[go: up one dir, main page]

IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/aare02/125106.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Natural Resource Accounting in Theory and Practive: A Critical Assessment

Author

Listed:
  • Harris, Michael
  • Fraser, Iain
Abstract
In this paper an extensive review of the theoretical and applied literature on NRA is provided. The review begins by explaining the economic theory that underpins NRA, contrasting welfare and sustainability as policy goals, and presenting various distinct conceptions of national income. The state of play regarding official revisions to the system of national accounts (SNA) with respect to natural resources and the environment is presented and controversial areas are highlighted. Finally, the economic literature on proposed revisions, and applied studies that have proceeded using these methods, is summarised and critiqued. We argue that much of the literature proceeds with weak conceptual foundations, and that typical case studies produce results that are ambiguous in interpretation. Moreover, we highlight fundamental tensions between economic theory and national accounting methodology, and conclude that one outcome of this has been insufficient attention paid by economists to the revisions to the SNA, instead devoting time and effort to “freelance” NRA case studies utilising sometimes ad hoc methods from the economic literature.

Suggested Citation

  • Harris, Michael & Fraser, Iain, 2001. "Natural Resource Accounting in Theory and Practive: A Critical Assessment," 2002 Conference (46th), February 13-15, 2002, Canberra, Australia 125106, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society.
  • Handle: RePEc:ags:aare02:125106
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.125106
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/125106/files/Harris.pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.125106?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Thomas Aronsson & Per-Olav Johansson, 1997. "Welfare Measurement, Sustainability and Green National Accounting," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 1240.
    2. El Serafy, Salah, 1997. "Green accounting and economic policy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 217-229, June.
    3. Liu, Xuelin, 1998. "Adjusted forest accounts for China," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 283-298, December.
    4. Klepper, Gernot & Stahler, Frank, 1998. "Sustainabilty in Closed and Open Economies," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6(3), pages 488-506, August.
    5. Ribaudo, Marc O., 1989. "Water Quality Benefits from the Conservation Reserve Program," Agricultural Economic Reports 308069, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    6. Norgaard, Richard B., 1989. "Three dilemmas of environmental accounting," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 1(4), pages 303-314, December.
    7. Hanley, Nick & Moffatt, Ian & Faichney, Robin & Wilson, Mike, 1999. "Measuring sustainability: A time series of alternative indicators for Scotland," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 55-73, January.
    8. Thampapillai, Dodo J & Uhlin, Hans-Erik, 1997. "Environmental Capital and Sustainable Income: Basic Concepts and Empirical Tests," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 21(3), pages 379-394, May.
    9. Bartelmus, Peter, 1999. "Green accounting for a sustainable economy: Policy use and analysis of environmental accounts in the Philippines," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 155-170, April.
    10. Markos J. Mamalakis, 1996. "Misuse And Use Of National Accounts As A Welfare Indicator: Selected Analytical And Measurement Issues," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 42(3), pages 293-320, September.
    11. Young, Carlos Eduardo Frickmann & da Motta, Ronaldo Seroa, 1995. "Measuring sustainable income from mineral extraction in Brazil," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 21(2), pages 113-125, June.
    12. Common, Mick & Sanyal, Kali, 1998. "Measuring the depreciation of Australia's non-renewable resources: a cautionary tale," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 23-30, July.
    13. Dan Usher, 1973. "The Measurement of Economic Growth," Working Paper 145, Economics Department, Queen's University.
    14. Thomas Aronsson & Karl-Gustaf Löfgren, 1998. "Green Accounting in Imperfect Market Economies," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 11(3), pages 273-287, April.
    15. Geir B. Asheim, 1997. "Adjusting Green NNP to Measure Sustainability," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 99(3), pages 355-370, September.
    16. repec:bla:scandj:v:96:y:1994:i:2:p:257-65 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Shzee Tai & Kusairi Noh & Nik Abdullah, 2000. "Valuing Fisheries Depreciation in Natural Resource Accounting: The Pelagic Fisheries in Northeast Peninsular Malaysia," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 15(3), pages 227-241, March.
