"Environmental Economics"

There is nothing like writing a paper with a broad title.

You would have thought that there would have already been a paper called "Environmental Economics" before.

If not then this paper represents impressive marketing. If there is, does it matter? Is there any law against identical paper titles? The title kind of suggests that the paper might be rather long. Entire text books are written with this title.

The "environmental economics" blog likewise did well in their snaffling of that term for their blog by being first movers (thus ensuring plenty of google traffic heads their way).

With a title like "Environmental Economics" this paper had better be good. The NBER branding is one signal of quality and Stavins is considered to be a major player in this subject area. See for yourselves below.

Students on my "Environmental Economics" course should read this paper as it should pretty much cover everything we study regarding alternative environmental policies.

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Environmental Economics

Date: 2007-11

By: Robert N. Stavins

URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:13574&r=env

This article provides an overview of the economics of environmental policy, including the setting of goals and targets, notably the Kaldor-Hicks criterion and the related method of assessment known as benefit-cost analysis. Also reviewed are the means of environmental policy, that is, the choice of specific policy instruments, featuring an examination of potential criteria for assessing alternative instruments, with focus on cost-effectiveness. The theoretical foundations and experiential highlights of individual instruments are reviewed, including conventional command-and-control mechanisms and market-based instruments.

JEL: K32 Q28 Q38 Q48

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