IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envira/v22y1990i9p1259-1266.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Environmental Sustainability and Cost-Benefit Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • E B Barbier
  • A Markandya
  • D W Pearce

Abstract

Efforts to ‘operationalize’ a concept of sustainability into appraisal methods for practical decisionmaking have been few and generally unpersuasive. In this paper it is argued that this need not be the case if a set of environmentally compensating, or ‘shadow’, projects within an overall portfolio are used to ensure a sustainability objective of setting a constraint on the depletion and degradation of the stock of natural capital. This can be achieved through both a ‘weak’ and a ‘strong’ sustainability criterion. In both cases the resulting optimum differs from the efficient optimum of the conventional cost-benefit criterion, but the basic cost-benefit model remains intact.

Suggested Citation

  • E B Barbier & A Markandya & D W Pearce, 1990. "Environmental Sustainability and Cost-Benefit Analysis," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 22(9), pages 1259-1266, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:22:y:1990:i:9:p:1259-1266
    DOI: 10.1068/a221259
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1068/a221259
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1068/a221259?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. World Commission on Environment and Development,, 1987. "Our Common Future," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780192820808.
    2. Erhun Kula, 1984. "Derivation of Social Time Preference Rates for the United States and Canada," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 99(4), pages 873-882.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. repec:hrs:journl::y:2012:v:4:i:3:p:137-153 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Harte, M. J., 1995. "Ecology, sustainability, and environment as capital," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 157-164, November.
    3. Łukasz Mach & Karina Bedrunka & Ireneusz Dąbrowski & Paweł Frącz, 2021. "The Relationship between ROP Funds and Sustainable Development—A Case Study for Poland," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-19, May.
    4. Dastan Bamwesigye & Petra Hlavackova & Andrea Sujova & Jitka Fialova & Petr Kupec, 2020. "Willingness to Pay for Forest Existence Value and Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-16, January.
    5. Łukasz Mach & Karina Bedrunka & Anna Kuczuk & Marzena Szewczuk-Stępień, 2021. "Effect of Structural Funds on Housing Market Sustainability Development—Correlation, Regression and Wavelet Coherence Analysis," Risks, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-17, October.
    6. R. Turner, 2007. "Limits to CBA in UK and European environmental policy: retrospects and future prospects," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 37(1), pages 253-269, May.
    7. Crawford, Eric W. & Kelly, Valerie A., 2001. "Evaluating Measures To Improve Agricultural Input Use," Staff Paper Series 11686, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    8. Cristian Mejia & Yuya Kajikawa, 2021. "The Academic Landscapes of Manufacturing Enterprise Performance and Environmental Sustainability: A Study of Commonalities and Differences," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(7), pages 1-16, March.
    9. Tipparat Pongthanapanich, 2003. "Review of Mathematical Programming for Coastal Land Use Optimization," Working Papers 52/2003, University of Southern Denmark, Department of Sociology, Environmental and Business Economics.
    10. Michela Faccioli & Nick Hanley & Catalina M. Torres Figuerola & Antoni Riera Font, 2015. "Do we care about sustainability? An analysis of time sensitivity of social preferences under environmental time-persistent effects," Discussion Papers in Environment and Development Economics 2015-17, University of St. Andrews, School of Geography and Sustainable Development.
    11. Maurer, Rainer, 2015. "Auf dem Weg zur weltanschaulichen Bekenntnisschule: Das wirtschaftspolitische Leitbild der Hochschule Pforzheim," Beiträge der Hochschule Pforzheim 152, Pforzheim University.
    12. Walter Leal Filho & Jelena Barbir & Pınar Gökçin Özuyar & Enrique Nunez & Jose Manuel Diaz-Sarachaga & Bertrand Guillaume & Rosley Anholon & Izabela Simon Rampasso & Julia Swart & Luis Velazquez & The, 2022. "Assessing Provisions and Requirements for the Sustainable Production of Plastics: Towards Achieving SDG 12 from the Consumers’ Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-23, December.
    13. Blackman, Allen & Nelson, Per-Kristian & Mathis, Mitchell, 2001. "The Greening of Development Economics: A Survey," RFF Working Paper Series dp-01-08, Resources for the Future.
    14. Almansa Sáez, Carmen & Calatrava Requena, Javier, 2007. "La Problemática Del Descuento En La Evaluación Económica De Proyectos Con Impacto Intergeneracional: Tasa Ambiental Crítica Y Montante De Transferencia Intergeneracional/Discounting In The Context Of ," Estudios de Economia Aplicada, Estudios de Economia Aplicada, vol. 25, pages 165-198, Abril.
    15. Ilias P. Vlachos & George P. Malindretos, 2012. "Farm SMEs sustainability assessment based on Bellagio Principles. The case of Messinian Region, Greece," Regional Science Inquiry, Hellenic Association of Regional Scientists, vol. 0(3), pages 137-153, December.
    16. Latoszek Ewa, 2021. "Fostering sustainable development through the European Digital Single Market," Economics and Business Review, Sciendo, vol. 7(1), pages 68-89, March.
    17. Yao Xiao & Yong-Qing Niu, 2015. "Output and Employment Effects of the Spread of Clean Coal Technology in China," Energy & Environment, , vol. 26(6-7), pages 1081-1097, November.
    18. Pang, Rui-Zhi & Deng, Zhong-Qi & Hu, Jin-li, 2015. "Clean energy use and total-factor efficiencies: An international comparison," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 1158-1171.
