Premium
Porque es Importante la Economía para la Protección de Especies en Peligro de Extinción
Author(s) -
Shogren Jason F.,
Tschirhart John,
Anderson Terry,
Ando Amy Whritenour,
Beissinger Steven R.,
Brookshire David,
Brown Gardner M.,
Coursey Don,
Innes Robert,
Meyer Stephen M.,
Polasky Stephan
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
conservation biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.2
H-Index - 222
eISSN - 1523-1739
pISSN - 0888-8892
DOI - 10.1046/j.1523-1739.1999.98414.x
Subject(s) - endangered species , incentive , natural resource economics , public economics , yield (engineering) , business , economics , environmental planning , environmental resource management , geography , ecology , microeconomics , biology , habitat , materials science , metallurgy
We offer three reasons why economics matters more to species protection than many people think and what this implies for the ongoing debate over the reauthorization of the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Economics matters because (1) human behavior generally, and economic parameters in particular, help determine the degree of risk to a species; (2) in a world of scarce resources, the opportunity cost of species protection—the costs of reduced resources for other worthwhile causes—must be taken into account in decision making; and (3) economic incentives are critical in shaping human behavior, and consequently the recovery of species. Endangered species protection that explicitly addresses these basic principles can avoid wasting valuable resources that yield no gain in species protection.