The management of air quality in the United States has evolved into a sophisticated array of rules, strategies, and initiatives since the landmark Clean Air Act (CAA) legislation of 1970 and the subsequent creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In particular, the CAA...

This article examines the extent to which environmental and trade policies should be treated equally, or symmetrically, in international negotiations. It reviews the recent economics literature on trade and the environment to address two questions. First, should trade negotiations include...

Greater use of renewable energy is seen as a key component of any move to combat climate change, and is being aggressively promoted as such by the new U.S. administration. Yet there has been little economic analysis of renewable energy. This article surveys the literature on the economics of...

This article surveys selected contributions of economics to the literature on water pollution and the regulation of water quality. While not a comprehensive review, the article highlights water pollution issues to which economics has made important contributions, as well as areas in which...

Environmental management programs that attempt to cope with institutional weaknesses in developing countries by being less reliant on governments' formal regulatory apparatus are becoming increasingly common. Three leading examples of such innovative programs are (1) public disclosure and...

Many of the services supplied by nature are externalities. Economic theory suggests that some form of subsidy or contracting between the beneficiaries and the providers could result in an optimal supply of environmental services. Moreover, if the poor own resources that give them a comparative...

For economists, the term "value of a statistical life" (VSL) is an eminently reasonable label for the concept it describes. However, outside our discipline, this terminology has been singularly unhelpful. This article argues that there could be a considerable reduction in wasted resources if...

This article examines the role of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in providing information, analysis, and recommendations to facilitate effective and efficient environmental policy making in its member countries. It describes the OECD's organizational and...

Lessons from the early literature in environmental economics are used to assess the impact of an early contributor, Ralph C. d'Arge; discuss the prospects for designing incentive-based approaches to encourage private adaptation to climate change; and comment on reforming current practices...

How does information on environmental risks obtained by individuals in developing countries affect environmental quality? The literature reveals that for issues like water quality and pesticides, information affects individual behavior and risks are reduced through individual action. However,...