Valuing the Environment in Developing Countries: Case Studies

The substantial and growing interest in the monetary valuation of preferences for environmental improvement, and against environmental damage, has prompted a demand for case studies illustrating methodologies and applications of valuation techniques. In this book, the first of two volumes, the authors provide detailed case studies of valuation techniques that have been used in developing countries. They demonstrate that valuation works and that it can yield significant insights into policy-relevant issues regarding conservation and economic development.The authors address a whole range of environmental issues under the broad themes of water and air quality, biological diversity and forest functions. The economic approaches covered include contingent valuation, hedonic property prices, travel cost methodologies and benefits transfer. They also go on to look at the idea of extending national accounts to reflect changes in environmental assets. Examples of the varied and interesting case studies include valuing improvements to sanitation in Malaysia, the value of visits to game parks in South Africa and tropical forest values in Mexico. They highlight how valuation techniques can be applied, often with limited resources, to critical development issues. Academics and practitioners of environmental economics will draw great value from this unique and original work, as will the many multilateral and bilateral aid agencies. The book will also prove a valuable addition to graduate and undergraduate courses in environmental economics where there is a need for case material.

Table of Contents:
Contents: Introduction Part I: Air Quality, Water Supply and Water Quality Part II: Valuing Biological Diversity Part III: Valuing Forest Functions Index

About the Author :
Edited by the late David Pearce, formerly Emeritus Professor of Economics, University College London, UK, Corin Pearce, Researcher, CSERGE, University College London, UK and Charles Palmer, London School of Economics, UK

Review :
'. . . this is a very valuable addition to the repertoire of knowledge in discerning the true cost of human activities to the environment.' 'This book is a unique resource for a wide-ranging audience, including academics, students, and anyone in the field who might be required to make an assessment of environ-mental values. As the Lonely Planet guides have become the Bible for travelers, this will be the Bible for environmental economists in developing countries. And for those in industrialised countries? There is a second volume to come that will deal with the developed world.'