IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecolec/v67y2008i2p244-252.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

K. William Kapp's theory of social costs and environmental policy: Towards political ecological economics

Author

Listed:
  • Berger, Sebastian

Abstract

The paper analyzes the contribution of K. William Kapp, widely considered one of the founders of Ecological Economics. This paper will demonstrate how K. William Kapp developed his theory of social costs into a framework for environmental policy development, i.e. the basis for Political Ecological Economics. The latter provides the most comprehensive and non-utilitarian alternative to the main neoclassical approaches provided by Arthur Pigou and Ronald Coase. Kapp determined basic human needs to be necessary values operational for policymaking via politically derived and scientifically determined social minima (criteria) and socio-ecological indicators. This "rational humanism" was inspired by Weber's concept of substantive rationality and informed by John Dewey's pragmatic instrumentalism. The paper concludes that Kapp's contribution is important enough to cement its place in the broader school of Ecological Economics.

Suggested Citation

  • Berger, Sebastian, 2008. "K. William Kapp's theory of social costs and environmental policy: Towards political ecological economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 244-252, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:67:y:2008:i:2:p:244-252
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921-8009(08)00219-X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Veblen, Thorstein, 1904. "Theory of Business Enterprise," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, number veblen1904.
    2. ., 1994. "Kapp, K. William," Chapters, in: Geoffrey M. Hodgson & Warren J. Samuels & Marc R. Tool (ed.), The Elgar Companion to Institutional and Evolutionary Economics, volume 0, chapter 85, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. Sebastian Berger & Mathew Forstater, 2007. "Toward a Institutionalist Economics: Kapp’s Social Costs, Lowe’s Instrumental Analysis, and the European Institutionalist Approach to Environmental Policy," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(2), pages 539-546, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    RePEc Biblio mentions

    As found on the RePEc Biblio, the curated bibliography for Economics:
    1. > Schools of Economic Thought, Epistemology of Economics > Heterodox Approaches > Ecological Economics > History of Ecological Economic Thought

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Shteryo Nozharov, 2023. "Social costs of curcular economy in European Union," Papers 2401.13675, arXiv.org.
    2. Teixeira, Aurora A. C. & Castro e Silva, Manuela, 2015. "Relational environment and intellectual roots of 'ecological economics': An orthodox or heterodox field of research?," Economics Discussion Papers 2015-52, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    3. Remig, Moritz C., 2017. "Structured pluralism in ecological economics — A reply to Peter Söderbaum's commentary," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 533-537.
    4. O'Hara, Phillip Anthony, 2009. "Political economy of climate change, ecological destruction and uneven development," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(2), pages 223-234, December.
    5. Marcin Olkiewicz & Anna Olkiewicz & Radosław Wolniak & Adam Wyszomirski, 2021. "Effects of Pro-Ecological Investments on an Example of the Heating Industry—Case Study," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-24, September.
    6. Francesco Calise & Massimo Dentice D’Accadia & Carlo Barletta & Vittoria Battaglia & Antun Pfeifer & Neven Duic, 2017. "Detailed Modelling of the Deep Decarbonisation Scenarios with Demand Response Technologies in the Heating and Cooling Sector: A Case Study for Italy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-33, October.
    7. Valentinov, Vladislav, 2014. "K. William Kapp's theory of social costs: A Luhmannian interpretation," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 28-33.
    8. Farrell, Katharine N. & Löw Beer, David, 2019. "Producing the ecological economy: A study in developing fiduciary principles supporting the application of flow-fund consistent investment criteria for sovereign wealth funds," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 1-1.
    9. Óscar Carpintero, 2013. "When Heterodoxy Becomes Orthodoxy: Ecological Economics in The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 72(5), pages 1287-1314, November.
    10. Legese, Getachew & Van Assche, Kristof & Stellmacher, Till & Tekleworld, Hailemariam & Kelboro, Girma, 2018. "Land for food or power? Risk governance of dams and family farms in Southwest Ethiopia," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 50-59.
    11. Shteryo Nozharov, 2023. "Social costs of circular economy in European Union," Post-Print hal-04307150, HAL.
    12. Remig, Moritz C., 2015. "Unraveling the veil of fuzziness: A thick description of sustainability economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 194-202.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Richard Nielsen, 2013. "Whistle-Blowing Methods for Navigating Within and Helping Reform Regulatory Institutions," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 112(3), pages 385-395, February.
    2. Jack High, 2011. "Dr. Anderson and the Austrians: Price formation as a cumulative process," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 24(2), pages 199-211, June.
    3. Hugh Rockoff, 2008. "Great Fortunes of the Gilded Age," NBER Working Papers 14555, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Marie-Laure Salles-Djelic & Sigrid Quack, 2004. "Governing Globalization – Bringing Institutions Back In," Post-Print hal-01892007, HAL.
    5. Anastassios D. Karayiannis & Allan E. Young, 2003. "Entrepreneurial Activities in a Veblenian Type Transition Economy," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 47(2), pages 40-51, October.
    6. F. Gregory Hayden, 1989. "Institutionalism for What: To Understand Inevitable Progress or for Policy Relevance?," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(2), pages 633-645, June.
    7. Nitzan, Jonathan & Bichler, Shimshon, 2001. "Going Global: Differential Accumulation and the Great U-turn in South Africa and Israel," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 33(1), pages 21-55.
    8. Eric R. Hake, 1998. "Financial Innovation as Facilitator of Merger Activity," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(1), pages 145-170, March.
    9. Hanin, Frédéric, 2003. "La place du Treatise on Money dans l’oeuvre de Keynes : une théorie de l’instabilité," L'Actualité Economique, Société Canadienne de Science Economique, vol. 79(1), pages 71-86, Mars-Juin.
    10. Mark Gertler, 1988. "Financial structure and aggregate economic activity: an overview," Proceedings, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, pages 559-596.
    11. Claude Diebolt, 2009. "Business Cycle Theory before Keynes," Working Papers 09-11, Association Française de Cliométrie (AFC).
    12. Kirrane, Chris, 2018. "What Caused the Asian Currency?," MPRA Paper 93643, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Davanzati, Guglielmo Forges, 2018. "Structural change driven by institutions: Thorstein veblen revised," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 105-110.
    14. Parada, Jairo, 2016. "Economia Pluralista para Enfrentar Crisis Contemporanea [Pluralist Economics to Confront Recent Crisis]," MPRA Paper 72224, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 15 May 2016.
    15. Bichler, Shimshon & Nitzan, Jonathan, 2012. "Imperialism and Financialism. A Story of a Nexus," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, issue 5, pages 42-78.
    16. Jan-Erik Vahlne & Jan Johanson, 2017. "From internationalization to evolution: The Uppsala model at 40 years," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 48(9), pages 1087-1102, December.
    17. Charles G. Leathers & J. Patrick Raines, 2011. "Natural religion and “moral capitalism”," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 38(4), pages 330-340, March.
    18. Naoise McDonagh, 2021. "Credit Guidance for a Desired Economy: An Original Institutional Economics Critique of Financialization," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 53(4), pages 675-693, December.
    19. Djelic, Marie-Laure & Quack, Sigrid, 2002. "The missing link: Bringing institutions back into the debate on economic globalisation," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Organization and Employment FS I 02-107, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    20. Valentinov, Vladislav, 2015. "From equilibrium to autopoiesis: A Luhmannian reading of Veblenian evolutionary economics," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 143-155.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:67:y:2008:i:2:p:244-252. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolecon .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.