Institutions and preferences determine resilience of ecological-economic systems

Martin Quaas, Stefan Baumgärtner, Sandra Derissens and Sebastian Strunz ()
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Sandra Derissens: Department of Economics, University of Kiel
Sebastian Strunz: Department of Sustainability sciences, University of Lüneburg

No 109, Working Paper Series in Economics from University of Lüneburg, Institute of Economics

Abstract: We perform a model analysis to study the origins of limited resilience in ecological-economic systems. We demonstrate that the resilience properties of the ecosystem are essentially determined by the management institutions and consumers’ preferences for ecosystem services. In particular, we show that complementarity of ecosystem services in human well-being and open access of the ecosystem to profit-maximizing harvesting firms may lead to limited resilience of the ecosystem. We conclude that the role of human preferences and management institutions is not just to facilitate adaptation to, or transformation of, some natural dynamics of ecosystems. Rather, human preferences and management institutions are themselves important determinants of the fundamental dynamic characteristics of the ecological-economic system, such as limited resilience.

Keywords: ecological-economic systems; ecosystem services; institutions; natural resource management; preferences; resilience (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q01 Q20 Q57 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 29 pages
Date: 2008-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-env
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