once stocked the Superfund Trust Fund need to be reinstated. The answer depends in large part on how much money EPA will need to implement the Superfund program. To inform this discussion, the U.S. Congress asked Resources for the Future (RFF) to estimate the program's future costs. The results of this research are included in Superfund's Future, a book that will become an essential reference for all participants in the debate about one of the nation's most controversial environmental programs.

Environment and sustainable development challenges are a matter of global concern. Trillions of dollars of mostly public money are invested every year in domestic and international policies and programs to address these challenges. The effectiveness of these policies and programs is critical to environmental sustainability. Performance audits that examine the effectiveness of governmental policies and programs heavily influence their implementation. Despite this, performance auditing in the environment field has received very little academic attention. This book takes a closer look at performance auditing of public sector environmental policies and programs. It examines trends in global environmental performance auditing; and how it is currently practiced drawing on a global survey and case studies from Canada, India and Australia. In doing so, it identifies issues and challenges faced by Supreme Audit Institutions in undertaking these performance audits. This book will be of interest to students, scholars and practitioners of sustainable development, environmental auditing and public sector auditing as well as to donor organisations engaged in these areas.

A generous endowment of natural resources should favour rapid economic and social development. The experience of countries like Angola and Iraq, however, suggests that resource wealth often proves a curse rather than a blessing. Billions of dollars from resource exploitation benefit repressive regimes and rebel groups, at a massive cost for local populations. This Adelphi Paper analyses the economic and political vulnerability of resource-dependent countries; assesses how resources influence the likelihood and course of conflicts; and discusses current initiatives to improve resource governance in the interest of peace. It concludes that long-term stability in resource-exporting regions will depend on their developmental outcomes, and calls for a broad reform agenda prioritising the basic needs and security of local populations.