This article presents a model of sequential decisions about investments in environmentally dirty and clean technologies, which extends the path-dependence framework of Arthur (1989). This allows us to evaluate if and how an economy locked into a dirty technology can be unlocked and move towards...

The values of goods and services provided by natural and constructed wetlands are examined through a meta-analysis of 418 observations of the economic value of 186 wetlands. Water quality improvement, non-consumptive recreation, and provision of natural habitat and biodiversity turn out to be...

This discussion paper has resulted in a chapter in: (R.U. Ayres, D. Simpson, and M. Toman (eds.)), <I>Scarcity and Growth in the Millennium</I>, 2005, Resources for the Future, Washington DC, 177-97.<P>

Expectations and information about the growth of GDP per capita have a large influence on decisions made by private and public economic agents. It will be argued here that GDP (per capita) is far from a robust indicator of social welfare, and that its use as such must be regarded as a serious...

A foundation is provided for a correct and accurate analysis of the relationship between monetary values and physical dimensions in economic production. A distinction is proposed between direct and indirect substitution. Linked to this, a classification is offered of various types of...

The nature of energy and material resources in an endogenous growth theory framework is clarified. This involves three modifications of the conventional theory. Firstly, multiple feedback mechanisms or “growth engines” are identified. Secondly, a production function distinguishes between...

Optimal harvesting of prey in a predator–prey ecosystem is studied under the condition that the existence of the predator has value. Predators (birds) and humans (fishers) compete for prey (shellfish). The behavior of the system is studied and conditions for optimal control are deduced....

Most insights of environmental economics are in line with the standard neoclassical economic model of rational behaviour, formulated in terms of maximization of utility in general, or profits in particular. The standard theory of environmental policy is a case in point. However, the maximization...

An overview is offered of different approaches to economic modelling of sustainable development. First, conceptual-theoretical perspectives on sustainable development are shortly reviewed from the angle of model implications. Next, different model types are discussed. These include neoclassical...

Recent advances in evolutionary theory have important implications for environmental economics. A short overview is offered of evolutionarythinking in economics. Subsequently, major concepts and approaches inevolutionary biology and evolutionary economics are presented andcompared. Attention is...