David Pearce

The effect of prices on the recycling of waste materials

Abstract Recycling policy, insofar as it exists, tends to be heavily weighted towards price manipulation. However, it is by now fairly well established that the supply of secondary materials is in most cases quite unresponsive to price changes, so that price-based policies are very unlikely to be effective. This view is further borne out by an attempt to consider explicitly the sort of adjustment processes which must necessarily occur in the generally volatile markets for waste materials. It is suggested that price-oriented policies must first influence the expectations of potential suppliers before any response is forthcoming When this is considered along with the evidently small reaction to those expectations, an even more pessimistic conclusion about the suitability of standard measures to encourage recycling is reached.

Ethics, irreversibility, future generations and the social rate of discount

This paper explores one of the basic evaluation criteria used by economists when deciding whether or not to invest in social projects, namely social cost‐benefit analysis. The ethical judgements underlying cost‐benefit are explained and the idea of “value sensitivity analysis” is introduced. By this technique we aim to see how far the judgements of a cost‐benefit study are altered if the underlying ethical rules are changed. Not surprisingly, the conclusion is that outcomes are value sensitive, but the paper shows that it takes very small changes in the underlying rules to produce quite different answers. The problem is then placed in the context of inter‐generational decisions relating to investments that have some irreversible environmental consequence. It is shown that if a mechanism of inter‐generational compensation for damage done is introduced, all the ethical rules discussed give the same decision criteria. But it is then argued that such “intergeneration compensation funds” are not feasible, leav...

Welfare economics and environmental problems

This paper sets out to place the subject matter of environmental management in a context wider than that traditionally used by economists. This traditional context is defined by the use of “neoclassical” welfare economics which, in its modern form, has been revived in the form of cost‐benefit analysis. The authors establish that this framework neglects the overall functions of the ecosystem as a life‐support system and argue that the partial nature of welfare economics assessments of environmental programmes will cause a neglect of the “ ecodimension” effects. They propose a model in which ecological impacts are integrated into the standard economic model, securing results which differ considerably from those of the latter approach. In particular, they show that consideration of ecological effects dictates much stricter environmental standards than would otherwise be the case.

Nuclear power and U.K. energy policy

The role of nuclear power in the United Kingdom is discussed in the context of official forecasts in energy demand and public pronouncements about future nuclear programmes. The obstacles to the growth of nuclear power are argued to lie in the limits of social acceptability as expressed through the local planning inquiry system. The cost of a moderate programme is estimated and is shown to be of little significance in terms of what the United Kingdoms capital resources are likely to be over the next two decades. The larger programme contained in the official forecasts is, however, shown to be beyond the limits of social acceptability and too costly. The paper then hypothesises a nuclear moratorium in the United Kingdom and shows that, for the period 1980–2000, there would be little problem in securing a moderate economic growth rate without nuclear power and without recourse to so‐called alternative technology. It is argued that official forecasts seriously understate the likely incentive to conserve ene...

The economics of nuclear fuel reprocessing: A case study of the windscale THORP plant

In 1978, following the Windscale Public Inquiry of the previous year, the Honourable Mr Justice Parker produced his Report to the Secretary of State for the Environment (Parker, 1978) giving virtually unconditional blessing to BNFL’s proposals (see p. 23). Rather than assent without first having a parliamentary debate — since reprocessing has political implications in that both the Ford and Carter administrations have maintained a moratorium on most foreign reprocessing plants combined with some gentle pressure on countries already possessing significant nuclear programmes — the Secretary of State refused planning permission. A debate then followed that resulted in parliamentary approval and this enabled a Special Development Order to be introduced into Parliament, approval for which was given in May 1978. Preparatory work for the construction of THORP is now underway.

Energy conservation and official UK energy forecasts

Abstract Behind the latest UK official forecasts of energy demand are implicit assumptions about future energy price elasticities. Here David Pearce examines the basis of the forecasts and finds that the long-term energy price elasticities which they imply are two or three times too low. The official forecasts substantially understate the responsiveness of demand to energy price rises. If more realistic price elasticities were assumed, the official forecasts would imply a zero primary energy demand growth to 2000. This raises the interesting possibility of a low energy future being brought about entirely by market forces.

Oil and fishing — conflict in the North Sea

A programme of research is underway at Aberdeen University on the conflicts arising in the North Sea between the fishing and offshore oil and gas industries. This research note summarizes the work that has been undertaken to date and the main aspects on which future work will concentrate.