    18. Aldo Diaz & Tarek M. Harchaoui, 1997. "Accounting For Exhaustible Resources In The Canadian System Of National Accounts: Flows, Stocks And Productivity Measures," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 43(4), pages 465-485, December.
    19. Milon, J. Walter & Shogren, Jason F., 1995. "Integrating Economic and Ecological Indicators: Practical Methods for Environmental Policy Analysis," Staff General Research Papers Archive 924, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    20. Vincent, Jeffery & Panayotou, Theodore & Hartwick, John, 1997. "Resource Depletion And Sustainability In Small Open Economies," Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID) Papers 294389, Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government.
    21. Hung, N. M., 1993. "Natural resources, national accounting, and economic depreciation: Stock effects," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(3), pages 379-389, July.
    22. Martin Whitby & W. Neil Adger, 1996. "Natural And Reproducible Capital And The Sustainability Of Land Use In The Uk," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(1‐4), pages 50-65, January.
    23. Victor, Peter A., 1991. "Indicators of sustainable development: some lessons from capital theory," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 4(3), pages 191-213, December.
    24. Goldin,Ian & Winters,L. Alan (ed.), 1995. "The Economics of Sustainable Development," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521469579, September.
    25. Hinterberger, Friedrich & Luks, Fred & Schmidt-Bleek, Friedrich, 1997. "Material flows vs. 'natural capital': What makes an economy sustainable?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 1-14, October.
    26. repec:bla:scandj:v:100:y:1998:i:2:p:513-27 is not listed on IDEAS
    27. Vincent, Jeffrey R. & Panayotou, Theodore & Hartwick, John M., 1997. "Resource Depletion and Sustainability in Small Open Economies," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 274-286, July.
    28. repec:bla:scandj:v:99:y:1997:i:3:p:355-70 is not listed on IDEAS
    29. Asheim, Geir B., 1996. "Capital gains and net national product in open economies," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(3), pages 419-434, March.
    30. Hartwick, John M, 1977. "Intergenerational Equity and the Investing of Rents from Exhaustible Resources," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 67(5), pages 972-974, December.
    31. Vincent, J. & Casteneda, B., 1997. "Economic Depreciation of Natural Resources in Asia and Implications for Net Savings and Long-Run Consumption," Papers 614, Harvard - Institute for International Development.
    32. Giles Atkinson & Richard Dubourg & Kirk Hamilton & Mohan Munasinghe & David Pearce & Carlos Young, 1997. "Measuring Sustainable Development," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 1242.
    33. T.K. Rymes., 1992. "Some Theoretical Problems in Accounting for Sustainnable Consumption," Carleton Economic Papers 92-02, Carleton University, Department of Economics, revised 1993.
    34. Per-Olov Johansson & Karl-Gustaf Löfgren, 1996. "On the interpretation of ‘green’ NNP measures as cost-benefit rules," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 7(3), pages 243-250, April.
    35. George Frisvold & Betsey Kuhn (ed.), 1999. "Global Environmental Change and Agriculture," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 1299.
    36. Neumayer, Eric, 2000. "On the methodology of ISEW, GPI and related measures: some constructive suggestions and some doubt on the 'threshold' hypothesis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 347-361, September.
    37. Vincent, Jeffrey R., 1997. "Resource depletion and economic sustainability in Malaysia," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 2(1), pages 19-37, February.
    38. Lintott, John, 1996. "Environmental accounting: useful to whom and for what?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 179-190, March.
    39. repec:bla:revinw:v:43:y:1997:i:4:p:465-85 is not listed on IDEAS
    40. Neil Adger, W. & Grohs, Florian, 1994. "Aggregate estimate of environmental degradation for Zimbabwe: Does sustainable national income ensure sustainability?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(2), pages 93-104, November.
    41. Tom Crowards, 1996. "Natural resource accounting," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 7(3), pages 213-241, April.
