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Environmental Valuation – To Use or Not to Use? A Comparative Study of the United States and Europe

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Abstract

Valuation methods have been used for five main purposes in environmental decision-making. Cost–benefit analysis (CBA) of projects, CBA of new regulations, natural resource damage assessment, environmental costing, and environmental accounting. The relatively lower importance attached to economic efficiency in environmental decision-making in most European countries compared to the U.S.A., both legally and in practice, might account for our general finding that there are very few valuation studies in Europe which have served as a decisive basis for environmental policy and regulations. However, with EU's goal to establish environmentally adjusted national accounts and to apply CBA to environmental policy and regulations, time seems ripe for an increased use of valuation techniques in Europe.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics and Social Sciences, Agricultural University of Norway, N-1432 Ås, Norway

    STÅLE Navrud

  2. Department of Economics, University of Linz, A-4040, Linz, Austria

    GERALD J. Pruckner

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  1. STÅLE Navrud
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  2. GERALD J. Pruckner
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Navrud, S., Pruckner, G.J. Environmental Valuation – To Use or Not to Use? A Comparative Study of the United States and Europe. Environmental and Resource Economics 10, 1–26 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026449715284

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