The value of biodiversity as an insurance device

Emmanuelle Augeraud-Véron, Giorgio Fabbri and Katheline Schubert

No 2017005, LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES from Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES)

Abstract: This paper presents a benchmark endogenous growth model including biodiversity preservation dynamics. Producing food requires land, and increasing the share of total land devoted to farming mechanically reduces the share of land devoted to biodiversity conservation. However, safeguarding a greater number of species guarantee better ecosystem services – pollination, flood control, pest control, etc., which in turn ensure lower volatility of agricultural productivity. The optimal conversion/preservation rule is explicitly characterized, as well as the value of biological diversity, in terms of the welfare gain from biodiversity conservation. The Epstein-Zin-Weil specification of the utility function allows us to disentangle the effects of risk aversion and aversion to fluctuations. A twoplayer game extension of the model highlights the effect of volatility externalities and the Paretian sub-optimality of the decentralized choice.

Keywords: Biodiversity; stochastic endogenous growth; insurance value; recursive preferences (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C73 O13 O20 Q10 Q15 Q56 Q58 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 29
Date: 2017-04-18
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https://sites.uclouvain.be/econ/DP/IRES/2017005.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: The Value of Biodiversity as an Insurance Device (2019)
Working Paper: The Value of Biodiversity as an Insurance Device (2019)
Working Paper: The Value of Biodiversity as an Insurance Device (2019)
Working Paper: The value of biodiversity as an insurance device (2018)
Working Paper: The value of biodiversity as an insurance device (2018)
Working Paper: The value of biodiversity as an insurance device (2018)
Working Paper: The Value of Biodiversity as an Insurance Device (2017)
Working Paper: The value of biodiversity as an insurance device (2017)
Working Paper: The Value of Biodiversity as an Insurance Device (2017)
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