    42. Pearce, David W. & Atkinson, Giles D., 1993. "Capital theory and the measurement of sustainable development: an indicator of "weak" sustainability," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 103-108, October.
    43. Harris, Michael, 1996. "Some Unpleasant Natural Resource Accounting Arithmetic: Notes Towards an Impossibility Theorem," 1996 Conference (40th), February 11-16, 1996, Melbourne, Australia 156396, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society.
    44. Henry M. Peskin & Marian S. Delos Angeles, 2001. "Accounting for Environmental Services: Contrasting the SEEA and the ENRAP Approaches," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 47(2), pages 203-219, June.
    45. Julie Whittaker, 1997. "Natural And Reproducible Capital And The Sustainability Of Land Use In The Uk: A Comment," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1‐3), pages 451-453, January.
    46. Foy, George E., 1991. "Accounting for non-renewable natural resources in Louisiana's gross state product," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(1), pages 25-41, March.
    47. Kjell Arne Brekke, 1997. "Hicksian Income from Resource Extraction in an Open Economy," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 73(4), pages 516-527.
    48. William D. Nordhaus, 1995. "How Should We Measure Sustainable Income?," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 1101, Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University.
    49. Holub, Hans Werner & Tappeiner, Gottfried & Tappeiner, Ulrike, 1999. "Some remarks on the 'System of Integrated Environmental and Economic Accounting' of the United Nations," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(3), pages 329-336, June.
    50. Turner, Paul & Tschirhart, John, 1999. "Green accounting and the welfare gap," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 161-175, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Michael Harris, 2001. "The Income of Nations: Measurement with (What?) Theory," Working Papers 2001.09, School of Economics, La Trobe University.
    2. Harris, Michael, 2003. "Depreciation and Obsolescence in the Context of Natural Resource Accounting," 2003 Conference (47th), February 12-14, 2003, Fremantle, Australia 57886, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society.
    3. Matero, Jukka & Saastamoinen, Olli, 2007. "In search of marginal environmental valuations -- ecosystem services in Finnish forest accounting," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 101-114, February.
    4. Ossama Mikhail & J. Walter Milon & Richard Hofler, 2005. "Is Investment in Environmental Quality a Solution to Recessions? Studying the Welfare Effects of Green Animal Spirits," Others 0510010, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Matthew Clarke & Sardar M. N. Islam, 2006. "National account measures and sustainability objectives: present approaches and future prospects," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 14(4), pages 219-233.
    6. Youmanli Ouoba, 2023. "Testing the necessary conditions for sustainability in the mining sector in Burkina Faso," Mineral Economics, Springer;Raw Materials Group (RMG);Luleå University of Technology, vol. 36(1), pages 1-12, January.
    7. Brian Walker & Leonie Pearson & Michael Harris & Karl-Göran Maler & Chuan-Zhong Li & Reinette Biggs & Tim Baynes, 2010. "Incorporating Resilience in the Assessment of Inclusive Wealth: An Example from South East Australia," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 45(2), pages 183-202, February.
    8. Tzai-Chiao Lee & Muhammad Khalid Anser & Abdelmohsen A. Nassani & Mohamed Haffar & Khalid Zaman & Muhammad Moinuddin Qazi Abro, 2021. "Managing Natural Resources through Sustainable Environmental Actions: A Cross-Sectional Study of 138 Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-19, November.
    9. Gren, Ing-Marie & Isacs, Lina, 2009. "Ecosystem services and regional development: An application to Sweden," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(10), pages 2549-2559, August.
    10. Randall, Alan, 2008. "Is Australia on a sustainability path? Interpreting the clues," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 52(1), pages 1-19.
    11. Most. Mukta Khatun & & Md. Sagar Hossain, 2023. "Critical Accounting Theory: Unveiling Power Dynamics and Enhancing Accountability - An Empirical Study on Existing Literature," International Journal of Science and Business, IJSAB International, vol. 25(1), pages 106-116.
