A Survey of Ecological Economics

The emergent discipline of ecological economics is based on the idea that the world's economies are a function of the Earth's ecosystems - an idea that radically reverses the world view of neoclassical economics. This volume offers an overview of this field, and a comprehensive and systematic survey of its critical literature. The editors of the book summarize 95 articles, selected through a survey, that advance the field of ecological economics. The summaries present both the topics covered in each paper and the most important arguments made about each topic. Sections cover: historical perspective; definition, scope and interdisciplinary issues; theoretical frameworks and techniques; energy and resource flow analysis; accounting and evaluation; North-South/international issues; and ethical/social/institutional issues. Each section is preceded by an introductory essay that outlines the state of knowledge in the field and proposes a research agenda for the future.