Table Of ContentHANDBOOK OF ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS
Handbook of Ecological
Economics
Edited by
Joan Martínez-Alier
Professor of Economics and Economic History, Universitat
Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain
Roldan Muradian
Visiting Professor, Graduate Program of Economics,
Universidade Federal Fluminense, Brazil
Cheltenham, UK • Northampton, MA, USA
© Joan Martínez-Alier and Roldan Muradian 2015
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical or photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior
permission of the publisher.
Published by
Edward Elgar Publishing Limited
The Lypiatts
15 Lansdown Road
Cheltenham
Glos GL50 2JA
UK
Edward Elgar Publishing, Inc.
William Pratt House
9 Dewey Court
Northampton
Massachusetts 01060
USA
A catalogue record for this book
is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Control Number: 2015938376
This book is available electronically in the
Economics subject collection
DOI 10.4337/9781783471416
ISBN 978 1 78347 140 9 (cased)
ISBN 978 1 78347 141 6 (eBook)
Typeset by Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Stockport, Cheshire
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Contents
List of contributors vii
1 Taking stock: the keystones of ecological economics 1
Joan Martínez- Alier and Roldan Muradian
2 The content, direction and philosophy of ecological economics 26
Clive L. Spash
3 Analytical philosophy and ecological economics 48
John O’Neill and Thomas Uebel
4 Value deliberation in ecological economics 74
Christos Zografos
5 Social metabolism: a metric for biophysical growth and
degrowth 100
Marina Fischer- Kowalski and Helmut Haberl
6 Macroeconomic policies and environmental sustainability 139
Alejandro Nadal
7 Modeling a non- growing economy: an autobiographical note 164
Peter A. Victor
8 Degrowth: between a scientific concept and a slogan for a
social movement 176
Panos Petridis, Barbara Muraca and Giorgos Kallis
9 Water: ecological economics and socio- environmental
conflicts 201
Beatriz Rodríguez- Labajos and Joan Martínez- Alier
10 The contributions of the ecosystem services paradigm to
sustainability science, policy and practice 233
Rudolf de Groot and Leon Braat
11 Ecological economics perspectives on ecosystem services
valuation 260
Erik Gómez- Baggethun and Berta Martín- López
12 The values of traditional ecological knowledge 283
Victoria Reyes- García
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vi Handbook of ecological economics
13 From conventional economics to complexity in social
dilemmas: lessons from CPR experiments in the lab and
the field 307
Juan Camilo Cárdenas
14 Sustainable consumption: transitions, systems and practices 332
Inge Røpke
15 Consumers, the environment and the new global middle
classes 360
Alejandro Guarín and Imme Scholz
16 Global environmental governance 382
Arild Vatn
17 Economic instruments in policy mixes for biodiversity
conservation and ecosystem governance 413
Irene Ring and David N. Barton
18 The rise of PES in Brazil: from pilot projects to public
policies 450
Emilie Coudel, Joice Ferreira, Maurício de Carvalho Amazonas,
Ludivine Eloy, Marcelo Hercowitz, Luciano Mattos, Peter May,
Roldan Muradian, Marie- Gabrielle Piketty and Fabiano Toni
19 Looking forward: current concerns and the future of
ecological economics 473
Joan Martínez- Alier and Roldan Muradian
Index 483
Contributors
David N. Barton, Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA),
Norway
Leon Braat, Alterra- Wageningen UR, the Netherlands
Juan Camilo Cárdenas, Facultad de Economía, Universidad de Los
Andes, Colombia
Maurício de Carvalho Amazonas, Centro de Desenvolvimento Sustentável
(CDS), Universidade de Brasilia, Brazil
Emilie Coudel, CIRAD, UR Green, France
Rudolf de Groot, Wageningen University, the Netherlands
Ludivine Eloy, CNRS, UMR Art- Dev 5281, Montpellier, France
Joice Ferreira, Embrapa Amazônia Oriental, Brazil
Marina Fischer- Kowalski, Institute of Social Ecology, Alpen–Adria
Universität, Austria
Erik Gómez- Baggethun, Norwegian Institute for Nature Research
(NINA), Norway
Alejandro Guarín, German Development Institute, Germany
Helmut Haberl, Institute of Social Ecology, Alpen–Adria Universität,
Austria
Marcelo Hercowitz, Pau Brasil, Economia Ecológica e Gestão
Socioambiental, Brazil
Giorgos Kallis, Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA)
and Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals, Universitat Autònoma
de Barcelona, Spain
