Economic assessment of sustainable agricultural practices has continued to mature and to add to our understanding of how we might design policies to ensure an adequate and diverse food supply. This volume presents some of the recent developments and applications in this field and is much more nearly self-contained than typical edited volumes. It provides a comprehensive treatment of topics, including a historical perspective leading to current developments in methods and policy. The introductory chapter presents an early history of research by entomologists and economists, tracing the concept of integrated pest management, the nascent organic food industry, and reviewing pesticide policy options debated over the last several decades. The remainder of the volume is divided into four sections focusing on the economic aspects of production, and related policy issues. These four sections encompass the range of advances in theoretical and applied economic analyses concerned with pesticides and sustainable food markets. Chapters present different methodological, ideological, and geographical perspectives from some of the environmental and agricultural economics concerned with pesticides and sustainable production. This volume includes unique contributions that incorporate international experiences and viewpoints concerning both methods and policy. This volume includes material valuable for students in agricultural economics and environmental science, and is essential reading for economists who conduct research in sustainable agriculture. It is also excellent reference for policy analysts.

Hardbound. Environmental regulation requires that substantial productive resources be diverted to efforts to improve environmental quality. Economic theory says that, all else being equal, regulation will consequently cause costs to rise with resulting losses in competitive advantage and a general weakening of economic performance as measured by indicators such as national or regional income. Empirical tests of this theory generally fail to find such consequences, however. This book sets out the reasons why empirical research and theory are at odds, suggests alternative formulations of the relationship between environmental regulation and economic performance, and presents related original research using Southern California as a case study of economic performance in the context of increasingly stringent and effective environmental controls promulgated over more than 30 years.

Hardbound. This volume will include scenarios of geophysical and economic impacts from global warming beyond a doubling of greenhouse gases. Analyses will examine geophysical, ecological, and economic impacts, physical and institutional lags, alternative scenarios with and without policy intervention, institutional change, political-economic barriers to effective policy, and prescriptions for change. Perspectives will include those from physical and biological sciences, as well as economics.