Environmental Economics [Hardcover]

Charles Kolstad (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0195119541 | ISBN-13: 978-0195119541 | Publication Date: July 8, 1999

Environmental Economics is the first text that concentrates solely on environmental economics--the problems of earth, air, and water pollution--with an emphasis on both government and regulation and private-sector anti-pollution incentives. It assumes a knowledge of intermediate microeconomics; therefore, basic economics is not reviewed in this book as it is in others. The book is divided into four primary sections: the first section defines the field of environmental economics in relation to general economics and to ecological and resource economics; the second section looks at market failure and considers why, even with apparent environmental protection, the market often fails to work properly; the third section examines government regulation of pollution using the industrial organization literature; and the final section looks at the demand for environmental quality, covering both revealed preference and stated preference methods. Because of global interest in environmental economics, this text includes many international examples and places special emphasis on the way countries around the world approach and control their own environmental problems. Environmental Economics is ideal for undergraduate and beginning graduate courses in environmental economics.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"We have all been waiting for a first-rate textbook on environmental economics. Charles Kolstad's excellent new book was worth the wait."--William D. Nordhaus, Yale University

"Kolstad's new book is a treasury of economic analytical concepts and tools used to study environmental problems and design institutional responses to them. It fills a critical gap and will be highly valued by advanced undergraduates and graduate students."--David Bradford, Princeton University

"This book will serve an important market niche. Because it focuses only on environmental economics rather than the larger field of environmental and resource economics, it does a better job of thoroughly covering the topics. It provides a rigorous, yet accessible treatment of many topics that are not satisfactorily covered in current environmental economics books."--Catherine L. Kling, Iowa State University

"The treatment is thorough, clear, and concise. It differs from other texts in the field by including a more detailed coverage of valuation methods, legal liability, and asymmetric information. It fills a particular niche in the market for undergraduate texts."--Charles Perrings, The University of York

"There are hardly any textbooks available with this focus that can be used effectively for undergraduate teaching. This book fills a void in the textbooks currently available in the market on environmental economics for upper-level undergraduate students."--Madhu Khanna, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

"Kolstad fulfills his promise of providing a solid and comprehensive treatment of environmental economics for upper division economics majors."--James Roumasset, University of Hawaii

"Presents the subject with sufficient depth to make it more useful than other undergraduate books in this area. The international section is very helpful."--Walter C. Labys, West Virginia University

About the Author

Charles Kolstad is at University of California, Santa Barbara.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (July 8, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195119541
• ISBN-13: 978-0195119541
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 7.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #340,743 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great introduction to Environmental Economics ., January 23, 2002

By 

Eran Cohen (Israel) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Environmental Economics (Hardcover)

Actual rating - 4.5 stars .

I read this book as a must-read for the Environmental Economics course I had taken in the beginning of the last semester . I think this book is a great choice for students that are interested in this topic . Myself , I didn't know what to expect in the beginning of the course , but it turned up to be a surprisingly interesting and important issue - with the good help of this book .

I have to say that I've learned a lot from reading this book , and it has been a pleasant experience too . Professor Kolstad has really accomplished a commendable achievement in writing a fluent , methodical , thorough and interesting book about Environmental Economics , nearly everyone who wishes to , can read and understand .

I say it as a student who hasn't read other works on the subject , but nevertheless , feels this book has many pluses as an introduction to this subject :

- The author , in spite of announcing it is a book for persons that have taken an Intermediate Microeconomics courses , makes far-reaching efforts to explain nearly every statement he proclaimed . This is a good feature students can use for reviewing forgotten material , deleting the need to use more fundamental books for understanding .

- Significant number of chapters includes a small use of mathematic tools . This fact is of considerable help for the layman , who is interested in expending horizons and lacks the necessary mathematical skills .

I believe the following points characterize many tutorials , but it's important to note them anyway;

- Every figure the author uses is accompanied with detailed explanations that enhance the reader's ability to understand the sketch and the whole subject while at it .

- Every chapter includes an introduction and a summery . The first connects the chapter to the previous one , and assists in grasping the place it takes in the big picture of things , while the second one summarize the major issues dealt with . This functions organize the material and construct an understandable structure of knowledge .

- One last thing , that consists an advantage constructed with disadvantage is the appearance of questions and problems in the end of each chapter , in the obvious order to help you check out your understanding , but with the irritating absence of answers and solutions (!) . What's the point in composing personal examinations without any achievable , certified solutions ? How can I know I am right ? I recommend authors to annex a booklet/extra pages with the correct answers , along with a full description of the way to the solution plus explanations - if you include such a tutorial tool in your book - do it right .

Excluding the last disadvantage , I'm most pleased with this book , and would recommend it for anyone who is interested in environment and its protection problems

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars complete and comprenhensive, March 25, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Environmental Economics (Hardcover)

This book is more than a simple overview of the wide environmental economics world, since it embraces the subject in a clear, comprenhensive but in-depth enough to get a very good picture of it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book for environmental economics, November 17, 2010

By 

Carlos - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Environmental Economics (Hardcover)

It has some typos, and you need to have a solid microeconomics background to get through. But it is an excellent source to know the subject and its technicalities. It states the downsides of each methodology fairly, so you get the whole picture.