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Economists, time to team up with the ecologists!

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  • Wam, Hilde Karine

Abstract

Bioeconomic modeling is an increasingly relevant meeting arena for economists and ecologists. A majority of the growing literature, however, is written by economists alone and not with ecologists in true interdisciplinary teamwork. Physical distance between research institutions is no longer a reasonable justification, and I argue that, in practice, neither do the more fundamental philosophical oppositions present any real hindrance to teamwork. I summarize these oppositions in order of increasing magnitude as: 1) the axiom, held by many ecologists, of 'irreducible complexity of ecosystem functioning', which is avoided simply because the ecological 'whole' (as opposed to its 'parts') is not an element of most realistic modeling scenarios; 2) the axiom, also held by many ecologists, of 'the precautionary principle', which mainly surfaces at the applied end of natural resource management, and thereby should not prevent economists and ecologists from jointly building the models necessary for the final decision making; and 3) the economists' axiom of 'the tradability principle', which is harder to overcome as it demands value-based practical compromises from both parties. Even this may be solved, however, provided the economists accept non-marketable components in the model (e.g. by using restriction terms based on ecology), and the ecologists accept a final model output measured in terms of monetary value. The easiest candidates for interdisciplinary teamwork in bioeconomics are therefore researchers who acknowledge ethical relativism. As bioeconomics presently functions mainly as an arena for economists, I say the responsibility for initiating interdisciplinary teamwork rests most heavily on their shoulders.

Suggested Citation

  • Wam, Hilde Karine, 2010. "Economists, time to team up with the ecologists!," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(4), pages 675-679, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:69:y:2010:i:4:p:675-679
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    1. repec:dau:papers:123456789/13032 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Wam, Hilde Karine & Bunnefeld, Nils & Clarke, Nicholas & Hofstad, Ole, 2016. "Conflicting interests of ecosystem services: Multi-criteria modelling and indirect evaluation of trade-offs between monetary and non-monetary measures," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 22(PB), pages 280-288.
    3. Soltani, Arezoo & Sankhayan, Prem L. & Hofstad, Ole, 2014. "A dynamic bio-economic model for community management of goat and oak forests in Zagros, Iran," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 174-185.
    4. Wam, Hilde Karine & Pedersen, Hans Chr. & Hjeljord, Olav, 2012. "Balancing hunting regulations and hunter satisfaction: An integrated biosocioeconomic model to aid in sustainable management," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 89-96.
    5. Paul Opdam & Eveliene Steingröver, 2018. "How Could Companies Engage in Sustainable Landscape Management? An Exploratory Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-15, January.
    6. Dardonville, Manon & Legrand, Baptiste & Clivot, Hugues & Bernardin, Claire & Bockstaller, Christian & Therond, Olivier, 2022. "Assessment of ecosystem services and natural capital dynamics in agroecosystems," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    7. Nathalie Hilmi & Denis Allemand & Sam Dupont & Alain Safa & Gunnar Haraldsson & Paulo Nunes & Chris Moore & Caroline Hattam & Stéphanie Reynaud & Jason Hall-Spencer & Maoz Fine & Carol Turley & Ross J, 2013. "Towards improved socio-economic assessments of ocean acidification’s impacts," Post-Print hal-03208182, HAL.
    8. Kocjančič, Tina & Debeljak, Marko & Žgajnar, Jaka & Juvančič, Luka, 2018. "Incorporation of emergy into multiple-criteria decision analysis for sustainable and resilient structure of dairy farms in Slovenia," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 71-83.
    9. repec:grm:ecoyun:201712 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Kragt, M.E. & Pannell, D.J. & McVittie, A. & Stott, A.W. & Vosough Ahmadi, B. & Wilson, P., 2016. "Improving interdisciplinary collaboration in bio-economic modelling for agricultural systems," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 217-224.

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