Abstract
Even if one wanted to measure the value of ‘natural capital’ in monetary terms, could it be done? Can it actually be measured without such a wide range of values being given that doing so is effectively useless for any decision-making processes? This chapter explores a series of difficulties about the measurement of ‘natural capital’. All these derive principally from the problem that ‘natural capital’ is a metaphor which doesn’t quite fit. The natural world and the world of capital are different in important ways.
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- 1.
See Lawrence H. Goulder and Roberton C. Williams III: ‘The Choice of Discount Rate for Climate Change Policy Evaluation’ (Resources for the Future 2012). They say (page 1): ‘Nordhaus indicated that the differences between the Stern-endorsed and Nordhaus-supported discount rate accounted for all of the difference between the more aggressive climate policy endorsed by Stern and the considerably more modest effort supported by Nordhaus’.
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Anderson, V. (2018). Some Difficulties of Measurement. In: Anderson, V. (eds) Debating Nature's Value. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99244-0_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99244-0_9
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Publisher Name: Palgrave Pivot, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-99243-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-99244-0
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