Resource Economics engages students and practitioners in natural resource and environmental issues from both local and global standpoints. The fourth edition of this approachable but rigorous text provides a new focus on risk and uncertainty as well as new applications that address the effect of new energy technologies on scarcity and climate change mitigation and adaptation, while preserving and systematically updating the approach and key features that drew many thousands of readers to the first three editions.

The book covers basic concepts, shows how to set up spreadsheets to solve dynamic allocation problems, and presents economic models for various industries.

Presents models of renewable and non-renewable resources and provides analytical methods to explore contemporary resource problems.

Harris and Roach present a compact and accessible presentation of the core environmental and resource topics and more, with analytical rigor as well as engaging examples and policy discussions. They take a broad approach to theoretical analysis, using both standard economic and ecological analyses, and developing these both from theoretical and practical points of view. It assumes a background in basic economics, but offers brief review sections on important micro and macroeconomic concepts, as well as appendices with more advanced and technical material. Extensive instructor and student support materials, including PowerPoint slides, data updates, and student exercises are provided.

The connection between humans and the earth’s natural resources is a topic of vital interest. Concern once centered on whether there were sufficient supplies of natural resources to accommodate the rising demands of growing economies; a newer concern is whether those growing economies will undermine the linkages between humans and the earth’s critical ecological endowments. It is essential to understand the reciprocity of how human decisions affect resources and how resources affect humans. Natural resource economics is one way of framing and analyzing choices about the conservation and use of natural resources made daily by individuals, communities, and nations. The focus of the text is on natural resource valuation, economic incentives, and the institutional arrangements that will produce desired collective outcomes. The fourth edition of this acclaimed text presents the analytical framework of economics in easy-to-understand descriptions for readers who have not yet been exposed to economics. The first nine chapters offer a lucid introduction to fundamental economic principles and their application to questions about natural resource use. Ten topical chapters address specific natural resources. The final two chapters examine natural resource issues encountered in developing countries and the impacts of globalization on the utilization and conservation of natural resources. Topics new to this edition include: equity issues in natural resources decisions, existence value of wildlife, technological change, natural capital, payment for environmental services, rare earths, food security, and collective property rights.

A comprehensive introduction to the economics of water management, for engineers and natural scientists as well as economists, with self-contained treatment of all necessary economic concepts.

Forest Resource Economics and Finance is intended for undergraduate forestry students, but practicing foresters and policy analysts will also find it a useful reference. The text emphasizes economics as a way of thinking in which we compare added costs and benefits of actions in order to maximize net benefits. With the basics of capital theory, readers learn how to evaluate forestry investments in a way that embraces important environmental factors. Another key feature is a focus on analyzing current conflicts and tradeoffs that will continue to be prominent forestry issues in the 21st century: free market policies versus different levels of government intervention, economic development versus environmental conservation, private property rights versus public amenity rights, and timber versus non-timber outputs. This text also addresses additional topics not often found in other forest economic books including: economics of non-clearcutting management systems, economics of forest damage, risk analysis, inflation, environmental economics, capital budgeting, and regional economics. Add to this a micro-economics review, multiple-use and non-market good analysis, optimal capital management, benefit/cost analysis, timber supply and demand issues, appraisal and valuation, forest industry economics, and world forestry issues, and you have the most comprehensive forest economics text on the market. In addition to new and updated figures throughout the text, this newly-revised second edition provides an overview of important trends in the modern timber industry including advancements in engineered wood, international trade, global environmental issues, as well as community forestry and agroforestry.