Valuing the Invaluable: How Much is the Planet Worth?

Forthcoming in the Oxford Review of Economic Policy

15 Pages Posted: 9 Oct 2018

See all articles by Colin Mayer

Colin Mayer

University of Oxford - Said Business School; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)

Date Written: August 13, 2018

Abstract

This article explores the valuation of natural capital by critically analysing alternative approaches to it. It considers the problems associated with applying economic values to natural capital and the limitations of such exercises. It examines different methods that are more familiar to accountants than economists of using what is sometimes termed “an engineering approach” to estimating the costs of maintaining and restoring existing assets. It considers the arguments that are used to justify the two. In particular, it addresses the question of what we are seeking to do by determining the value of natural capital – what is the question to which valuation is supposed to be the answer?

Keywords: Accounting, Valuation

JEL Classification: Q51

Suggested Citation

Mayer, Colin, Valuing the Invaluable: How Much is the Planet Worth? (August 13, 2018). Forthcoming in the Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3250816

Colin Mayer (Contact Author)

University of Oxford - Said Business School ( email )

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Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

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United Kingdom

European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)

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HOME PAGE: http://www.ecgi.org

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