Toward a synthetic economic systems modeling tool for sustainable exploitation of ecosystems

Richardson, C., Courvisanos, J. and Crawford, J. W. (2011) Toward a synthetic economic systems modeling tool for sustainable exploitation of ecosystems. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1219(1), pp. 171-184. (doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2010.05901.x) (PMID:21332498)

Abstract

Environmental resources that underpin the basic human needs of water, energy, and food are predicted to become in such short supply by 2050 that global security and the well‐being of millions will be under threat. These natural commodities have been allowed to reach crisis levels of supply because of a failure of economic systems to sustain them. This is largely because there have been no means of integrating their exploitation into any economic model that effectively addresses ecological systemic failures in a way that provides an integrated ecological‐economic tool that can monitor and evaluate market and policy targets. We review the reasons for this and recent attempts to address the problem while identifying outstanding issues. The key elements of a policy‐oriented economic model that integrates ecosystem processes are described and form the basis of a proposed new synthesis approach. The approach is illustrated by an indicative case study that develops a simple model for rainfed and irrigated food production in the Murray‐Darling basin of southeastern Australia.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Crawford, Professor John
• Authors: Richardson, C., Courvisanos, J., and Crawford, J. W.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > Adam Smith Business School > Management
• Journal Name: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
• Publisher: New York Academy of Sciences
• ISSN: 0077-8923
• ISSN (Online): 1749-6632