Economic Development and Environmental Sustainability: New Policy Options

Economic growth as we know it today cannot persist indefinitely if it entails continuous degradation of natural resources and the environment. While in a few countries around the world it appears that environmental degradation has been the result of rapid economic growth, in the vast majority of the developing countries the environment has been equally spoiled despite slow or even negative economic growth. This book provides new insights on the common roots of economic stagnation, poverty and environmental degradation which, unfortunately, generally reside in misguided government policies and priorities. By doing this, the volume seeks to provide a broader policy option framework than those found in conventional policy analyses, mainly dominated by the "Washington Consensus". It shows that a major omission of the conventional view is that governments tend to allocate government expenditures in a biased way favouring subsidies to the economic elites to the detriment of investments in public goods, including human capital, R&D, as well as the development of institutions (environmental and otherwise), which are vital for long run growth, poverty reduction and environmental sustainability. Contributors to this volume - Heidi J. Albers, Oregon State University Edward B Barbier, University of Wyoming Douglas F. Barnes, The World Bank Erwin Bulte, Tilburg University Brian R. Copeland, University of British Columbia Robert T. Deacon, University of California, Santa Barbara Ariel Dinar, The World Bank and Johns Hopkins University Stefanie Engel, University of Bonn Paul Ferraro, Georgia State University Sumeet Gulati, University of British Columbia Kirk Hamilton, The World Bank Rashid Hassan, University of Pretoria Alan J. Krupnick, Resources for the Future Ramon Lopez, University of Maryland Anil Markandya, University of Bath Bernardo Mueller, University of Brasilia B. Gabriela Mundaca, University of Oslo R. Maria Saleth, University of South Australia J E Somanathan, Indian Statistical Institute Thomas Sterner, Goteborg University Jon Strand, International Monetary Fund Michael A. Toman, Johns Hopkins University and University of California, Santa Barbara Jon Strand, University of Oslo