Does environmental economics produce aeroplanes without engines? In an upcoming special issue of the journal Environmental and Resource Economics, the editors professor Henk Folmer and professor and EfD research fellow Olof Johansson-Stenman critically review conventional environmental economics.
In their introductory article, titled “Does Environmental Economics Produce Aeroplanes Without Engines? - On the Need for an Environmental Social Science”, Johansson Stenman (left) and Folmer conclude that the standard environmental economics theory offers too narrow a perspective for many real world problems and that many theories are not empirically tested.
“Sometimes the standard conventional model works perfectly fine, but sometimes it simply does not. Unfortunately, it still appears to be quite common to routinely apply the standard model without deeper reflections of alternative models” says Johansson-Stenman.
The two editors welcome and discuss some recent trends, particularly the rapid developments of behavioural and new institutional economics, as well as the increased interest in empirical analysis.
Yet, they conclude that more “logical duels” between competing theories, more interaction between theory and empirics, and more integration between the social sciences are needed to achieve a better understanding of real world environmental problems and the development of adequate policy handles.
Finally, they present an outline of steps towards the development of an environmental social science, and briefly present the papers that make up the special issue as important building stones of such a discipline.
>> Link to Working paper version of Does Environmental Economics Produce Aeroplanes Without Engines? - On the Need for an Environmental Social Science by Henk Folmer and Olof Johansson-Stenman.
