IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/tin/wpaper/19980105.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Spatial Sustainability, Trade and Indicators

Author

Listed:
  • Jeroen C.J.M. van den Bergh

    (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)

  • Harmen Verbruggen

    (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)

Abstract

The search for frameworks and indicators of sustainable development has taken a prominent place in this journal. However, some specific aspects have received little or no attention, notably the spatial dimension and the role of international trade in indicator development. Moreover, many sustainable development indicators comprise implicit valuations, weighting schemes and policy objectives, which are insufficiently recognised as such. This contribution tries to highlight these issues by means of a review of a recently proposed indicator for ecological–economic analysis, namely the ecological footprint, that has been developed by Wackernagel and Rees. Its concept and calculation procedure are criticised on a number of points, and it is concluded that the Ecological Footprint is not the comprehensive and transparent planning tool as is often assumed. In explaining our position we will argue that spatial sustainability and regional sustainable development have not been precisely discussed so far, neither in the literature on trade and environment, nor in that on sustainable development. We will defend the view that trade can contribute positively and negatively to environmental unsustainability. Consequently, indicators and models are needed that allow for analysing interactions and trade-offs between such opposite effects. This discussion paper has resulted in a publication in Ecological Economics , 1999, 29(1), 61-72.

Suggested Citation

  • Jeroen C.J.M. van den Bergh & Harmen Verbruggen, 1998. "Spatial Sustainability, Trade and Indicators," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 98-105/3, Tinbergen Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:tin:wpaper:19980105
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://papers.tinbergen.nl/98105.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rennings, Klaus & Wiggering, Hubert, 1997. "Steps towards indicators of sustainable development: Linking economic and ecological concepts," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 25-36, January.
    2. Markusen James R. & Morey Edward R. & Olewiler Nancy D., 1993. "Environmental Policy when Market Structure and Plant Locations Are Endogenous," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 69-86, January.
    3. Darwin, Roy & Tsigas, Marinos & Lewandrowski, Jan & Raneses, Anton, 1996. "Land use and cover in ecological economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 157-181, June.
    4. Ayres, Robert U., 1996. "Statistical measures of unsustainability," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 239-255, March.
    5. Wackernagel, Mathis & Rees, William E., 1997. "Perceptual and structural barriers to investing in natural capital: Economics from an ecological footprint perspective," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 3-24, January.
    6. O.J. Kuik & A.J. Gilbert, 1999. "Indicators of Sustainable Development," Chapters, in: Jeroen C.J.M. van den Bergh (ed.), Handbook of Environmental and Resource Economics, chapter 49, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    7. Jeroen Bergh, 1993. "A framework for modelling economy-environment-development relationships based on dynamic carrying capacity and sustainable development feedback," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 3(4), pages 395-412, August.
    8. Kox, Henk L. M. & Van der Tak, Casper M., 1996. "Non-transboundary pollution and the efficiency of international environmental co-operation," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 247-259, December.
    9. Serrao, Emmanuel Adilson S. & Nepstad, Daniel & Walker, Robert, 1996. "Upland agricultural and forestry development in the Amazon: sustainability, criticality and resilience," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 3-13, July.
    10. Daly, Herman & Goodland, Robert, 1994. "An ecological-economic assessment of deregulation of international commerce under GATT," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 73-92, January.
    11. Beladi, Hamid & Frasca, Ralph, 1996. "Regional pollution and multinational firms," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 117-125, May.
    12. Bowes, Michael D. & Krutilla, John V., 1985. "Multiple use management of public forestlands," Handbook of Natural Resource and Energy Economics, in: A. V. Kneese† & J. L. Sweeney (ed.), Handbook of Natural Resource and Energy Economics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 12, pages 531-569, Elsevier.
    13. Pezzey, John C V & Withagen, Cees A, 1998. " The Rise, Fall and Sustainability of Capital-Resource Economies," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 100(2), pages 513-527, June.
    14. Costanza, Robert & Patten, Bernard C., 1995. "Defining and predicting sustainability," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(3), pages 193-196, December.
    15. Jeroen C.J.M. van den Bergh (ed.), 1999. "Handbook of Environmental and Resource Economics," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 801.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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


