Valuation of ecosystem goods and services

Winkler_Valuation.pdf (application/pdf Object).

Valuation of ecosystem goods and services
Part 1: An integrated dynamic approach
Ralph Winkler ⁎
School of Politics, International Relations and the Environment, Keele University, Keele, Staffordshire ST5 5BG, United Kingdom
Research Center for Environmental Economics, University of Heidelberg, Germany
A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T
Article history:
Received 28 April 2005
Received in revised form
11 October 2005
Accepted 11 October 2005
Available online 22 November 2005
This is the first part of a two-part paper which offers a new approach to the valuation of
ecosystem goods and services. The existing literature on environmental valuation is based
on two distinct foundations. The ecological valuation methods derive values by a cost-ofproduction
approach. Their common characteristic is the neglect of consumer preferences.
The economic valuation methods focus on the exchange value of ecosystem services. Their
common characteristic is that they are finally based on consumer preferences, and do not
adequately take account of the complex internal structure of ecosystems.
As the existing methods for the valuation of ecosystem services emphasize either the
economic system or the ecosystem, the main objective of part 1 is to provide the conceptual
foundations for a new method of valuation of ecosystem services, which deals
simultaneously with the ecosystem, the economic system and society in a balanced way.
Within a simple pre-industrial model it is shown how the interdependencies between the
three subsystems influence values, and how values change over time.
© 2005 Elsev