Environmental economics is a sub-field of economics concerned with environmental issues. It has become a widely studied subject due to growing environmental concerns in the twenty-first century. Environmental economics "undertakes theoretical or empirical studies of the economic effects of national or local environmental policies around the world. ... Particular issues include the costs and benefits of alternative environmental policies to deal with air pollution, water quality, toxic substances, solid waste, and global warming."
Ecological economics, bioeconomics, ecolonomy, eco-economics, or ecol-econ is both a transdisciplinary and an interdisciplinary field of academic research addressing the interdependence and coevolution of human economies and natural ecosystems, both intertemporally and spatially. By treating the economy as a subsystem of Earth's larger ecosystem, and by emphasizing the preservation of natural capital, the field of ecological economics is differentiated from environmental economics, which is the mainstream economic analysis of the environment. One survey of German economists found that ecological and environmental economics are different schools of economic thought, with ecological economists emphasizing strong sustainability and rejecting the proposition that physical (human-made) capital can substitute for natural capital.
Free-market environmentalism argues that the free market, property rights, and tort law provide the best means of preserving the environment, internalizing pollution costs, and conserving resources.
Eco-capitalism, also known as environmental capitalism or (sometimes) green capitalism, is the view that capital exists in nature as "natural capital" on which all wealth depends. Therefore, governments should use market-based policy-instruments to resolve environmental problems.
The Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment (FREE), based in Gallatin Gateway, Montana, is an American think tank that promotes free-market environmentalism. FREE emphasizes reliance on market mechanisms and private property rights, rather than on regulation, for protection of the environment. Its chairperson and founder, John Baden, stresses decentralization: a shift of control from what he calls "green platonic despots" in the federal government to "local interests," including environmental groups. Citing conservation efforts such as those involving the Rocky Mountain Elk, Pheasants Forever, and Trout Unlimited, Baden asserts that the ideas FREE promotes have become "the norm among progressive, intellectually honest and successful environmentalists." FREE's mission is to attract and work with conservationists, conservatives, and classical liberals who treasure responsible liberty, sustainable ecology, and modest prosperity.
Agricultural economics is an applied field of economics concerned with the application of economic theory in optimizing the production and distribution of food and fiber products. Agricultural economics began as a branch of economics that specifically dealt with land usage. It focused on maximizing the crop yield while maintaining a good soil ecosystem. Throughout the 20th century the discipline expanded and the current scope of the discipline is much broader. Agricultural economics today includes a variety of applied areas, having considerable overlap with conventional economics. Agricultural economists have made substantial contributions to research in economics, econometrics, development economics, and environmental economics. Agricultural economics influences food policy, agricultural policy, and environmental policy.
John A. Baden is founder and chairman of the Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment (FREE) based in Bozeman, Montana. In addition to FREE. he cofounded the Property and Environment Research Center (PERC), the Environmental Management MBA program at the University of Washington, and Warriors and Quiet Waters. He has taught at Indiana University, Montana State University, Utah State University, and the University of Washington. Baden and his wife, Ramona Marotz-Badem, own a ranch in Gallatin Gateway, outside Bozeman, Montana.
PERC, Perc or perc may refer to:
Resources for the Future (RFF) is an American nonprofit organization, founded in 1952, that conducts independent research into environmental, energy, and natural resource issues, primarily via economics and other social sciences. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., RFF performs research around the world.
Bruce Yandle is Dean Emeritus of Clemson University's College of Business and Behavioral Science and Alumni Distinguished Professor of Economics Emeritus at Clemson. He is a Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Economics at the Mercatus Center, a faculty member with George Mason University's Capitol Hill Campus, and a Senior Fellow with the Property and Environment Research Center (PERC). He has served as executive director of the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, D.C., and served as senior economist on the President's Council on Wage and Price Stability from 1976 to 1978.
Bruce L. Benson is an American academic economist who is recognized as an authority on law and economics and a major exponent of anarcho-capitalist legal theory. He is chair of the department of economics, DeVoe L. Moore Professor, distinguished research professor and courtesy professor of law at Florida State University and the recipient of the 2006 Adam Smith Award, the highest honor bestowed by the Association of Private Enterprise Education. He is a senior fellow at the Independent Institute and has recently been a Fulbright Senior Specialist in the Czech Republic, visiting professor at the university de Paris Pantheonon Assas, a Property-and-Environment-Research-Center Julian Simon Fellow, and visiting research fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research.
Daniel W. Bromley is an economist, the former Anderson-Bascom Professor of applied economics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and since 2009, Emeritus Professor. His research in institutional economics explains the foundations of property rights, natural resources and the environment; and economic development. He has been editor of the journal Land Economics since 1974.
Enviro-Capitalists: Doing Good While Doing Well is a 1997 book written by economists Terry L. Anderson and Donald R. Leal. In this book, Anderson and Leal further developed the concept of free-market environmentalism, which they first described in their 1992 book Free Market Environmentalism. The book argues that privatization of sectors like wildlife conservation, aquatic habitat development and environment-friendly housing is beneficial and environmental protection should be done by private entrepreneurs, not by the federal government. Enviro-Capitalists received the 1997 Choice Outstanding Academic Book Award.
Richard Lyndell Stroup (1943-2021) was a free-market environmentalist and emeritus professor of economics at both North Carolina State University and Montana State University. He was co-founder of the Property and Environment Research Center (PERC) and a senior fellow. He was also a research fellow at the Independent Institute, adjunct scholar of the Cato Institute, and a member of the Mont Pèlerin Society. At Montana State University, he served as head of the Department of Agricultural Economics & Economics from 2003 to 2006. Stroup was director of the Office of Policy Analysis in the U.S. Department of the Interior from 1982 to 1984.
Terry Lee Anderson is an academic and author primarily focused on the intersection of economic and environmental issues in America. Anderson's works argue that market approaches can be both economically sound and environmentally sensitive. Influenced by the Austrian school of economic thought, his research helped launch the idea of free-market environmentalism and has prompted public debate over the proper role of government in managing natural resources.
Free Market Environmentalism is a book by Terry L. Anderson and Donald R. Leal that was of great importance to the free market environmentalist movement.
Jane S. Shaw (also Jane Shaw Stroup) is an American free-market environmentalist, editor, and journalist. She is the former president of the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal and currently is chairman of its board of directors. She is a free-lance editor and manages two blogs, Janetakesonhistory.org. and libertyandecology.org.
The CEVRO Institute is a private university in Prague, Czech Republic, established in 2005 by CEVRO, a think-tank affiliated with the Civic Democratic Party (ODS).
Gary Don Libecap is an American economist who is currently an emeritus professor in the Department of Economics and the Bren School at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Libecap’s specialty is environmental economics, and his research focuses on the role of property rights institutions in addressing the open access losses for natural resources such as fisheries and freshwater, as well as the role of water markets in encouraging efficient use and allocation. He has authored or co-authored over 200 peer-reviewed papers, lectured widely, and written articles that have appeared in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.
Timothy Patrick Sheehy is an American politician, businessman, aerial firefighter, and former Navy SEAL serving since 2025 as the junior United States senator from Montana. Sheehy founded Bridger Aerospace, an aerial firefighting and wildfire management company, in 2014.
