IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ucp/renvpo/doi10.1086-727693.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Environmental and Natural Resource Economics and Systemic Racism

Author

Listed:
  • Amy W. Ando
  • Titus O. Awokuse
  • Nathan W. Chan
  • Jimena González-Ramírez
  • Sumeet Gulati
  • Matthew G. Interis
  • Sarah Jacobson
  • Dale T. Manning
  • Samuel Stolper

Abstract

This article highlights some ways in which scholarly work in environmental and natural resource economics may be affected by, and may unintentionally further, racial inequity. We discuss four channels through which these effects may occur. The first is prioritization of efficiency over distribution. The second is inattention to procedural justice. The third involves abstraction away from crucial historical or social contexts. The fourth is a narrow focus on problems that fit neatly within existing analytical and empirical frameworks. We follow these threads through three areas in which we offer examples of how environmental and natural resource economics work may further racial inequity. The first involves methods of evaluating and measuring human and social welfare. The second relates to policy modeling choices. The third centers on analysis of management of the commons. We document opportunities to improve the field by better considering how racial inequity may affect, and be affected by, environmental and natural resource economic analysis. Scholars in this field have tools that can mitigate systemic racism in access to natural resources and a clean environment, but work must be done before that potential is realized.

Suggested Citation

  • Amy W. Ando & Titus O. Awokuse & Nathan W. Chan & Jimena González-Ramírez & Sumeet Gulati & Matthew G. Interis & Sarah Jacobson & Dale T. Manning & Samuel Stolper, 2024. "Environmental and Natural Resource Economics and Systemic Racism," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 18(1), pages 143-164.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:renvpo:doi:10.1086/727693
    DOI: 10.1086/727693
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/727693
    Download Restriction: Access to the online full text or PDF requires a subscription.
    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/727693
    Download Restriction: Access to the online full text or PDF requires a subscription.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1086/727693?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 look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dolan, Paul & Edlin, Richard & Tsuchiya, Aki & Wailoo, Allan, 2007. "It ain't what you do, it's the way that you do it: Characteristics of procedural justice and their importance in social decision-making," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 157-170, September.
    2. Jasper N. Meya, 2020. "Environmental Inequality and Economic Valuation," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 76(2), pages 235-270, July.
    3. Janet Currie, 2011. "Inequality at Birth: Some Causes and Consequences," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(3), pages 1-22, May.
    4. Carlier, Alexis & Treich, Nicolas, 2020. "Directly Valuing Animal Welfare in (Environmental) Economics," International Review of Environmental and Resource Economics, now publishers, vol. 14(1), pages 113-152, April.
    5. Joshua D. Angrist & Jörn-Steffen Pischke, 2010. "The Credibility Revolution in Empirical Economics: How Better Research Design Is Taking the Con out of Econometrics," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 24(2), pages 3-30, Spring.
    6. Elinor Ostrom, 2008. "Institutions And The Environment," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(3), pages 24-31, September.
    7. Kevin Lang & Ariella Kahn-Lang Spitzer, 2020. "Race Discrimination: An Economic Perspective," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 34(2), pages 68-89, Spring.
    8. Michael Kremer & Jessica Leino & Edward Miguel & Alix Peterson Zwane, 2011. "Spring Cleaning: Rural Water Impacts, Valuation, and Property Rights Institutions," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 126(1), pages 145-205.
    9. Johansson-Stenman, Olof, 2018. "Animal Welfare and Social Decisions: Is It Time to Take Bentham Seriously?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 90-103.
    10. Laurent, Éloi, 2011. "Issues in environmental justice within the European Union," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(11), pages 1846-1853, September.
    11. David Cutler & Grant Miller, 2005. "The role of public health improvements in health advances: The twentieth-century United States," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 42(1), pages 1-22, February.
    12. William R. Emmons & Lowell R. Ricketts, 2017. "College Is Not Enough: Higher Education Does Not Eliminate Racial and Ethnic Wealth Gaps," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, vol. 99(1).
    13. Sunderlin, William D. & Larson, Anne M. & Duchelle, Amy E. & Resosudarmo, Ida Aju Pradnja & Huynh, Thu Ba & Awono, Abdon & Dokken, Therese, 2014. "How are REDD+ Proponents Addressing Tenure Problems? Evidence from Brazil, Cameroon, Tanzania, Indonesia, and Vietnam," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 37-52.
    14. Timothy C. Haab & John C. Whitehead, 2017. "What do Environmental and Resource Economists Think? Results from a Survey of AERE Members," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 11(1), pages 43-58.
    15. Elizabeth Asiedu & James A. Freeman & Akwasi Nti-Addae, 2012. "Access to Credit by Small Businesses: How Relevant Are Race, Ethnicity, and Gender?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(3), pages 532-537, May.
    16. Samuel Fankhauser & Richard Tol & DAVID Pearce, 1997. "The Aggregation of Climate Change Damages: a Welfare Theoretic Approach," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 10(3), pages 249-266, October.
    17. Grainger, Corbett A. & Costello, Christopher J., 2014. "Capitalizing property rights insecurity in natural resource assets," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 224-240.