    19. Dietz, Simon & Neumayer, Eric, 2007. "Weak and strong sustainability in the SEEA: Concepts and measurement," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(4), pages 617-626, March.
    20. Bereket Araya & John Asafu‐Adjaye, 1999. "Returns to Farm‐Level Soil Conservation on Tropical Steep Slopes: The Case of the Eritrean Highlands," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(3), pages 589-605, September.
    21. McKillop, William & Sarkar, Amin, 1996. "Sustainable development of forest resources in industrialized countries," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 14(3), pages 175-184, August.
    22. Quiggin, John C., 1992. "Discounting and Sustainability," Review of Marketing and Agricultural Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 60(02), pages 1-4, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. CHEN, Helen S.Y., 2020. "Designing Sustainable Humanitarian Supply Chains," OSF Preprints m82ar, Center for Open Science.
    2. Denise Ravet, 2011. "Lean production: the link between supply chain and sustainable development in an international environment," Post-Print hal-00691666, HAL.
    3. Mara Del Baldo, 2012. "Corporate social responsibility and corporate governance in Italian SMEs: the experience of some “spirited businesses”," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 16(1), pages 1-36, February.
    4. Michael Howes & Liana Wortley & Ruth Potts & Aysin Dedekorkut-Howes & Silvia Serrao-Neumann & Julie Davidson & Timothy Smith & Patrick Nunn, 2017. "Environmental Sustainability: A Case of Policy Implementation Failure?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-17, January.
    5. Parnphumeesup, Piya & Kerr, Sandy A., 2011. "Stakeholder preferences towards the sustainable development of CDM projects: Lessons from biomass (rice husk) CDM project in Thailand," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 3591-3601, June.
    6. Chin-Shan Lu & Kuo-Chung Shang & Chi-Chang Lin, 2016. "Examining sustainability performance at ports: port managers’ perspectives on developing sustainable supply chains," Maritime Policy & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(8), pages 909-927, November.
    7. Kebede, Yohannes, 1993. "The Limits to Common Resource Management: The Bypassed Commons or Commons without Tragedy," MPRA Paper 662, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 01 May 1993.
    8. John Stanley & Janet Stanley, 2023. "Improving Appraisal Methodology for Land Use Transport Measures to Reduce Risk of Social Exclusion," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-18, August.
    9. Nora Mzavanadze, 2009. "Building A Framework For National Sustainable Development Assessment And Application For Lithuania: Sustainability In Transition," Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management (JEAPM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 11(01), pages 97-130.
    10. Pishchulov, Grigory & Trautrims, Alexander & Chesney, Thomas & Gold, Stefan & Schwab, Leila, 2019. "The Voting Analytic Hierarchy Process revisited: A revised method with application to sustainable supplier selection," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 211(C), pages 166-179.
    11. Isin Ceti̇n, 2017. "Accounting Requirements And Records On Bank Subscribed Capital Compliance With European Directives," Annals - Economy Series, Constantin Brancusi University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 1, pages 52-68, February.
    12. Jean-Michel Sahuta & Sandrine Boulerne & Medhi Mili & Frédéric Teulon, 2014. "What Relation Exists Between Corporate Social Responsibility (Csr) And Longevity Of Firms?," Working Papers 2014-248, Department of Research, Ipag Business School.
    13. Alba Rocio Gutierrez Garzon & Pete Bettinger & Jacek Siry & Bin Mei & Jesse Abrams, 2019. "The Terms Foresters and Planners in the United States Use to Infer Sustainability in Forest Management Plans: A Survey Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-20, December.
    14. Shehu Folaranmi Gbolahan Yusuf & Oluwabunmi Oluwaseun Popoola & Lindokhule Gwala & Thinandavha Nesengani, 2021. "Promoting University–Community Alliances in the Experiential Learning Activities of Agricultural Extension Postgraduate Students at the University of Fort Hare, South Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-18, September.
    15. Filipa Correia & Philipp Erfruth & Julie Bryhn, 2018. "The 2030 Agenda: The roadmap to GlobALLizaton," Working Papers 156, United Nations, Department of Economics and Social Affairs.
    16. Choy Yee Keong, 2005. "Sustainable Development—An Institutional Enclave (with Special Reference to the Bakun Dam–Induced Development Strategy in Malaysia)," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(4), pages 951-971, December.
    17. Anthony Bennett, 1998. "Sustainable public/private partnerships for public service delivery," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 22(3), pages 193-199, August.
    18. Smith, Joyotee & Scherr, Sara J., 2003. "Capturing the Value of Forest Carbon for Local Livelihoods," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(12), pages 2143-2160, December.
    19. Buys, Piet & Chomitz, Ken & Dasgupta, Susmita & Deichmann, Uwe & Larsen, Bjorn & Meisner, Craig & Nygard, Jostein & Pandey, Kiran & Pinnoi, Nat & Wheeler, David, 2006. "The economics of decentralized poverty-environment programs: An application for Lao PDR," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 28(7), pages 811-824, October.
    20. Lisa Knoche, 2014. "Nachhaltigkeit in Unternehmen und Organisationen - Umweltmanagementsysteme als Instrument zur ökologischen Prägung der Organisationskultur," ifo Schnelldienst, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 67(17), pages 29-37, September.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:22:y:1990:i:9:p:1259-1266. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.