Institutional Fantasylands: From Scientific Management to Free Market Environmentalism

Abstract

This article exposes the utopian parallels between scientific management and free market environmentalism as institutional paradigms for governing environmental resources. It shows that just as traditional economic analysis of environmental problems often ignores the imperfections of public institutions, the free market environmentalist perspective reflects a comparably naive view of institutions by focusing narrowly and simplistically upon the delineation and enforcement of property rights. A responsible analysis of institutional choice requires consideration of the broad array of actual and potential public institutions and the many checks and balances available for improving and constraining regulators' behavior.

Keywords: Environmental Policy, Scientific Management, Free Market Environmentalism

JEL Classification: K32