Bài giảng Kinh tế môi trường - Chương 2: Sơ lược lịch sử kinh tế môi trường

Sơ lược lịch sử kinh tế
môi trường
Bộ môn Kinh tế Môi trường, Nông nghiệp và Tài nguyên
(Department of Environmental, Agricultural, and Resource Economics)
1A Hoàng Diệu, Phú Nhuận, Tp.HCM
Môn học: Kinh tế môi trường
Nội dung
1. Giai đoạn trước 1960
2. Giai đoạn sau 1960
▪ Sandmo (2015). The early history of 
environmental economics. Review of 
Environmental Economics and Policy, Vol.9: 
43-63. 
Giai đoạn trước 1960
An eighteenth century forerunner: 
Marquis de Condorcet (1776)
▪ Awareness of the links between economic 
activity and environmental quality.
▪ A pioneer in the use of externality arguments 
for policy analysis of environmental policy (i.g. 
forbidding harmful economic activities, 
restricting property rights, undertaking public 
works).
▪ However, public intervention was based on 
social justice, not efficiency.
The classical school: From Smith to Mill
▪ Adam Smith (1776): Theory of the invisible 
hand, and the provision of public goods through 
government action.
▪ Thomas Malthus (1798): Theory of population 
provided inspiration for later economists to 
grapple with the issue of resource scarcity and 
economic development.
▪ David Ricardo (1817): Theory of land rent 
regarding both agriculture and mining became 
of great importance for future development of 
environmental economics.
▪ John Mill (1848) emphasized the public 
nature of the natural environment and the 
tasks of the government; and expressed 
strong support for preserving the natural 
environment.
▪ Perspectives on the classical economists: An 
early awareness of the environmental 
problems and a belief that public policy could 
improve the market outcome.
The classical school: From Smith to Mill
Practical applications: Edwin Chadwick 
(1800 – 1890)
▪ A civil servant (not economist) was much 
influenced by the utilitarian philosopher 
Jeremy Bentham and John S. Mill.
▪ Utilized classical price theory (incentive-
based mechanisms) to design incentives for 
environmental and social improvement.
Natural resource scarcity: William 
Jevons and the coal question
▪ The lack (depletion) of coal would act as a brake 
on the country’s economic growth.
▪ He explicitly linked the present and future price 
of coal to the cost of extraction.
▪ It is just possible that some day the sunbeams 
may be collected, or that some source of energy 
now unknown may be detected (Jevons, 1865).
The marginalist revolution and the 
evironment
▪ Alfred Marshall (1890): Initial formulation of 
externality concept. He realized that in the 
presence of externalities, the market 
equilibrium will no longer be socially 
efficient.
▪ Marshall’s effort on fisheries pioneers the 
study the economics of a common property 
resource.
Arthur Pigou (1920) and the foundations 
of environmental economics
▪ Further developed the theory of externalities.
▪ Analyzed how the choice of policies, particularly 
taxes, could improve the efficiency of resource 
allocation.
▪ Discussed the empirical measurement of 
environmental damage.
▪ Called for subsidies to afforestation as an 
instrument for global climate policy.
▪ Suggested other policy options like prohibition of 
the production and consumption.
The emergence of natural resource 
economics
▪ Scott Gordon (1954). The economic theory 
of a common-property resource: The 
fishery. Journal of Political Economy, 
Vol.62. 
▪ Harold Hotelling (1931). The economics of 
exhaustible resources. Journal of Political 
Economy, Vol. 39.
Paul Samuelson (1954) and the theory 
of public goods
▪ The environmental benefit-cost analysis is 
the practical application of the 
fundamental ideas in the theory of public 
goods.
▪ Pearce (2002). An intellectual history of 
environmental economics. Annu. Rev. Enery
Environ, Vol. 27: 57-81.
- The establishment of RFF (resources for future) 
organization in 1952
- Silent Spring by Rachel Carson in 1962
- Material balance model by Robert Ayres and 
Allen Kneese 1969
- Property rights and transaction costs by Ronald 
Coase 1960
Giai đoạn sau 1960
▪ The strategy of the commons by Garrett 
Hardin 
▪ Passive use value by Krutilla 1967 
▪ Polluter pays principle by OECD 1972
▪ Marketable permits by John Dales 1968
Giai đoạn sau 1960