Problem Set Chapter 2
Environmental and Resource Economics
Dr. Claudia Schwirplies
This tutorial aims for a deeper understanding of the concepts of sustainability and inter-
disciplinary perspectives on sustainability and the environment. We have time for up to 3
presentations (20 min presentation plus 10 min discussion). Please relate the content of the
paper to the topics in the lecture and provide 2-3 discussion questions.
Part 1: Concepts of strong sustainability
Bishop, R.C. (1978): Endangered Species and Uncertainty: The Economics of a Safe Minimum
Standard, American Journal of Agricultural Economics 60, 10-18.
Daly, H.E. (1990): Toward some operational principles of sustainable development, Ecological
Economics 2, 1-6.
Levin, S.A. et al. (1998): Resilience in natural and socioeconomic systems, Environment and
Development Economics 3 (2), 222-235.
Note on assessment: This part is for two students who work in a team to summarize and
present deeper knowledge about the 3 concepts of strong sustainability. Both presenters can
earn up to 2 grading steps upgrade if all 3 papers are involved.
Part 2: Interdisciplinary perspectives on sustainability and environmental economics
Suggested papers for presentation by one student:
Heal, G. (2012): Reflections -- defining and measuring sustainability. Review of Environmental
Economics and Policy, 6(1), 147-163.
Jabareen, Y. (2008): A new conceptual framework for sustainable development, Environment,
Development and Sustainability 10, 179–192.
Steffen, W. et al. (2015): Planetary boundaries: Guiding human development on a changing
planet, Science 347, 1259855. DOI: 10.1126/science.1259855
Wilbanks, T.J. (1994): “Sustainable Development” in Geographic Perspective, Presidential
Address, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 84(4), 541-556.
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Suggested papers for presentation by two students who team up for the presentation (because
they are longer):
Foxon T.J., J. Köhler, J. Michie and C. Oughton (2013): Towards a new complexity economics
for sustainability, Cambridge Journal of Economics 37(1), 187-208.
Van den Bergh, J.C.J.M. (2007): Evolutionary thinking in environmental economics, Journal of
Evolutionary Economics 17, 521-549.
Feel free to search for and suggest other papers you are interested in on interdisciplinary
perspectives of sustainable development.
Note on assessment: The presenter(s) can earn up to 2 grading steps upgrade for
presenting one paper from the list.
Additional comprehension questions and tasks:
1. Norway is endowed with human capital, physical capital and natural capital assets. One of
the important natural capital assets for its economy is the available fish stock.
a. If we wanted to obtain a measure of economic growth in Norway, what measure could we
use? Explain at least one drawback to this measure. If we wanted to obtain measures of
economic development in Norway, what measures can we use?
b. Give an example of how a fishery can achieve each of the following: weak sustainability and
strong sustainability.
c. The Norwegian government wants to achieve sustainable development. Explain how
sustainable development can be achieved and measured.
2. Refer to Appendix 3.1. and ask yourself whether you have sufficient command of constrained
optimization. Go through the example, see how the Lagrange multiplier method has been used,
and familiarize yourself with the interpretation of the Langrage multiplier as a “shadow price”.
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