Models of Sustainable Development

Models of sustainable development are increasingly used to address large scale environmental problems ensuring that responses to present day needs do not compromise the prospects of future generations. In this new book a wide range of approaches to modelling sustainable development is examined, including neoclassical, evolutionary, ecological economics and neo-Ricardian models. Recognizing that the application of sustainable development requires the reorientation of economic analysis on several fundamental points, a distinguished group of authors re-examines such key issues as intra- and intergenerational equity, the treatment of the very long-term, the irreversibility of ecological change, fundamental uncertainty and system complexity, and processes of technological change. The achievements and limitations of different models of sustainable development are explored, with particular reference to their value in support of decision-making. Researchers and graduate students in environmental economics will welcome this volume's rigorous approach to environmental sustainability as well as its consideration of a wide range of different modelling approaches and, in particular, the assumptions which sustain them.