The natural capital concept is generating broad interest that extends well beyond economists. Economics has a long history of applying capital theory to natural resources. However, measurement of the value of ecosystems has mostly focused on income flows rather than valuing stocks of natural...

Man’s history and developmental endeavour have been advancing alongside a trail of ecological ramifications and climate change. Since prehistoric times, scientists have not recorded an accelerated shift in ecology during any other epoch beside that of modern man on the planet. The paper seeks...

This paper examines implications of limits to substitution for estimating substitutability between ecosystem services and manufactured goods and for social discounting. Based on a model that accounts for a subsistence requirement in the consumption of ecosystem services, we provide empirical...

We develop an aggregated model to study rational environmental adaptation policies that compensate negative consequences of certain environmental hazards and changes. The model distinguishes the three categories of adaptation measures that (a) compensate the decrease of the environmental amenity...

Strong sustainability, according to the common definition, requires that different natural and economic capital stocks be maintained as physical quantities separately. Yet, in a world of uncertainty this cannot be guaranteed. To therefore define strong sustainability under uncertainty in an...

This paper investigates the effect of institutional quality on sustainable development.Institutional quality is assumed to determine the (perceived) risk in the face of which oil and mining firms determine their level of investment in physical and natural capital. Since these two types of...

Nature conservation scientists and practitioners have voiced the concern that a conservation discourse based on economic arguments and monetary valuation may undermine conservation efforts by eroding ("crowding out") the influence of other arguments for nature conservation. This paper presents...

Understanding what influences the value of nature is crucial for informing environmental policy. From a sustainability perspective, economic valuation should not only seek to determine willingness to pay for environmental goods to devise an efficient allocation of scarce resources, but should...

Resilience as a descriptive concept gives insight into the dynamic properties of a system. Sustainability as a normative concept captures basic ideas of inter- and intragenerational justice. In this paper we specify the relationship between resilience and sustainable development. Based on an...

Economic growth since the industrial era has reduced poverty and increased societies' quality of life, but it also has implied negative environmental effects. There is an urgent need to correct this structural unbalance. The open issue is whether this correction implies sacrificing the...