Economics and management of environmental resources: theory and policy issues

Abstract

Environmental management is purely an economic problem since environmental degradation resulting from depletion of natural resources arises out of economic activities like production and/or consumption. Again, since environmental resources have multiple uses, their wanton destruction is a question of resource allocation. Market, policy and, sometimes, institutional failures are the economic context in which environmental problems arise. Rather than applying command and control (CAC) mechanisms that require a high level of enforcement ability, which developing countries cannot guarantee, economic instruments (Els) are rather suggested by mainstream economic theory, save that the complementary influence of policy and institutional adequacies are used as back up for economic incentives