    Cited by:

    1. Rodrigues, João & Domingos, Tiago & Conceição, Pedro & Belbute, José, 2005. "Constraints on dematerialisation and allocation of natural capital along a sustainable growth path," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(4), pages 382-396, September.
    2. Robert U. Ayres & Jeroen C.J.M. van den Bergh & John M. Gowdy, 1998. "Viewpoint: Weak versus Strong Sustainability," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 98-103/3, Tinbergen Institute.
    3. Imreh-Tóth, Mónika, 2014. "How We Forgot Natural Capital And How It Has Been Foregrounded Again By Analysing Through Ecological Footprint," Journal of Central European Green Innovation, Karoly Robert University College, vol. 2(1), pages 1-13.
    4. Muradian, Roldan & O'Connor, Martin & Martinez-Alier, Joan, 2002. "Embodied pollution in trade: estimating the 'environmental load displacement' of industrialised countries," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 51-67, April.
    5. Verchère, Alban, 2011. "Le développement durable en question : analyses économiques autour d’un improbable compromis entre acceptions optimiste et pessimiste du rapport de l’Homme à la Nature," L'Actualité Economique, Société Canadienne de Science Economique, vol. 87(3), pages 337-403, septembre.
    6. Grazi, Fabio & van den Bergh, Jeroen C.J.M. & Rietveld, Piet, 2006. "Modeling Spatial Sustainability: Spatial Welfare Economics versus Ecological Footprint," Sustainability Indicators and Environmental Valuation Working Papers 12212, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    7. Yue, Dongxia & Xu, Xiaofeng & Li, Zizhen & Hui, Cang & Li, Wenlong & Yang, Hequn & Ge, Jianping, 2006. "Spatiotemporal analysis of ecological footprint and biological capacity of Gansu, China 1991-2015: Down from the environmental cliff," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(2), pages 393-406, June.
    8. Dietz, Simon & Neumayer, Eric, 2007. "Weak and strong sustainability in the SEEA: Concepts and measurement," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(4), pages 617-626, March.
    9. Hezri, Adnan A. & Dovers, Stephen R., 2006. "Sustainability indicators, policy and governance: Issues for ecological economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 86-99, November.
    10. Haberl, Helmut & Erb, Karl-Heinz & Krausmann, Fridolin, 2001. "How to calculate and interpret ecological footprints for long periods of time: the case of Austria 1926-1995," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 25-45, July.
    11. Andrea Collins & Andrew Flynn, 2008. "Measuring the Environmental Sustainability of a Major Sporting Event: A Case Study of the FA Cup Final," Tourism Economics, , vol. 14(4), pages 751-768, December.
    12. Wurtenberger, Laura & Koellner, Thomas & Binder, Claudia R., 2006. "Virtual land use and agricultural trade: Estimating environmental and socio-economic impacts," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(4), pages 679-697, June.
    13. Nijkamp, P. & Verbruggen, H., 2002. "Global trends and climate change policies," Serie Research Memoranda 0004, VU University Amsterdam, Faculty of Economics, Business Administration and Econometrics.
    14. Camilo Martínez-Iglesias & Alevgül H. Sorman & Mario Giampietro & Jesus Ramos-Martin, 2014. "Assessing biophysical limits to the economic development of remote islands: the case of Isabela in the Galapagos Archipelago," Documentos de Trabajo CEPROEC 2014_01, Instituto de Altos Estudios Nacionales, Centro de Prospectiva Estratégica.
    15. Jenerette, G. Darrel & Wu, Wanli & Goldsmith, Susan & Marussich, Wendy A. & John Roach, W., 2006. "Contrasting water footprints of cities in China and the United States," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(3), pages 346-358, May.
    16. Kopp, Thomas & Dorn, Franziska, 2018. "Social equity and ecological sustainability: Can the two be achieved together?," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 357, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.
    17. Hoekstra, A.Y., 2009. "Human appropriation of natural capital: A comparison of ecological footprint and water footprint analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(7), pages 1963-1974, May.