Berta Martín- López, Social- Ecological Systems Laboratory, Department
of Ecology, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain
Joan Martínez- Alier, Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals,
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain
Luciano Mattos, Embrapa Cerrados, Brazil
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viii Handbook of ecological economics
Peter May, CPDA, Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro and
PPED/IE, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Barbara Muraca, Oregon State University, USA
Roldan Muradian, Faculdade de Economia, Universidade Federal
Fluminense, Brazil
Alejandro Nadal, Centre for Economic Studies, El Colegio de México,
Mexico
John O’Neill, School of Social Sciences, University of Manchester, UK
Panos Petridis, Institute of Social Ecology, Alpen–Adria Universität,
Austria
Marie- Gabrielle Piketty, CIRAD, UR Green, France
Victoria Reyes- García, Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats
(ICREA) and Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals, Universitat
Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain
Irene Ring, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ,
Germany
Beatriz Rodríguez- Labajos, Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals,
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain
Inge Røpke, Department of Development and Planning, Aalborg
University, Denmark
Imme Scholz, German Development Institute, Germany
Clive L. Spash, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business,
Institute for Multi-L evel Governance and Development, Austria
Fabiano Toni, Centro de Desenvolvimento Sustentável, Universidade de
Brasília, Brazil
Thomas Uebel, School of Social Sciences, University of Manchester, UK
Arild Vatn, Department of International Environment and Development
Studies, Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), Norway
Peter A. Victor, Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University,
Canada
Christos Zografos, Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals, Universitat
Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain
1. Taking stock: the keystones of ecological
economics
Joan Martínez- Alier and Roldan Muradian
1. TAKING STOCK
After some decades of existence, ecological economics is a thriving field
of knowledge. Our purpose here is not to engage in the normative debate
about what it should be, but rather to introduce the Handbook we have
edited, while also trying to provide some insight into what constitutes
the ontological foundations of ecological economics. In the conclud-
ing chapter we shall elaborate on the most salient current concerns of
the field, as well as on its future. This compilation of chapters aims,
on the one hand, to present and stimulate the debate on the scope and
methods of the multifaceted transdisciplinary field that was baptized as
ecological economics in the late 1980s and, on the other, to comprehen-
sively review the ‘state of the art’ in several exciting, relevant and rather
new subjects dealing with the fluid interface between economic and eco-
logical systems.
The Handbook covers a wide range of appealing topics but it would be
too ambitious to attempt to review the vast history and current production
of ecological economics in a single volume. Moreover, this compendium
is the result of combining the tastes of the editors with the generous avail-
ability of the invited authors. Therefore, we do not pretend to have made
a full overview of all major trends and issues of ecological economics.
Our goal is more modest. We have invited some of the leading authors in
the field to reflect on the most important developments in the subjects in
which they are experts, and in doing so to contribute to disseminate within
the ecological economics and other communities what they consider to
be the most significant achievements and challenges in specific areas of
knowledge. The outcome is stimulating and we hope enjoyable both for
junior and experienced readers.
The rest of section 1 contains a historical account of ecological eco-
nomics, while also describing what we consider to be its foundations. The
review is not done in a chronological order, but along main foundational
propositions. It is meant to be particularly useful for readers not yet
familiar with the field. Section 2 briefly summarizes major organizational
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