Environmental economics / Ecology-oriented management economics

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Environmental economics is a partial discipline of the economic science, which is concerned from economic view with the question about the causes and solution types of environmental problems.

Economical environmental economics

Starting point of the considerations regarding the causes of environmental problems is thereby the contradiction that natural resources (as for instance clean air, pure water etc.) became on the one hand by the increasing environmental impact a scarce, thus not (more) for an unlimited period available property, it on the other hand at the same time however still the character of free and/or public goods exhibits. Before this background everywhere, where the use of environmental achievements is not regulated, its continual exploitation threatens by excessive use, which is stimulated and encouraged thereby that due to the character of environmental achievements as public property the possibility for the Kostenexternalisierung and/or for the income of so-called "free rider positions" exists.

The solution type of environmental problems is in this perspective obvious: , If environmental achievements succeed in by their integration into the market, thus by praising making for their scarceness according to to economical goods then so far the incentives misdirected toward abuse and excessive use are commutated toward careful, handling natural resources. Differently expressed: Only if the market prices, how it expresses Ernst Ulrich von who say full ecological truth, the scarceness and preciousness of natural resources become conscious and the the subject of everyday economic decisions. Even a pronounced environmental awareness however will not be able to cause this effect or if necessary in short term superficial way.

One calls instruments, which carry the demanded market integration out of natural resources, market-focused instruments of the environmental policy. Examples for this are eco-taxes or the trade of emission rights. Advantage of such solutions is the dynamic economic incentive for enterprises, outgoing from you, such as households for accomplishing in the interest of the own cost saving further environmental protection measures at least so long, like the neighbouring costs of additional environmental protection the neighbouring costs of additional environmental impact does not exceed (which can be steered by an aggravation of control items or shortage of contamination rights). Order-legal instruments of the environmental policy however (laws and regulations, which prescribe e.g. certain behaviors or limit values on the part of the state) are accepted only, where they serve for the short term ecological danger warning (e.g. FCKW prohibition), otherwise however with the reference to the absence of dynamic incentives for environmental protection as inefficient judges and therefore rejected.

Economical environmental economics

The operational environmental economics examines the effects between the environmental impact of an enterprise and its economic success. Apart from the question, how the fulfilment of legal editions or own environmental goals can be mastered as cost-efficiently as possible, the environmental economics follows also to the question, to what extent an enterprise can use ecological aspects purposefully as competition advantage.

Literature

Altmann: Environmental policy, data, facts, concepts for practice. Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-8252-1958-5
Klaus George binder: Fundamentals of the environmental economics. Munich 1999, ISBN 3-8006-2232-7
Bruno S. Frey: Environmental economics. 3. , erw. edition. Goettingen 1992, ISBN 3-525-33581-4
Franz hunter: Nature and economics. Economic bases of a policy of qualitative growth. Cur/Zurich 1993, ISBN 3-7253-0405-X
Ernst Ulrich von Earth politics. Ecological material politics at the threshold for the century of the environment. 4. , act. Edition. Darmstadt 1994, ISBN 3-534-80144-X
Lutz Wicke: Environmental economics. A practice-oriented introduction. 4. Edition. Munich 1993, ISBN 3-800-61720-X