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Efficient ecosystem services and naturalness in an ecological/economic model

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  • Thomas Eichner
  • John Tschirhart

Abstract

In an integrated economic/ecological model, the economy benefits from ecosystem services that include: (1) the consumptive use of a harvested species, (2) the non-consumptive use of popular species, and (3) naturalness, i.e., the divergence of the ecosystem’s biodiversity from its natural steady state. The biological component of the model, which is applied to a nine-species Alaskan marine ecosystem, relies on individual optimizing behaviour by plants and animals to establish population dynamics. The biological component is used to define naturalness. By varying harvesting we arrive at different steady-state populations and humans choose from among these steady states. Welfare maximizing levels of the ecosystem services are derived, then it is shown that in the laissez-faire economy overharvesting occurs when the harvesting industry ignores ecosystem services (2) and (3). Lastly, we introduce efficiency restoring taxes and standards that internalize the ecosystem externalities. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 2007

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas Eichner & John Tschirhart, 2007. "Efficient ecosystem services and naturalness in an ecological/economic model," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 37(4), pages 733-755, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:enreec:v:37:y:2007:i:4:p:733-755
    DOI: 10.1007/s10640-006-9065-4
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    Cited by:

    1. Taylor, Michael H. & Rollins, Kimberly, 2012. "Using Ecological Models to Coordinate Valuation of Ecological Change on Western Rangelands for ex post Application to Policy Analysis," Western Economics Forum, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 11(1), pages 1-9.
    2. Birgit Bednar-Friedl & Doris Behrens & Michael Getzner, 2012. "Optimal Dynamic Control of Visitors and Endangered Species in a National Park," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 52(1), pages 1-22, May.
    3. Christine Bertram & Martin F. Quaas, 2017. "Biodiversity and Optimal Multi-species Ecosystem Management," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 67(2), pages 321-350, June.
    4. Rauscher, Michael & Barbier, Edward B., 2010. "Biodiversity and geography," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 241-260, April.
    5. Hussain, A.M. Tanvir & Tschirhart, John, 2013. "Economic/ecological tradeoffs among ecosystem services and biodiversity conservation," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 116-127.
    6. Bertram, Christine, 2010. "Integrating biodiversity indices into a multi-species optimal control model," Kiel Working Papers 1662, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    7. Narendra N. Dalei & Yamini Gupt, 2019. "Drivers of Forest Ecosystem Change in Purnapani Area: Empirical Evidence and Policy Suggestions," Journal of Quantitative Economics, Springer;The Indian Econometric Society (TIES), vol. 17(1), pages 167-196, March.
    8. Apriesnig, Jenny L. & Warziniack, Travis W. & Finnoff, David C. & Zhang, Hongyan & Lee, Katherine D. & Mason, Doran M. & Rutherford, Edward S., 2022. "The consequences of misrepresenting feedbacks in coupled human and environmental models," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Ecosystem services; Biodiversity; Naturalness; Harvesting; Q22; Q28; Q57; Q58;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q22 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Fishery
    • Q28 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Government Policy
    • Q57 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Ecological Economics
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy

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