Key Terms:
Commons: Is land owned publicly, with public access for private uses.
Direct Costs: Costs borne by the producer in obtaining, processing, and distributing a product.
Environmental Economics: Economic effects of the environment and how economic processes affect that environment, including its living resources.
Externality: An effect not normally accounted for in the cost-revenue analysis.
Indirect Cost: Is often not recognized by producers as part of their costs and benefits, and therefore not normally accounted for in their cost-revenue analyses.
Intangible Factor: A factor that cannot be touched, but is valued.
Natural Capital: The ecological systems that provide benefits.
Policy Instruments: What we do, what we can do, and how we do it.
Public-service Function: Functions performed by ecosystems that benefit other forms of life in other systems.
Risk-benefit Analysis: The riskiness of a present action in terms of its possible outcomes is weighed against the benefit, or value, of the action.
Tangible Factor: Is one you can touch, buy, sell.
Commons: Is land owned publicly, with public access for private uses.
Direct Costs: Costs borne by the producer in obtaining, processing, and distributing a product.
Environmental Economics: Economic effects of the environment and how economic processes affect that environment, including its living resources.
Externality: An effect not normally accounted for in the cost-revenue analysis.
Indirect Cost: Is often not recognized by producers as part of their costs and benefits, and therefore not normally accounted for in their cost-revenue analyses.
Intangible Factor: A factor that cannot be touched, but is valued.
Natural Capital: The ecological systems that provide benefits.
Policy Instruments: What we do, what we can do, and how we do it.
Public-service Function: Functions performed by ecosystems that benefit other forms of life in other systems.
Risk-benefit Analysis: The riskiness of a present action in terms of its possible outcomes is weighed against the benefit, or value, of the action.
Tangible Factor: Is one you can touch, buy, sell.
Study Questions:
1. What is meant by the term the tragedy of the common? Which of the following are the result of this tragedy?
(a) The fate of the California Condor
(b) The fate of the gray whale
(c) The high price of walnut wood used in furniture
2. What is meant by risk-benefit analysis? They are weighed by the riskiness of any action to the benefit of another action.
3. Cherry and walnut are valuable woods used to make fine furniture. Basing your decision on the information in the following table, which would you invest in?
(a) A cherry plantation
(b) A walnut plantation
(c) A mixed stand of both species
(d) An unmanaged woodland where you see some cherry and walnut growing
4. Bird flu is spread in part by migrating wild birds. How would you put a value on (a) the continued existence of one species of wild birds; (b) domestic chickens important for food but also a major source of the disease; (c) control of the disease for human health? What relative value would you place on earth (that is, which is most important and which is least)? To what extent would an economic analysis enter into your valuation?
(a) Base the value in ecotourism, more people would come to see the wild birds which means more money for their benefits.
(b) Base the value on the people first to keep the chickens, then people wouldn't risk it.
(c) Would base the value on how widespread the diseases are and which ones are the most deadliest.
5. Which of the following are intangible resources? Which are tangible ?
(a) The view of Mount Wilson in California (Intangible)
(b) A road to the top of Mount Wilson (Tangible)
(c) Propoises in the ocean (Tangible)
(d) Tuna in the ocean (Tangible)
(c) Clean air (Intangible)
6. What kind of future value is implied by the statement "Extinction is forever?" Discuss how we might approach providing an economic analysis for extinction. After all is gone, there will be no more profit off of it, the value of the resource won't be needed anymore. Basing ecological services on whether or not the organism needs it or not.
7. Which of the following can be thought of as commons in the sense meant by Garrett Hardin? Explain your choice.
(a) Tuna fisheries in the open ocean: Because people can benefit off of this since tuna is one of your food sources, and we can sell it and make profit.
(b) Catfish in artificial freshwater ponds
(c) Grizzly bears in Yellowstone National Park
(d) A view of Central Park in New York City
(e) Air over Central Park in New York City
1. What is meant by the term the tragedy of the common? Which of the following are the result of this tragedy?
(a) The fate of the California Condor
(b) The fate of the gray whale
(c) The high price of walnut wood used in furniture
2. What is meant by risk-benefit analysis? They are weighed by the riskiness of any action to the benefit of another action.
3. Cherry and walnut are valuable woods used to make fine furniture. Basing your decision on the information in the following table, which would you invest in?
(a) A cherry plantation
(b) A walnut plantation
(c) A mixed stand of both species
(d) An unmanaged woodland where you see some cherry and walnut growing
4. Bird flu is spread in part by migrating wild birds. How would you put a value on (a) the continued existence of one species of wild birds; (b) domestic chickens important for food but also a major source of the disease; (c) control of the disease for human health? What relative value would you place on earth (that is, which is most important and which is least)? To what extent would an economic analysis enter into your valuation?
(a) Base the value in ecotourism, more people would come to see the wild birds which means more money for their benefits.
(b) Base the value on the people first to keep the chickens, then people wouldn't risk it.
(c) Would base the value on how widespread the diseases are and which ones are the most deadliest.
5. Which of the following are intangible resources? Which are tangible ?
(a) The view of Mount Wilson in California (Intangible)
(b) A road to the top of Mount Wilson (Tangible)
(c) Propoises in the ocean (Tangible)
(d) Tuna in the ocean (Tangible)
(c) Clean air (Intangible)
6. What kind of future value is implied by the statement "Extinction is forever?" Discuss how we might approach providing an economic analysis for extinction. After all is gone, there will be no more profit off of it, the value of the resource won't be needed anymore. Basing ecological services on whether or not the organism needs it or not.
7. Which of the following can be thought of as commons in the sense meant by Garrett Hardin? Explain your choice.
(a) Tuna fisheries in the open ocean: Because people can benefit off of this since tuna is one of your food sources, and we can sell it and make profit.
(b) Catfish in artificial freshwater ponds
(c) Grizzly bears in Yellowstone National Park
(d) A view of Central Park in New York City
(e) Air over Central Park in New York City