The distribution of environmentally related well-being: a conceptual framework

Abstract

Environmental economists have long concerned themselves with the ways in which natural resources and pollution can contribute to (or detract from) human well-being. However, the distribution of economic benefits and costs from environmentally related goods and services has been often overlooked. This article derives a conceptual framework that brings together the literature from the environmental justice movement, work on the so-called resource curse, and institutional environmental economics into a comprehensive whole. The conceptual framework gives rise to several interesting questions that can be used in studying the distribution of environmentally related well-being.

Keywords:

• environmental quality
• inequality
• pollution
• natural resources
• distribution
• well-being

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to thank Jim Boyce, Michael Ash, Mariano Torras, David Carey, and Travis Wagner for helpful advice and criticism and to Katelyn Bruzgo and Will Gattis for excellent research assistance. Additional thanks go to two anonymous reviewers and to the editor. Any remaining errors are my own.

Notes

1. Finally, a fourth strand of the literature, exemplified by Dorfman (1977), measures the incidence of the burden of environmental policies (primarily from taxes or standards).

2. This distinction is similar to that between point and non-point sources of pollution.

3. The author wishes to thank an anonymous reviewer for recommending the Cape Cod case.

Additional information

Funding

Funding for this project was provided by a grant from the Faculty Senate, University of Southern Maine.