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Valuing Ecosystem Services

Geoffrey M. Heal
Columbia Business School; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)


January 1999

Paine Webber Working Paper No. 98-12

Abstract:     
The value of the services provided to human societies by natural ecosystems and biogeochemical cycles has recently been the topic of discussion and research. Here I review some of the basic economic principles necessary for understanding some of the questions that arise in this area. I argue that even with the best possible data and scientific understanding, the sense in which economists can value nature's services is limited. I also argue that valuing these services is much less important than providing incentives for their conservation, and that valuation and providing incentives for conservation are quite different. Valuation is neither necessary nor sufficient for conservation, whereas providing the right incentives is.

Keywords: Ecosystems, ecosystem services, valuation, incentives, conservation

JEL Classifications: D6, Q2, Q3

Working Paper Series

Date posted: August 28, 2001 ; Last revised: August 29, 2001

Suggested Citation

Heal, Geoffrey M., Valuing Ecosystem Services (January 1999). Paine Webber Working Paper No. 98-12. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=279191 or doi:10.2139/ssrn.279191


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Contact Information

Geoffrey M. Heal (Contact Author)
Columbia Business School ( email )
3022 Broadway
616 Uris
New York, NY 10027
United States
212-854-6459 (Phone)
212-316-9219 (Fax)
HOME PAGE: http://www.gsb.columbia.edu/faculty/gheal/
National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States
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