Environmental economics

Environmental Economics is a branch of economics that deals in economic terms with the question of the causes and possible solutions to environmental problems. The subject of environmental economics is the environmental economics; but occasionally the scientific discipline is addressed as environmental economics.

National Environmental Economics

Initial problem

The starting point for reflection on the causes of environmental problems is the contradiction that natural resources (such as clean air, clean water, etc.) are on the one hand may have become due to the increasing environmental pollution to a tight, so do not (more ) unlimited available Well, on the other hand at the same time but still have the character of free or public goods. Against this background, threatens wherever the use of environmental services is not regulated, their continued exploitation by overuse, which is incited and encouraged by the fact that due to the nature of environmental services as a public good, the possibility of cost externalization or for taking so-called " free rider positions " there.

Solutions

The possible solution of environmental problems is in this perspective to the obvious: If it is possible to make environmental performance by integrating them into the market, ie by Pricing on, their scarcity according to economic goods, the previously misdirected toward abuse and overuse incentives in the direction of a efficient, economical use of natural resources reversed. In other words, only when the market prices, as expressed by Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker tell the ecological truth full, the scarcity and preciousness of natural resources is conscious and the subject of everyday economic decisions. Even environmental awareness, however, is this effect can not or at best bring in short-term superficial manner.

Instruments that provide the required market integration of natural resources, called market-based instruments for environmental policy. Examples include environmental taxes, incentive taxes or emissions trading. Advantage of such solutions is the emanating therefrom dynamic economic incentive for companies such households to conduct further environmental protection measures in the interest of your own cost savings, at least as long as the marginal costs of additional environmental protection do not exceed the marginal costs of additional environmental impact ( as evidenced by a tightening of tax rates or shortage of control pollution rights can ). Regulatory instruments of environmental policy on the other hand (laws and regulations, for example, certain behaviors or limits by the state prescribe ) are only accepted there, where they are used for short-term ecological security (eg ban on CFCs ), but otherwise on the reference the lack of dynamic environmental incentives judged to be inefficient and therefore rejected. Regulatory interventions continue to be authorized, if the transaction costs of implementing a market-based solution to exceed the expected gain in efficiency.

Specific tasks

In most cases the economically oriented environmental economics is seen as part of welfare economics. The environmental economics is therefore to be classified as a problem-specific extension of the neoclassical mainstream economics. A key task in the development of instruments for market integration of natural resources in the decision-making process for public and private environmental interventions.

Another task is the evaluation of programs and policies that impact from the standpoint of economic efficiency ( " environmental assessment "). The main analytical tool for this task is the most environmentally advanced economically cost-benefit analysis ( engl. cost benefit analysis). The Environmental Accounting ( UGR ) of the German federal and state statistics could in principle assume similar analysis tasks. A significant expansion of environmental economic cost-benefit analysis in relation to the general economic cost -benefit analysis is the use of Total Economic Value approach to the determination of engagement, project and program results.

Demarcation for Ecological Economics

Scientists who reject an orientation to the neo-classical, rather approaches of ecological economics tend to. In practical work, however, there is a continuum between the two schools and an overlap of the scientists involved.

Business Environmental Economics

→ Main article: Ecology -oriented Business Administration

The Environmental Management examines the effects between the environmental impact of a company 's economic success. In addition to the question of how regulatory compliance or own environmental objectives can be met in the most cost efficient, environmental economics goes also the extent to which a company environmental aspects can be specifically used as a competitive advantage. Furthermore, should a company demonstrate the possibilities environmental economics to meet the environmental requirements of the market, the state and society.