A Two-Way Street Between Environmental Economics and Public Policy

Over the past three decades, the study of environmental and resource economics has evolved from a relatively obscure application of welfare economics to a field of economics in its own right, combining elements from industrial organization, public finance, microeconomic theory, and many other areas of economics. When Edward Elgar Publishing recently invited me to collect some of my papers from the past ten years in an edited volume, it was suggested that I prepare a personal introduction in which I might reflect on the professional path that has led to my research and writing. This paper was prepared as that introduction. In it, I describe the path that took me from Northwestern University to the Peace Corps, then to Cornell, to the Environmental Defense Fund, and finally to Harvard. The book consists of 23 articles I selected from the 80 (published and unpublished) papers I produced - frequently with co-authors - from the time I received my Ph.D. in 1988 until the winter of 2000. Selecting the papers and organizing them has allowed me to step back and reflect on the set of research endeavors in which I have been engaged over this decade. This introductory chapter describes the background and major findings of the 23 included papers, and identifies common themes that emerge from this decade of research and writing.