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RESPONSES OF ECONOMIC SYSTEMS TO ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE: PAST EXPERIENCES
Author(s) -
Bassino JeanPascal,
Van Der Eng Pierre
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
australian economic history review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.493
H-Index - 16
eISSN - 1467-8446
pISSN - 0004-8992
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8446.2009.00268.x
Subject(s) - underpinning , climate change , environmental change , context (archaeology) , socioeconomic status , political science , yield (engineering) , development economics , economics , sociology , geography , ecology , engineering , population , civil engineering , demography , archaeology , biology , materials science , metallurgy
Current discussions of climate change are overly focused on the science underpinning environmental impact, with little attention to socioeconomic consequences. The economics of environmental change in particular is insufficiently informed by the lessons that past experiences can yield. Drawing on case studies from Europe and Asia, this special issue underlines the importance of historical context, as well as markets, institutions, technology, and the role of international trade in understanding how economic systems have responded to environmental changes. Past economies have responded dynamically to environmental change rather than simply constrained deterministically by the climatic and ecological events that have engulfed them.