Towards unitary economics: Valuation of environmental capital for environmental stewardship

Dodo J. Thampapillai*, Shandre M. Thangavelu

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The paper presents a simple method of valuation that can sit beside ideology of a unitary economics, which seeks a synergy between materialistic and non-materialistic aspects of welfare. The non-materialistic item considered here is environmental stewardship, the lack of which is widespread among neoclassical economists. This is due to the belief that technology could always offset the problems of resource scarcity. The paper uses the basic tools of neoclassical economics to illustrate that resource scarcity is a real issue and that an improved sense of environmental stewardship is warranted. This illustration involves the valuation of environmental capital from the statement of national accounts. Scarcity indicators are defined in terms of the price of environmental capital. This price, which consists of an interest rate and a cost of depreciation, is empirically estimated for Australia.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)430-442
Number of pages13
JournalInternational Journal of Social Economics
Volume31
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2004
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Economics
  • Environmental management
  • Resource management

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