To what extent is the notion of efficiency relevant to Economics? Implications for Ecological Economics

Tommaso Luzzati ()

No 105, Working Papers from Universita' Politecnica delle Marche (I), Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali

Abstract: Efficiency is still a pervasive idea in economic literature. This paper aims to discuss the relevance of this notion. It argues that efficiency is useless in neoclassical economics - where efficiency is a necessary consequence of the postulate of full rationality - and is meaningless in a complex system view - where the means-ends framework does not apply globally. Implications for environmental economics and for ecological economics are drawn. Finally, it is pointed out that, even without efficiency, collective action can still play a major role.

Pages: 19
Date: 1998-03
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http://docs.dises.univpm.it/web/quaderni/pdf/105.pdf First version, 1998 (application/pdf)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:anc:wpaper:105

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