    12. Serhiy Ostapchuk & Nataliya Tsaruk, 2019. "Accounting for Water, Land and Biological Assets in the Context of Sustainable Development Management: The Choice of a Main Meter," Oblik i finansi, Institute of Accounting and Finance, issue 2, pages 36-47, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Michael Harris, 2001. "Revaluations and Capital Gains in the Context of Natural Resource Accounting," Working Papers 2001.08, School of Economics, La Trobe University.
    2. Toman, Michael & Pezzey, John C., 2002. "The Economics of Sustainability: A Review of Journal Articles," RFF Working Paper Series dp-02-03, Resources for the Future.
    3. John C. V. Pezzey, 2002. "One-sided Unsustainability Tests and NNP Measurement with Multiple Consumption Goods," Economics and Environment Network Working Papers 0208, Australian National University, Economics and Environment Network.
    4. Michael Harris, 2001. "The Income of Nations: Measurement with (What?) Theory," Working Papers 2001.09, School of Economics, La Trobe University.
    5. Pezzey, J.C.V.John C. V., 2004. "One-sided sustainability tests with amenities, and changes in technology, trade and population," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 613-631, July.
    6. John C. V. Pezzey, 2002. "A One-sided Sustainability Test With Multiple Consumption Goods," Working Papers in Ecological Economics 0201, Australian National University, Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies, Ecological Economics Program.
    7. Butterfield, David W., 2003. "Resource depletion under uncertainty: implications for mine depreciation, Hartwick's Rule and national accounting," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 219-238, August.
    8. Rubio, M. del Mar, 2004. "The capital gains from trade are not enough: evidence from the environmental accounts of Venezuela and Mexico," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 1175-1191, November.
    9. Geir B. Asheim, 2003. "Green national accounting for welfare and sustainability:A Taxonomy Of Assumptions And Results," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 50(2), pages 113-130, May.
    10. Nick Hanley & Louis Dupuy & Eoin McLaughlin, 2015. "Genuine Savings And Sustainability," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(4), pages 779-806, September.
    11. Asheim, Geir B., 2000. "Green national accounting: why and how?," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 5(1), pages 25-48, February.
    12. Louis Dupuy & Matthew Agarwala, 2014. "International trade and sustainable development," Chapters, in: Giles Atkinson & Simon Dietz & Eric Neumayer & Matthew Agarwala (ed.), Handbook of Sustainable Development, chapter 25, pages 399-417, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    13. Ferreira, Susana & Vincent, Jeffrey R, 2005. "Genuine Savings: Leading Indicator of Sustainable Development?," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 53(3), pages 737-754, April.
    14. Eric Neumayer, 2000. "Resource Accounting in Measures of Unsustainability: Challenging the World Bank's Conclusions," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 15(3), pages 257-278, March.
    15. Kenneth Arrow & Partha Dasgupta & Karl-Göran Mäler, 2003. "Evaluating Projects and Assessing Sustainable Development in Imperfect Economies," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 26(4), pages 647-685, December.
    16. Gerlagh, Reyer & Dellink, Rob & Hofkes, Marjan & Verbruggen, Harmen, 2002. "A measure of sustainable national income for the Netherlands," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 157-174, April.
    17. Andrés Gómez-Lobo E., 2001. "Sustainable development and natural resource accounting in a small open economy: a methodological clarification," Estudios de Economia, University of Chile, Department of Economics, vol. 28(2 Year 20), pages 203-216, December.
    18. Rintaro Yamaguchi & Masayuki Sato & Kazuhiro Ueta, 2016. "Measuring Regional Wealth and Assessing Sustainable Development: An Application to a Disaster-Torn Region in Japan," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 129(1), pages 365-389, October.
    19. Hezri, Adnan A. & Dovers, Stephen R., 2006. "Sustainability indicators, policy and governance: Issues for ecological economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 86-99, November.
    20. Pezzey, John C.V. & Hanley, Nick & Turner, Karen & Tinch, Dugald, 2006. "Comparing augmented sustainability measures for Scotland: Is there a mismatch?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(1), pages 60-74, April.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Resource /Energy Economics and Policy;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:aare02:125106. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aaresea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.