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Economic Policy and the Environment: Structural Adjustment and Prospects for Sustainable Natural Resource Management in Central America

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Towards Sustainable Development in Central America and the Caribbean

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Abstract

Central America1 is commonly depicted as a region where structural adjustment policies have been widely applied, occasioning an important amount of adverse environmental effects (Segura, 1992; De Zeeuw et al., 1997). On the other hand, both governments and civil society organizations profess a strong commitment to creating a strategic alliance for enhancing sustainable development in the region (Ascher and Hubbard, 1989). Two major contradictions can be observed: one between a public discourse in favour of sustainable management of the natural resource base (i.e. land, water, forests) and the practical policy measures that frequently lead to disincentives for sustainable land use by primary producers; and another between the macroeconomic policies and microeconomic farmers’ response to incentives (Goodman and Redclift, 1991).

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Authors
  1. Ruerd Ruben
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, University of Lund, Sweden

    Anders Danielson (Associate Professor) (Associate Professor)

  2. Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    A. Geske Dijkstra (Senior Lecturer in Economics, Faculty of Social Sciences) (Senior Lecturer in Economics, Faculty of Social Sciences)

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© 2001 Palgrave Publishers Ltd

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Ruben, R. (2001). Economic Policy and the Environment: Structural Adjustment and Prospects for Sustainable Natural Resource Management in Central America. In: Danielson, A., Dijkstra, A.G. (eds) Towards Sustainable Development in Central America and the Caribbean. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230502123_7

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