The concept of joint production and ecological economics

Baumgärtner, Stefan; Dyckhoff, Harald; Faber, Malte; Proops, John L. R.; Schiller, Johannes

doi:10.1016/s0921-8009(00)00260-3

Cited by 96 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 10 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…While it was probably never a major theoretical concern, several past economists did refer to by-products through the concept of joint production which occurs when commodities such as beef and hide, mutton and wool, or wheat and straw, are joined in common origins and cannot easily be produced separately (Clapp 1994;Kurz 1986Kurz , 2006Baumgärtner et al 2001). Among the best known analysts who devoted more than a few lines to the development of wealth from waste (as opposed to already established cases of joint production) are Karl Marx and Alfred Marshall.…”

Section: General Statementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Did the Invisible Hand Need a Regulatory Glove to Develop a Green Thumb? Some Historical Perspective on Market Incentives, Win-Win Innovations and the Porter Hypothesis

Desrochers

2008

Environ Resource Econ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract:The idea that properly designed environmental regulations can improve a firm s competitiveness while simultaneously contributing to a cleaner environment through the development of so-called win-win innovations (i.e., that reduce environmental damage while simultaneously increasing profits) is usually credited to Porter (1991). Numerous studies have since attempted to assess the validity of the concept, with mixed results. This paper contributes to this debate by surveying a nearly forgotten body of literature written in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century that discussed the impact of market incentives on the development of valuable by-products out of industrial waste. Based on the opinions held by several industrial chemists, engineers, technical journalists and economists, the development of win-win manufacturing practices seems to have been primarily the result of the profit motive, although actual or potential legal actions based on private property rights and/or government regulations occasionally triggered this process. After reviewing some important historical writings on the latter issue, a suggestion is made that the best way to craft well-designed environmental regulations is perhaps to return to a private property rights approach to mitigating pollution problems whenever possible.JEL -codes: O31, N80, K29 Did the Invisible Hand Need a Regulatory Glove to Develop a Green Thumb? Some Historical Perspective on Market Incentives, Win-WinInnovations and the Porter Hypothesis. Abstract:The idea that properly designed environmental regulations can improve a firm's competitiveness while simultaneously contributing to a cleaner environment through the development of so-called 'win-win' innovations (i.e., that reduce environmental damage while simultaneously increasing profits) is usually credited to Porter (1991). Numerous studies have since attempted to assess the validity of the concept, with mixed results. This paper contributes to this debate by surveying a nearly forgotten body of literature written in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century that discussed the impact of market incentives on the development of valuable by-products out of industrial waste. Based on the opinions held by several industrial chemists, engineers, technical journalists and economists, the development of 'win-win' manufacturing practices seems to have been primarily the result of the profit motive, although actual or potential legal actions based on private property rights and/or government regulations occasionally triggered this process. After reviewing some important historical writings on the latter issue, a suggestion is made that the best way to craft 'well-designed' environmental regulations is perhaps to return to a private property rights approach to mitigating pollution problems whenever possible.

show abstract

Section: General Statementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Did the Invisible Hand Need a Regulatory Glove to Develop a Green Thumb? Some Historical Perspective on Market Incentives, Win-Win Innovations and the Porter Hypothesis

Desrochers

2008

Environ Resource Econ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Joint production is said to exist when more than one output emerges from a single productive activity. Two classes of joint production are distinguished in the literature: the case where all joint products are desirable, and the case where one product is desirable while another is undesirable (Baumgartner et al, 2001). The latter case is well documented in the ecological economics literature.…”

Section: Dealing With Multiple Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, Baumgartner et al (2001) have recently suggested joint production, though not recognised as such, is in fact a fundamental concept in ecology. They argue that ecosystems "…as open, self-organising systems, necessarily take in several inputs and generate several outputs…" (p.367).…”

Section: Dealing With Multiple Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Single-species versus multiple-species models: the economic implications

Fleming

Alexander

2003

Ecological Modelling

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…2 Such misclassifications are possible because ecological economists have not themselves made a sufficient stand as to where the differences lie. A keyword search of this journal covering 3402 articles gives one result for ontology (Baumgartner and Quaas, 2010), and four for epistemology (Baumgartner et al, 2001;Bromley, 2008;Mayumi, 1997;O'Connor, 2000). Lack of attention to the theoretical foundations of ecological economics has left it in a precarious and epistemologically confused position.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%