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Ecological economics and institutional change
Author(s) -
Krall Lisi,
Klitgaard Kent
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2010.05922.x
Subject(s) - ecological economics , economics , clarity , scale (ratio) , heterodox economics , limit (mathematics) , natural capital , institutional economics , neoclassical economics , mainstream economics , human development theory , economic system , ecology , ecosystem services , applied economics , ecosystem , sustainability , mathematical analysis , biochemistry , chemistry , mathematics , biology , physics , quantum mechanics
Ecological economics remains unfinished in its effort to provide a framework for transforming the economy so that it is compatible with biophysical limits. Great strides have been made in valuing natural capital and ecosystem services and recognizing the need to limit the scale of economic activity, but the question of how to effectively transform the economy to limit the scale of economic activity remains unclear. To gain clarity about the institutional changes necessary to limit the scale of economic activity, it is essential that ecological economics understands the limitations of its neoclassical roots and expands its theoretical framework to include how markets are embedded in social and institutional structures. This has long been the domain of institutional economics and heterodox political economy.