AN OPERATIONAL MODEL OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: SOME THOUGHTS ON GETTING THE INCENTIVES FOR PUBLIC POLICY RIGHT; Proceedings of the Fifth Joint Conference on Agriculture, Food, and the Environment, June 17-18, 1996, Padova, Italy.

As background for addressing agricultural policy and sustainable development issues, we address in this paper some general issues we believe it important to consider in developing a broad and consistent conceptual framework for the analysis of sustainability. The objective of this paper is to propose a comprehensive conceptual framework for bringing sustainability issues into practical public policy formulation. A "people first" view is proposed: one that assumes that the ultimate purpose of natural resources and the economic system is first the well-being of mankind.