    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. van den Bergh, Jeroen C. J. M. & Verbruggen, Harmen, 1999. "Spatial sustainability, trade and indicators: an evaluation of the 'ecological footprint'," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 61-72, April.
    2. Rigby, Dan & Woodhouse, Phil & Young, Trevor & Burton, Michael, 2001. "Constructing a farm level indicator of sustainable agricultural practice," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 463-478, December.
    3. Chen, B. & Chen, G.Q., 2007. "Modified ecological footprint accounting and analysis based on embodied exergy--a case study of the Chinese society 1981-2001," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(2-3), pages 355-376, March.
    4. Muradian, Roldan & Martinez-Alier, Joan, 2001. "Trade and the environment: from a 'Southern' perspective," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 281-297, February.
    5. Cowell, Sarah J. & Wehrmeyer, Walter & Argust, Peter W. & Robertson, J. Graham S., 1999. "Sustainability and the primary extraction industries: theories and practice," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 277-286, December.
    6. Seo, Kami & Taylor, Jonathan, 2003. "Forest resource trade between Japan and Southeast Asia: the structure of dual decay," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 91-104, April.
    7. Marco A. Janssen & Jeroen C.J.M. van den Bergh, 1999. "SIMBIOSES: Modelling Industrial Metabolism in a Multi-Regional Economic System," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 99-060/3, Tinbergen Institute.
    8. Jouni Korhonen, 2003. "Should we measure corporate social responsibility?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 10(1), pages 25-39, March.
    9. Jeroen C.J.M. van den Bergh & Peter Nijkamp, 1997. "Optimal Growth, Coordination and Sustainability in the Spatial Economy," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 97-104/3, Tinbergen Institute.
    10. J. Bergh & D. Veen-Groot, 2001. "Constructing aggregate environmental-economic indicators: a comparison of 12 OECD countries," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 4(1), pages 1-16, March.
    11. Erik T Verhoef & Peter Nijkamp, 2000. "Spatial Dimensions of Environmental Policies for Transboundary Externalities: A Spatial Price Equilibrium Approach," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 32(11), pages 2033-2055, November.
    12. Jouni Korhonen, 2008. "Reconsidering the Economics Logic of Ecological Modernization," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 40(6), pages 1331-1346, June.
    13. Bohringer, Christoph & Jochem, Patrick E.P., 2007. "Measuring the immeasurable -- A survey of sustainability indices," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(1), pages 1-8, June.
    14. Conrad, Klaus, 2001. "Locational Competition under Environmental Regulation when Input Prices and Productivity Differ," Discussion Papers 597, Institut fuer Volkswirtschaftslehre und Statistik, Abteilung fuer Volkswirtschaftslehre.
    15. Dubravka Jurlina Alibegovic & Suncana Slijepcevic, 2010. "Performance Measurement at the Sub-national Government Level in Croatia," Working Papers 1002, The Institute of Economics, Zagreb.
    16. Jayadevappa, Ravishankar & Chhatre, Sumedha, 2000. "International trade and environmental quality: a survey," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 175-194, February.
    17. Rauscher, Michael, 2001. "International trade, foreign investment, and the environment," Thuenen-Series of Applied Economic Theory 29, University of Rostock, Institute of Economics.
    18. Alessio Emanuele BIONDO, 2010. "A Growth Rate for a Sustainable Economy," Journal of Applied Economic Sciences, Spiru Haret University, Faculty of Financial Management and Accounting Craiova, vol. 5(2(12)/Sum), pages 7-20.
    19. Nijkamp, Peter & van den Bergh, Jeroen C. J. M., 1997. "New advances in economic modelling and evaluation of environmental issues," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 99(1), pages 180-196, May.
    20. Hubacek, Klaus & van den Bergh, Jeroen C.J.M., 2006. "Changing concepts of 'land' in economic theory: From single to multi-disciplinary approaches," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(1), pages 5-27, January.

    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:tin:wpaper:19980105. 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: Tinbergen Office +31 (0)10-4088900 (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/tinbenl.html .

    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.