IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/enreec/v33y2006i4p511-531.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Sustainability with Uncertain Future Preferences

Author

Listed:
  • Frank Krysiak
  • Daniela Krysiak

Abstract

A feature of the sustainability problem is that the preferences of future generations are uncertain. In this paper, we put forward a fairness-based definition of sustainability that takes this uncertainty into account. We analyze the implications of this definition in the context of a model of project evaluation. We show that our definition encompasses the concepts of non-declining welfare and of weak and strong sustainability. Furthermore, we show that preference uncertainty has a substantial influence on the implications of sustainability. Copyright Springer 2006

Suggested Citation

  • Frank Krysiak & Daniela Krysiak, 2006. "Sustainability with Uncertain Future Preferences," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 33(4), pages 511-531, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:enreec:v:33:y:2006:i:4:p:511-531
    DOI: 10.1007/s10640-005-0004-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10640-005-0004-6
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10640-005-0004-6?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chichilnisky, Graciela & Beltratti, Andrea & Heal, Geoffrey, 1998. "Uncertain future preferences and conservation," MPRA Paper 7912, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    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. W. Botzen & Jeroen Bergh, 2014. "Specifications of Social Welfare in Economic Studies of Climate Policy: Overview of Criteria and Related Policy Insights," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 58(1), pages 1-33, May.
    2. Frank Krysiak, 2009. "Sustainability and its relation to efficiency under uncertainty," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 41(2), pages 297-315, November.
    3. van den Bergh, Jeroen C.J.M., 2008. "Optimal diversity: Increasing returns versus recombinant innovation," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 68(3-4), pages 565-580, December.
    4. Castellano, Rosella & Cerqueti, Roy & Spinesi, Luca, 2016. "Sustainable management of fossil fuels: A dynamic stochastic optimization approach with jump-diffusion," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 255(1), pages 288-297.
    5. Scarborough, Helen & Burton, Michael & Bennett, Jeff, 2009. "Decision-making in a social welfare context," Working Papers eco_2009_02, Deakin University, Department of Economics.
    6. Ioannis Liritzis & Elena Korka, 2019. "Archaeometry’s Role in Cultural Heritage Sustainability and Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-26, April.
    7. van den Bergh, Jeroen C. J. M., 2004. "Optimal climate policy is a utopia: from quantitative to qualitative cost-benefit analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(4), pages 385-393, April.
    8. Helen Scarborough & Jeff Bennett, 2012. "Cost–Benefit Analysis and Distributional Preferences," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 14376.
    9. Kitti, Mitri, 2018. "Sustainable social choice under risk," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 19-31.
    10. Frank Krysiak, 2009. "Risk Management as a Tool for Sustainability," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 85(3), pages 483-492, April.
    11. Michalis Skourtos & Dimitris Damigos & Areti Kontogianni & Christos Tourkolias & Alistair Hunt, 2019. "Embedding Preference Uncertainty for Environmental Amenities in Climate Change Economic Assessments: A “Random” Step Forward," Economies, MDPI, vol. 7(4), pages 1-22, October.
    12. Fabio Zagonari, 2016. "Four Sustainability Paradigms for Environmental Management: A Methodological Analysis and an Empirical Study Based on 30 Italian Industries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(6), pages 1-34, May.

    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. Attanasi, Giuseppe Marco & Montesano, Aldo, 2010. "Testing Value vs Waiting Value in Environmental Decisions under Uncertainty," TSE Working Papers 10-154, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    2. Susanne Soretz, 2003. "Stochastic Pollution and Environmental Care in an Endogenous Growth Model," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 71(4), pages 448-469, July.
    3. Susanne Soretz, 2007. "Efficient Dynamic Pollution Taxation in an Uncertain Environment," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 36(1), pages 57-84, January.
    4. Maria Cunha-E-Sá & Clara Costa-Duarte, 2000. "Endogenous Future Preferences and Conservation," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 16(2), pages 253-262, June.
    5. El Hadji Fall, 2006. "The Worst-Case Scenario and Discounting the Very Long Term," Post-Print halshs-00084074, HAL.
    6. Alain Ayong Le Kama, 2001. "Preservation and exogenous uncertain future preferences," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 18(3), pages 745-752.
    7. Alain Le Kama & Katheline Schubert, 2004. "Growth, Environment and Uncertain Future Preferences," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 28(1), pages 31-53, May.
    8. Robert Kast, 2010. "Managing financial risks due to natural catastrophes," Working Papers 10-19, LAMETA, Universtiy of Montpellier, revised 2010.
    9. Geoffrey Heal & Bengt Kriström, 2002. "Uncertainty and Climate Change," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 22(1), pages 3-39, June.
    10. Ngo Van Long, 2019. "Managing, Inducing, and Preventing Regime Shifts: A Review of the Literature," CESifo Working Paper Series 7749, CESifo.
    11. Nkuiya, Bruno & Costello, Christopher, 2016. "Pollution control under a possible future shift in environmental preferences," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 132(PB), pages 193-205.
    12. Donatella Baiardi & Mario Menegatti, 2011. "Pigouvian tax, abatement policies and uncertainty on the environment," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 103(3), pages 221-251, July.
    13. Chichilnisky, Graciela, 2009. "Avoiding extinction: equal treatment of the present and the future," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 3, pages 1-25.
    14. Robert Kast, 2011. "Managing financial risks due to natural catastrophes," Working Papers hal-00610241, HAL.
    15. El Hadji Fall, 2006. "The Worst-Case Scenario and Discounting the Very Long Term," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) halshs-00084074, HAL.
    16. Frank Krysiak, 2009. "Sustainability and its relation to efficiency under uncertainty," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 41(2), pages 297-315, November.
    17. Frank Krysiak, 2009. "Risk Management as a Tool for Sustainability," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 85(3), pages 483-492, April.
    18. Svenja Hector, 2013. "Accounting for Different Uncertainties: Implications for Climate Investments?," Working Papers 2013.107, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    19. Alain AYONG LE KAMA, 2004. "La consommation de ressources environnementales en incertitude," Discussion Papers (REL - Recherches Economiques de Louvain) 2004031, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    20. Chichilnisky, Graciela, 1998. "The economics of global environmental risk," MPRA Paper 8812, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    intergenerational justice; project evaluation; substitution possibilities; sustainability; uncertainty; Q56; Q20; D81; D63; D99;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q56 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environment and Development; Environment and Trade; Sustainability; Environmental Accounts and Accounting; Environmental Equity; Population Growth
    • Q20 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - General
    • D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • D99 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Other

    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:kap:enreec:v:33:y:2006:i:4:p:511-531. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.