Are diverse ecosystems more valuable? A conceptual framework for economic valuation of biodiversity

Bartosz Bartkowski

No 9/2016, UFZ Discussion Papers from Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Division of Social Sciences (ÖKUS)

Abstract: Biodiversity is an important environmental public good. However, the literature suggests that it is not clear how its economic value should be estimated; there is no established framework for doing this. This paper summarises concepts of biodiversity value from the ecological and economic literatures and combines them to a comprehensive and consistent framework. It is argued that biodiversity is the main carrier of insurance value, option value and spill-over value, and also influences the aesthetic appreciation of ecosystems. On that basis, an extension of the TEV framework is proposed to incorporate biodiversity values better. Furthermore, a number of specific challenges of biodiversity as an economic good are identified and used as criteria to inform the choice of suitable valuation methods.

Keywords: biodiversity; economic valuation; insurance value; option value; TEV (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr, nep-env and nep-ias
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:ufzdps:92016

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