    18. Freudenberg, N. & Pastor, M. & Israel, B., 2011. "Strengthening community capacity to participate in making decisions to reduce disproportionate environmental exposures," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 101(SUPPL. 1), pages 123-130.
    19. Eric Yongchen Zou, 2021. "Unwatched Pollution: The Effect of Intermittent Monitoring on Air Quality," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 111(7), pages 2101-2126, July.
    20. Andreas Fuster & Basit Zafar, 2021. "The Sensitivity of Housing Demand to Financing Conditions: Evidence from a Survey," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 13(1), pages 231-265, February.
    21. Trounstine, Jessica, 2020. "The Geography of Inequality: How Land Use Regulation Produces Segregation," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 114(2), pages 443-455, May.
    22. Peter Newell, 2005. "Race, Class and the Global Politics of Environmental Inequality," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 5(3), pages 70-94, August.
    23. Grieve Chelwa & Darrick Hamilton & James Stewart, 2022. "Stratification Economics: Core Constructs and Policy Implications," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 60(2), pages 377-399, June.
    24. Michaël Aklin & Matto Mildenberger, 2020. "Prisoners of the Wrong Dilemma: Why Distributive Conflict, Not Collective Action, Characterizes the Politics of Climate Change," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 20(4), pages 4-27, Autumn.
    25. Scott Barrett, 2020. "Dikes Versus Windmills: Climate Treaties And Adaptation," Climate Change Economics (CCE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 11(04), pages 1-16, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Daniel Gallardo‐Albarrán, 2020. "Sanitary infrastructures and the decline of mortality in Germany, 1877–1913," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 73(3), pages 730-757, August.
    2. Nava Ashraf & Edward Glaeser & Abraham Holland & Bryce Millett Steinberg, 2017. "Water, Health and Wealth," NBER Working Papers 23807, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Kesztenbaum, Lionel & Rosenthal, Jean-Laurent, 2017. "Sewers’ diffusion and the decline of mortality: The case of Paris, 1880–1914," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 174-186.
    4. Daniel Gallardo-Albarrán, 2024. "The Global Sanitary Revolution in Historical Perspective," Working Papers 0247, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    5. Luis Sarmiento & Adam Nowakowski, 2023. "Court Decisions and Air Pollution: Evidence from Ten Million Penal Cases in India," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 86(3), pages 605-644, November.
    6. Indunil De Silva & Sudarno Sumarto, 2018. "Child Malnutrition in Indonesia: Can Education, Sanitation and Healthcare Augment the Role of Income?," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(5), pages 837-864, July.
    7. Solomon Hsiang & Paulina Oliva & Reed Walker, 2019. "The Distribution of Environmental Damages," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 13(1), pages 83-103.
    8. Douglas Almond & Janet Currie & Valentina Duque, 2018. "Childhood Circumstances and Adult Outcomes: Act II," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 56(4), pages 1360-1446, December.
    9. Fung, Winnie & Robles, Omar, 2016. "Effects of antenatal testing laws on infant mortality," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 77-90.
    10. Judith Favereau & Nicolas Brisset, 2016. "Randomization of What? Moving from Libertarian to "Democratic Paternalism"," GREDEG Working Papers 2016-34, Groupe de REcherche en Droit, Economie, Gestion (GREDEG CNRS), Université Côte d'Azur, France.
    11. Eduard Marinov, 2019. "The 2019 Nobel Prize in Economics," Economic Thought journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 6, pages 78-116.
    12. Meeks, Robyn, 2018. "Property Rights and Water Access: Evidence from Land Titling in Rural Peru," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 345-357.
    13. Keiser, David A., 2018. "The Missing Benefits of Clean Water and the Role of Mismeasured Pollution," ISU General Staff Papers 201806290700001048, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    14. Garg, Teevrat & Hamilton, Stuart E. & Hochard, Jacob P. & Kresch, Evan Plous & Talbot, John, 2018. "(Not so) gently down the stream: River pollution and health in Indonesia," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 35-53.
    15. Ryan K. Masters, 2018. "Economic Conditions in Early Life and Circulatory Disease Mortality," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 44(3), pages 519-553, September.
    16. David A. Keiser, 2018. "The Missing Benefits of Clean Water and the Role of Mismeasured Pollution," Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) Publications 18-wp581, Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) at Iowa State University.
    17. Sonia R. Bhalotra & Alberto Diaz-Cayeros & Grant Miller & Alfonso Miranda & Atheendar S. Venkataramani, 2017. "Urban Water Disinfection and Mortality Decline in Developing Countries," NBER Working Papers 23239, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Alessandro Palma & Inna Petrunyk & Daniela Vuri, 2022. "Prenatal air pollution exposure and neonatal health," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(5), pages 729-759, May.
    19. Judith Favereau & Nicolas Brisset, 2016. "Randomization of What? Moving from Libertarian to "Democratic Paternalism". GREDEG Working Papers Series," Working Papers hal-02092638, HAL.
    20. Knutsson, Daniel, 2017. "Water Improvement and Health: Historical Evidence on the Effect of Filtering Water on Urban Mortality," Research Papers in Economics 2017:2, Stockholm University, Department of Economics.

    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:ucp:renvpo:doi:10.1086/727693. 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: Journals Division (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/REEP .

    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.