'Helm's book is impressive for its combination of rigorous theory in real world contexts . . . highly recommended.' - David Pearce, Environmental and Resource Economics To deal effectively with transboundary environmental problems such as climate change, it is important to have an idea of the model for an 'efficient' and 'fair' policy. An understanding of the strategic interactions involved in the international decision-making process is also essential. Carsten Helm uses rigorous theoretical reasoning and applications to address these issues.

The science and management of environmental problems is a vast area, comprising both the natural and social sciences, and the multidisciplinary links often make these issues challenging to comprehend. Economics, Game Theory and International Environmental Agreements: The Ca' Foscari Lectures aims to introduce students to the multidimensional character of international environmental problems in general, and climate change in particular.Ecology, economics, game theory and diplomacy are called upon and brought together in the common framework of a basic mathematical model. Within that framework, and using tools from these four disciplines, the book develops a theory that aims to explain and promote cooperation in international environmental affairs.Other books on the topic tend to be research-oriented volumes of various papers. Instead, this is a book that offers a reasonably-sized synthesis of the multidimensional societal problems of transfrontier pollution, particularly of climate change. It uses mathematical modeling of economic and game theory concepts to examine these environmental issues and demonstrate many results in an accessible fashion. Readers interested in understanding the links between ecology and economics, as well as the connection between economics and institutional decision-making, will find in this text not only answers to many of their queries but also questions for further thinking.

This text investigates various strategies to provide countries with an incentive to accede, agree and comply to an international environmental agreement.

This book provides an economic framework for modeling global warming and addressing its negative effects.

Nowhere has the divide between advocates and critics of globalization been more striking than in debates over free trade and the environment. And yet the literature on the subject is high on rhetoric and low on results. This book is the first to systematically investigate the subject using both economic theory and empirical analysis. Brian Copeland and Scott Taylor establish a powerful theoretical framework for examining the impact of international trade on local pollution levels, and use it to offer a uniquely integrated treatment of the links between economic growth, liberalized trade, and the environment. The results will surprise many. The authors set out the two leading theories linking international trade to environmental outcomes, develop the empirical implications, and examine their validity using data on measured sulfur dioxide concentrations from over 100 cities worldwide during the period from 1971 to 1986. The empirical results are provocative. For an average country in the sample, free trade is good for the environment. There is little evidence that developing countries will specialize in pollution-intensive products with further trade. In fact, the results suggest just the opposite: free trade will shift pollution-intensive goods production from poor countries with lax regulation to rich countries with tight regulation, thereby lowering world pollution. The results also suggest that pollution declines amid economic growth fueled by economy-wide technological progress but rises when growth is fueled by capital accumulation alone. Lucidly argued and authoritatively written, this book will provide students and researchers of international trade and environmental economics a more reliable way of thinking about this contentious issue, and the methodological tools with which to do so.

An analysis of the economic theory of environmental policy and the factors influencing the quality of life. Recent research in environmental economics is incorporated as well as economic incentives for pollution control.

Because environmental problems do not respect borders, their solutions often require international cooperation and agreements. The contributors to this book examine how international environmental agreements are put into practice. Their main concern is effectiveness -- the degree to which such agreements lead to changes in behavior that help to solve environmental problems. Their focus is on implementation -- the process that turns commitments into action, at both domestic and international levels. Implementation is the key to effectiveness because these agreements aim to constrain not just governments but a wide array of actors, including individuals, firms, and agencies whose behavior does not change simply because governments have made international commitments. The book is divided into two parts. Part I looks at international systems for implementation review, through which parties share information, review performance, handle noncompliance, and adjust commitments. Part II looks at implementation at the national level, with particular attention to participation by governmental and nongovernmental actors and to problems in states with economies in transition. The book includes fourteen case studies that cover eight major areas of international environmental regulation: conservation and preservation of fauna and flora, stratospheric ozone depletion, pollution in the Baltic Sea, pollution in the North Sea, trade in hazardous chemicals and pesticides, air pollution in Europe, whaling, and marine dumping of nuclear waste. ContributorsSteinar Andresen, Juan Carlos di Primio, Owen Greene, Ronnie Hjorth, Vladimir Kotov, John Lanchbery, Elena Nikitina, Kal Raustiala, Alexei Roginko, Jon Birger Skj�rseth, Eugene B. Skolnikoff, Olav Schram Stokke, David G. Victor, J�rgen Wettestad.Copublished with theInternational Institute for Applied Systems Analysis