Economics of environmental quality
The authors use the term environmental quality to refer to the conditions associated with those resources that have not been assigned to the market for allocation. Though the focus is on air and water quality, it could just as well include conditions of crowding, visual stimuli, and odors within the same framework. This analysis addresses itself to the economic aspects of environmental quality as the term is currently defined. First, in an introduction to the nature of the problem, the subject is put in a perspective of time and place. Subsequent chapters provide an economic analysis of the problem, present discussions of environmental demand, and analyze such topics as the conflict between economic development and environmental quality, legal solutions to the problem, and the uses and effects of taxes and subsidies as means for ameliorating conflict over environmental quality. Most of the discussion here revolves around the question of allocational efficiency: the old problem of scarce resources and who gets them. In this sense, the discussion is market-oriented. The study takes the view that since the quality of the environment is recognized as a scarce resource, it should be treated accordingly. This approach should provide additional insight into the taskmore » of formulating policies to deal with environmental resources.« less