This volume is the result of a collective effort made by its authors to reason and write about environmental policy from an empirical, rather than from a prescriptive perspective. Since the authors, like most people, care about the environment and, as professional economists or political scientists, have some expertise to offer in the area of policy-design, it was not always easy for them to keep on the intended track. Whereas they knew that it is unusual to follow a strictly empirical approach in such a 'practical' field as environmental policy, they discovered only during the effort what...

Economic growth and the environment is a complex and much debated issue. Per Kageson's book has a broader approach than earlier studies on this subject as he relates the analysis of present-day problems and trends (1960-2010) to clearly defined long-term objectives based on the concept of sustainable development.
The present volume covers the use of non-renewable resources in the OECD countries in a global perspective, while the regional environmental impact of economic growth is discussed in a European context. The book also includes an analysis of the potential conflict between...

This book is a thoroughly revised text based on a report commissioned by the Swedish International Development Authority (SIDA). The financial grant from SIDA which made the work possible is hereby gratefully acknowledged. We gratefully accepted the offer from Kluwer Academic Publishers to revise the text. Hopefully, the text can be of interest to decision-makers, development programme personnel, teachers and the general public interested in how economics can contribute to better environmental decision-making. There are already many books on the market about environmental economics, some of...