Yale Bulletin and Calendar

July 19-August 23, 1999

Volume 27, Number 35

Links between environment, economy
explored in new books

Two new books edited by faculty at the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies (F&ES) explore the tightly interlocked relationship between environmental and economic changes.

Climate change and the economy

Decision makers need to understand both the beneficial and harmful effects of climate shifts before creating policies to prevent or alleviate the consequences of those changes. That is one of the recurring themes in "The Impact of Climate Change on the United States Economy," edited by Robert Mendelsohn, the Edwin Weyerhauser Davis Professor of Forest Policy at F&ES, and James E. Neumann of Industrial Economics Inc. in Cambridge, Mass.

Mendelsohn, Neumann and the other contributors use new economics methodologies to assess how climate shifts can affect such vulnerable aspects of the U.S. economy as agriculture, timber, coastal resources, energy expenditure, fishing and outdoor recreation. Contributors stress the importance of measuring benefits as well as damages, performing dynamic analyses on sectors with large capital stocks, and integrating science and economics.

The book finds that some climate change may be surprisingly beneficial to the United States, producing economic gains in the agriculture and forestry sectors. On the other hand, the studies show that energy, coastal structures and water sectors are likely to be harmed.

The book, published by Cambridge University Press, is designed to serve as a reference for the scientific, economic and policy community. Natural resource/environmental economists may also find it interesting as an example of economic valuation techniques.

Mendelsohn, who holds a doctorate in economics from Yale, has joint appointments at F&ES and the Yale School of Management. In addition to pursuing a career in natural resources and environmental economics, he has engaged in numerous studies of the benefits of biological resources including old growth, wildlife species, and tropical timber. Neuman has worked for a variety of U.S. government agencies and private research organizations with a focus on valuation of natural resource and human health impacts of environmental policies.

Lessons from Latin America

How will the dramatic shift from foreign aid to private investment as the engine of growth in many developing countries, affect the environment? Can private capital actually be used to put a nation on the path to sustainable development? These are the questions tackled in "Private Capital Flows and the Environment: Lessons from Latin America," edited by Brad Gentry, lecturer in urban issues at the F&ES and director of the Research Program on Private Finance and the Environment at the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy.

After describing many different types of private investment and analyzing their impact on the environment, the book comes to the somewhat-surprising conclusion that improved environmental performance can accompany foreign direct investment. The book, the first in-depth study of these links, is built around a series of case studies of
various industries in Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, and
Costa Rica.

The contributors to the book -- a multinational, multidisciplinary team of experts -- show how governments of developing countries can actually attract foreign investors by integrating environmental considerations into their investment promotion efforts. The book also identifies points of leverage for actions by governments, investors, environmental groups and customers to increase even further the environmental benefits that can accompany private capital flows.

This book, released by Edward Elgar Publishing Inc., is designed to be of interest to scholars and students of environmental economics, development economics, international finance, law and management, as well as to policy-makers, environmental advocates, and private investors.

In addition to his other Yale posts, Gentry is also director of the United Nations Development Program/Yale Program on Public and Private Partnerships for the Urban Environment at the F&ES. He practices contract law in Cheshire, Connecticut and at Marrison & Foerster in London and San Francisco. He lectures and advises mutlilateral and national governmental and private organizations worldwide, and is the author or editor of numerous publications.

T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

Yale students working with city residents to revitalize New Haven . . .
Top women in tennis to vie for Pilot Pen trophy
Enterprise Center helping to transform ideas for new businesses into realities
With NIH support, researchers seek ways to heal spinal cord
Exhibit pays tribute to Fossey's work with mountain gorillas
Entomologist verifies immigrant mosquito's arrival in state
Artistic transgressions applauded in Yale Art Gallery show
Fellowship winners devote summer to work in Elm City
Dwight Hall internships provide opportunity for public service
Accomplished high school students will attend Yale as Sterling Scholars
Alumni honored for their success as scholar-athletes
Support renewed for Yale-China's summer institutes
Links between environment, economy explored in new books
Yale affiliates featured in exhibit focusing on East and West Rocks
Noted pediatrician T. Berry Brazelton to speak at annual conference
Campus Notes
Tentacled trek