Post-faustmann forest resource economics

Abstract

One of the first on the topic, this book offers 21st century alternatives to the 163 year-old paradigm at the heart of forest resource economics, the Faustmann Formulation of land expectation value. Since that time, many new streams of economics - including agent-based economics, behavioral economics, complexity theory, ecological economics, evolutionary game theory, social choice theory and public choice theory - have extended the horizons of economic thinking far beyond the limits of neoclassical economics. Today, the role of multiple forest ecosystem services in climate change, human health, environmental sustainability and human development is increasingly recognized, and attention turns to enhancing the contribution of forests to a “green” economy rather than the traditional contribution of forests to a blue (industrial) economy. The fourth volume in the Sustainability, Economics and Natural Resources series, Post-Faustmann Forest Resource Economics (PFFRE) focuses on the new paradigm of forest economics. The first chapter lays the foundation of the PFFRE, presenting the key distinctions between the FFRE and the PFFRE. Twelve following chapters address issues related to forest economics from perspectives different than the FFRE. Chapters 2 to 6 discuss issues related to human behavior that is different than the traditional “rational economic man,” Chapters 7 and 8 examine public choice theory, Chapters 9 and 10 present systems approaches, and Chapters 11 to 13 describe incremental approaches for incorporating new features in the FFRE.