Greening Business and Greening the Economy—Institutions and Policy

For humanity to persist, we need to pay much more care that activities to provide for ourselves are sustainable. Our businesses need to green-up. Technological development will help, yet our overall economic activities and behavior need to adapt as well. For both, institutional change is key. Institutional economists are uniquely positioned to contribute to the economic and societal re-thinking that needs to be done.I place the agrifood industry at the center of the discussion. Agrifood plays a pivotal role in both humanity’s survival, as well as in the current environmental challenges humanity faces. While some believe that greening the economy will come from (1) technological development, I conjecture that greening should also come from (2) new products and services, from (3) new business models, from (4) new business practices, from (5) market institutions, and from (6) market responses (including of consumers). All of these are deeply and inevitably imbued with institutions. Institutional economists also know that technological change is driven by (institutionalized) markets. The elements mentioned are interdependent. A discussion of policies to pursue for a more green business and economy ensues.