Assigning Economic Value to Natural Resources

Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 9780309051439
eISBN Pdf: 9780309587341
Place of publication: United States
Year of digital publication: 1994
Month: January
Pages: 196
Language: English

Caption

There has been a lot of discussion among policymakers, particularly within the Clinton Administration, about how to make U.S. economic indicators, such as GNP, more accurately reflect the state of the environment. This book explores the major issues and controversies involved in incorporating natural resources and the environment into economic accounts. The first section of the volume, based largely on a three-day workshop of experts in the field, explains the possibilities and pitfalls in so-called "green" accounting. This is followed by a selection of nine individually authored papers, including one by Nobel prize winner Robert Solow, that probe scientific aspects of this issues in greater depth.

ASSIGNING ECONOMIC VALUE TO NATURAL RESOURCES
Copyright
Preface
Contents
Overview
- INTRODUCTION
- ENVIRONMENTAL VALUES AND THE NATIONAL ACCOUNTS
  - Historical Background
  - National Accounts Dilemmas
- ENVIRONMENTAL ACCOUNTING CHALLENGES
- ISSUES IN ENVIRONMENTAL ACCOUNTING
  - Sustainability
  - Substitutability
  - Irreversibility
  - Intergenerational Equity
  - Technical Issues
  - Philosophical Questions
- ISSUES FOR FURTHER STUDY
- CONCLUSION
  - REFERENCES
Issue Papers
- 1 An Almost Practical Step Toward Sustainability
  - PREVIEWING THE ARGUMENTS
  - FINDING THE TRUE NET PRODUCT OF OUR ECONOMY
  - ANALYZING SUSTAINABLE PATHS FOR A MODERN INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY
  - CONNECTING UP THE ARGUMENTS
  - CONCLUDING COMMENTS
- 2 What Can Policymakers Learn From Natural Resource Accounting?
  - THE NEED FOR NATURAL RESOURCE ACCOUNTING
  - THE SCOPE OF NATURAL RESOURCE ACCOUNTING
  - SETTING UP NATURAL RESOURCE ACCOUNTS
    - Physical Accounts
    - Valuation Principles
  - WHAT CAN POLICYMAKERS LEARN FROM RESOURCE ACCOUNTING?
    - Macroeconomic Policy and Structural Adjustment
    - Sectoral Policy
- 3 The Feasibility of Incorporating Environmental and Natural Resource Availability into the National Accounts
  - DEFICIENCIES IN THE TREATMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND THE ENVIRONMENT
  - ASSET AND PRODUCTION BOUNDARIES UNDERLYING THE NATIONAL ACCOUNTS
    - Factor Services
    - Final Services
    - Current Asset and Production Boundaries of U.S. Accounts
  - ADDRESSING THE DEFICIENCIES IN THE TREATMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND THE ENVIRONMENT
    - Expanding the Asset Boundary to Record Changes in Natural Resources and the Environment
    - Expanding the Production Boundary to Include More Services of Natural Resources and the Environment in Measures of National…
    - Reorganizing Items Included in the Production Boundary to More Clearly Identify Environmental Services and the Costs of…
  - CONCLUSIONS
- 4 Sustainable Resource Accounting
  - INTRODUCTION
  - ACCOUNTING FUNCTIONS: SCOREKEEPING AND MANAGEMENT
  - SUSTAINABILITY
  - DEPRECIATION
  - INCOME AND DEPRECIATION
  - INTERPRETATION OF ENVIRONMENTALLY-ADJUSTED INCOME
  - ACCOUNTING SUPPORT FOR SUSTAINABILITY ANALYSIS
  - CONCLUSION: THE ECONOMICS POINT OF VIEW
- 5 Transfer Models for "Green Accounting": An Approach to Environmental Policy Analysis for Sustainable Development
  - THEME: ARE WE KILLING THE GOLDEN GOOSE?
  - STRUCTURE OF THE PAPER
  - WHY CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORKS MATTER: LIMITS AND EQUITY
  - GREEN ACCOUNTS
  - THE CASE FOR BIOGEOPHYSICAL GREEN ACCOUNTS
    - Some Difficulties with Existing Systems of National Accounts
    - Intergenerational Discount Rates
    - Analysis Based on Single Numeraires
    - Biogeophysical and Energy-Related Approaches
    - An Alternative Transfer Model: Multicriteria Techniques
  - EXAMPLES OF ALTERNATIVE TRANSFER MODELS: RADIOACTIVE WASTE AND GREENHOUSE WARMING
    - Radioactive Waste
    - Global Warming
    - Econometric Approaches for Examining the Impacts of Global Climate Change
    - An Alternative Transfer Model Approach for Examining the Agricultural Impacts of Global Climate Change
    - Risk and Uncertainty Made Explicit
  - DIRECTIONS
  - APPENDIX: CATASTROPHE: FAILURE IN THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR COULD IMPACT THE ENTIRE ECONOMY
  - REFERENCES
- 6 Natural Resource and Environmental Accounting in U.S. Agriculture
  - ISSUES IN ASSESSING AGRICULTURAL PERFORMANCE
    - Introduction
    - Sustainability Issues
  - AN ACCOUNTING FRAMEWORK FOR AGRICULTURE
    - Introduction
    - Net Income as an Indicator of Sustainability
    - Limitations of Existing Accounting Systems
    - The Consumption of Natural Resource Capital
    - Off-Farm Costs and Benefits
    - A Schematic Accounting Framework
  - CONSUMPTION OF NATURAL RESOURCE CAPITAL: HOW TO REPRESENT IT
  - CONCLUSION
  - REFERENCES
- 7 Natural Resource Accounting for the Forestry Sector: Valuation Techniques And Policy Implications in Thailand
  - SUMMARY AND OVERVIEW
  - NATURAL RESOURCE ACCOUNTING
    - User Cost
    - The Depreciation Approach
    - A Case Study from Thailand
    - Thailand's Forest Logging Ban
    - Natural Resource Accounting Analyses
    - User Cost
    - Depreciation
    - Findings and Policy Implications
  - CONCLUSIONS
  - REFERENCES
- 8 Soil Quality in Relation to Value and Sustainable Management
  - INTRODUCTION
  - SOIL PRODUCTIVITY AND CROP YIELDS
  - SHIFTING FROM MAXIMUM CROP YIELDS TO MAXIMUM SUSTAINABLE YIELDS
  - DESIGN AND EVALUATION OF SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
  - SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
  - REFERENCES
- 9 Valuing Biodiversity: An Application of ''Green Accounting''
  - NATIONAL ACCOUNTING: A VERY BRIEF OVERVIEW
  - GREEN ACCOUNTING AND ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS
  - VALUING RESERVES OF BIODIVERSITY
  - CONCLUSIONS
  - REFERENCES
Appendix Workshop Planners and Participants
- WORKSHOP ON "VALUING NATURAL CAPITAL FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT" HELD IN WOODS HOLE, MASSACHUSETTS, JULY 1-3, 1993
- WORKSHOP PLANNING GROUP
- WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS
  - Invited Guests
  - CGER Members
  - CBASSE Members
  - CGER Staff
  - CBASSE Staff

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