Precautionary principles: general definitions and specific applications to genetically modified organisms

Ragnar E. Löfstedt, Baruch Fischhoff and Ilya R. Fischhoff
Additional contact information
Ragnar E. Löfstedt: King's Centre for Risk Management, King's College, London, Postal: King's Centre for Risk Management, King's College, London
Ilya R. Fischhoff: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, Postal: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton

Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 2002, vol. 21, issue 3, 381-407

Abstract: Precautionary principles have been proposed as a fundamental element of sound risk management. Their advocates see them as guiding action in the face of uncertainty, encouraging the adoption of measures that reduce serious risks to health, safety, and the environment. Their opponents may reject the very idea of precautionary principles, find specific principles unacceptably vague or see them as clearly doing economic damage-either to society as a whole or to their own interests. This article traces the development of alternative precautionary principles, primarily in Europe. Their adequacy is considered in one context where such principles have often been invoked, using genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in agriculture. Although some precautionary principles can be given analytical rigor, the concerns that they express strain the intellectual and institutional structure of conventional policy analysis. © 2002 by the Association for Policy Analysis and Management.

Date: 2002
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1002/pam.10051 Link to full text; subscription required (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wly:jpamgt:v:21:y:2002:i:3:p:381-407

DOI: 10.1002/pam.10051

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Journal of Policy Analysis and Management from John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().