Counting Nonmarket, Ecological Public Goods: The Elements of a Welfare-Significant Ecological Quantity Index

Abstract

This chapter addresses a difficult, important, and long-standing problem in national income accounting: How do we capture the welfare contributions of nonmarket, public environmental goods?1 As I argue here, the key to this endeavor is the construction of a welfare-significant ecological quantity index (WSEQI). Quantity indexes and their price index counterparts are the core of any national income or product account (NIPA).