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Title: Fundamentals of Economics for Environmental Managers by William F. Barron, Robert D. Perlack, John J. Boland ISBN: 1-56720-159-8 Publisher: Quorum Books Pub. Date: May, 1998 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $73.95

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Average Customer Rating: 4 (1 review)

Rating: 4
Summary: Clearly written useful text book for non specialists
Comment: Written as a text book for non economists studying environmental management it sets itself the task of providing readers with an understanding of what economics has to contribute to environmental assessment and decision-making. In this regard it acquits itself well. Introductory chapters explain the basic concepts used by economists to describe and deal with environmental problems. Readers are exposed to concepts of supply and demand, externalities and property rights with reference to environmental problems. The authors skilfully avoid making the explanation of economic concepts too technical or overwhelming for non specialist readers by using familiar environmental issues to illustrate the concepts. At times some of the examples used seem almost trivial, but these are linked to more substantive problems as the text progresses. Thereafter the emphasis of the text is very much on decision tools and comparative analysis of policy and control measures. This is a sensible approach given the target audience, and of particular merit is the clarity with which discounting and benefit cost analysis are handled. Throughout the approach taken is that the analysis should make sense on an intuitive level as well as theoretical and this sometimes results in overly long explanations of some concepts. More of the excellent, clear diagrams would have been welcome, and improvements could be made in the layout and presentation in a publication with a larger print run. The final chapter contains seven well chosen examples of environmental economics at work in practice. Each example issue is described, the economic technique used is explained and the analysis presented. The examples used highlight the power of economics in understanding familiar types of problems, and illuminatingly offer hints on the limitations of the techniques employed. This approach is sure to be appreciated by the target audience, because while it emphasises the usefulness of economic analysis it also highlights the need for it to be employed in conjunction with other decision tools (an insight all too frequently lost on some environmental economists).

With any text book there are always limits to what can and cannot be included, it would for example have been interesting to include discussion of extraction of non renewable resources. Consideration of some of the key international policy debates could also have been included (perhaps as an additional final chapter). Issues such as climate change and the "limits to growth", spring to mind as being relevant to the target audience.

A further group of readers not envisaged by the authors, who could profit from use of the text are the increasing number of academics from engineering, science and business studies disciplines who encounter economics in pursuing their research interests in environmental policy. It won't make them economists, but it will help them to understand the basis on which economic debate is being conducted.