As natural resources have become scarcer, issues of environmental policy have become more vital and subject to debate in global as well as local arenas. Through the use of case studies especially developed for this book, the authors analyze the wide range of institutional contexts in which natural resource and environmental policy issues arise and the processes by which they are resolved. The first chapter provides a theoretical framework of key resource and environmental economics concepts-an overview that gradually broadens as the student is exposed to alternative methods of analysis, including market-oriented analysis, institutional analysis, and modeling. The case studies all begin with discussions of the pertinent biological, physical, social, and institutional issues before economic analysis is applied and policy conclusions are drawn. Suggested readings and study questions follow each chapter. This book is designed for use in upper-level college courses in natural resource and environmental economics and graduate courses in resource management. It can be used either as a primary text in conjunction with theoretical readings or as a supplemental source of case study readings. The cases will also be valuable for natural resource, environmental, and community development economists.

1 The Role of Economics in Natural Resource and Environmental Policy Analysis Part One Political Institutions and Economic Outcomes Introduction 2 Institutions, Incentives, and Agricultural Land Policy: A Case Study of a Wisconsin Law 3 State Water Management Policy: The Florida Experience 4 Land Use Policies, Water Quality, and the Chesapeake Bay 5 Nuclear Waste Disposal Policy: Socioeconomic Impact Management Issues Part Two Economic Efficiency in Policy Analysis Introduction 6 Acid Rain: An Issue in Canadian-U.S. Relations 7 National Forest Management: The Issue of Below-Cost Sales 8 Economic Rationale in the Development of Fisheries Management: Atlantic Striped Bass 9 Dividing the Waters: Designing Management Institutions for the Columbia River Part Three Policy Analysis Using Mathematical Models 10 Pest Management: Factors Influencing Farmer Decision making 11 The Greenhouse Effect and the Canadian Prairies: Simulation of Future Economic Impacts 12 Energy Policy Analysis: Alternative Modeling Approaches