Biodiversity as a Commodity

Geoffrey Heal

Working Papers from Columbia - Graduate School of Business

Abstract: What is the nature of biodiversity as an economic commodity and why does it matter? How would its conservation contribute economically to our well being? I consider three issues: - Why is biodiversity important from an economic perspective? - hat kind of commodity is it? - oes our usual economic mechanism, the market system, have the capacity to appreciate the economic value of biodiversity? I first characterize biodiversity from an economic perspective, and then consider the capacity of our main economic institutions to realize the value of biodiversity and ensure that it is treated in a way commensurate with its importance.

Keywords: NATURAL; RESOURCES (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q30 Q32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 26 pages
Date: 1999
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:fth:colubu:99-7

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