We survey the rapidly growing economic literature on environmental catastrophes and the various approaches developed to address the hovering threats. Various theoretical descriptions of catastrophic occurrences are classified with respect to the uncertain conditions that trigger the events, the...

I present the economic principles of water allocation and pricing in a schematic water economy representing a wide range of real-world situations. The water policy has inter- and intratemporal components. The former determines extractions from the naturally replenished sources, given the...

"The chapter highlights the structure of the book, explains its approach and summarizes its main message. Increased water scarcity intensifies the tradeoffs inherent in allocating water to competing uses and turns the policy challenge of managing water resources ever more crucial. The book...