Research
Reports
Designing Payments for Ecosystem Services
Ecosystem services such as clean water from forests are free, but now their value is being recognized. Entrepreneurs are developing markets for these services and providing incentives for conservation.
Recycling Myths Revisited
Most claims of environmental good from recycling are myths. Recycling often uses more resources than it saves.
Environmental Water Markets: Restoring Streams Through Trade
Water rights have evolved in recent years as parties express desires to sell, lease, or give water for environmental or recreational purposes.
Two Forests Under the Big Sky: Tribal v. Federal Management
In this policy series, Alison Berry contrasts forest management in Montana. In her comparison one forest is operated by the United States Forest Service under the watchful eye of Congress. The other is run by Indian tribes on reservation lands.
7 Myths About Green Jobs
This policy series is a summary of a larger study analyzing green jobs claims made by various special interest groups. The authors find that the claims are based on myths.
Creating Marine Assets: Property Rights in Ocean Fisheries
With the right economic incentives, marine life can become an asset to be nourished over time, not consumed in a wasteful race.
Environmental Justice: Opportunities Through Markets
This paper summarizes the state of the academic literature on the implications of environmental justice.
Do Profits Promote Pollution? The Myth of the Environmental Race to the Bottom
Environmentalists, politicians, and scholars express concern about a "race to the bottom" in environmental policy. Yet economic theory indicates that a race to the bottom in environmental policy is highly unlikely, and there is little evidence that such races have, in fact, occurred.
Trading Forest Carbon: A Panacea or Pipe Dream to Address Climate Change?
Irrespective of the uncertainties surrounding the causes of climate change, the United States is poised to join the rest of the developed world in a fight against rising carbon dioxide levels.