Research@Lincoln
Research@Lincoln is an open access institutional repository collecting the research produced by Lincoln University staff and students. You may also be interested in Data@Lincoln or Lincoln University Living Heritage.
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Publication Open Access Valuing the environment: Economic theory and applications(Centre for Resource Management, 1985)Resource use decisions entail the comparison of a range of diverse consequences associated with each possible use. Many means exist to simplify comparison of otherwise incommenurable values. The move toward a 'more market' economy indicates however, that financial considerations will be given more weight than previously in determining resource allocations. This is consistent with our observation of trends in many countries. Many consequences of resource uses are not incorporated in market prices, either because of imperfections in markets which mean that some values are not fully captured, or because a market does not exist at all. Because of their public nature many goods are supplied free, or at nominal rates, by government, or can only be maintained by government intervention. This is certainly the case for many environmental goods which are available for all to use or appreciate; examples include: clean air, national parks, wild and scenic rivers, wildlife populations, scenic landscapes and quiet. The valuation of New Zealand's natural resources has become a priority task in view of the new economic policies. In particular, questions are being asked about the economic and welfare significance of changes in natural resource management which are not reflected by market prices. There exists a need to provide decision makers with information on non-market values. In response to this need, the Centre for Resource Management has an ongoing research and teaching programme aimed at advancing knowledge for the management of New Zealand's resources. In December 1985 the Centre hosted a workshop at the University of Canterbury in non-market valuation methods and their use in environmental planning. The objective of this four-day workshop was to advance understanding of these methods and how they might be used in planning. Because of the limited knowledge of non-market valuation methods in New Zealand the workshop covered a range of topics, from the need for these methods, their non-technical description, likely areas of implementation, advanced description and economic theory of methods, problems in applying results to decision making, and case study examples. This book is a comprehensive review of theory, the major methods, and their application. It is based on contributions to the workshop which address a wide range of concerns for the application of non-market valuation in New Zealand. These concerns can be classified into three broad areas: the need for non-market values, how the information could be used, and the methods for estimating non-market values. Papers will be found which address each of these concerns, making this a useful reference source for those involved in all aspects of public resource administration, those holding public office, students, academics, and those charged with valuing our natural resources.Publication Open Access Introduction to non-market valuation : Theory and methods(Centre for Resource Management, 1986)This paper is presented in response to the need for a non-technical introduction to non-market valuation. Its objectives are to present the concept of consumer surplus, upon which estimates of economic value are based, and to illustrate the most widely accepted methods of measuring values. While this paper is aimed principally at students of resource management it should be of use as a concise introductory summary of non-market valuation for professional resource managers. Those wishing to apply the techniques discussed will require information found only in much more detailed literature on each of the methods. However, the material presented here should allow readers to identify whether a particular method will be appropriate to their needs.Item Open Access Property rights and mineral legislation(Centre for Resource Management, 1988)It is a commonplace that the ultimate constituents of the social world are individual people who act more or less appropriately in light of their dispositions and understanding of their situation, i.e.it is individuals, and not society as a whole, that make decisions. In understanding the consequence of existing law, and the likely implications of its reform, it is necessary, therefore, to comprehend the logic of the situation that the law provides individual decision makers and how that situation would be adjusted by reform. In particular, the way in which natural resources are used and managed is influenced by the definition and structure of property rights that the law provides. Property rights are enforceable claims to use or to benefit from resources. An example is a mining licence that allows its holder to extract minerals in a specified area. Property rights establish the structure of incentives, opportunities and constraints within which resource use decisions are made, i.e. the logic of the situation, and hence influence the use and management of resources. The extent and type of mining in New Zealand, for example, reflects the rights that miners have to extract minerals, and their rights to benefit from mining as against their duties to compensate landowners and pay royalties. This paper describes the characteristics of minerals that are relevant to the definition of property rights, analyses the implications of alternative property right arrangements and describes the existing situation.Publication Open Access Property rights and natural resource policy(Centre for Resource Management, 1987)The purpose of this paper is twofold. It seeks first to introduce a set of ideas important to natural resource and environmental policy. These ideas have hitherto been confined to academic articles dispersed among a number of journals. The second purpose of the paper is t.o expose for scrutiny the solution that I have adopted to the problem of how property rights should be reformed. Through the resulting criticism I hope to learn more about the problem and, hence, to be able to improve upon its solution. The paper also provides me with the welcome opportunity t.o acknowledge the generous help and support that I have received in my study. Dr Basil Sharp made me first wonder about property rights and, perhaps to atone for this heavy responsibility, Basil has continued to guide and encourage my work. Basil's support has been central t.o any progress that I have made. My understanding of property rights has also benefited from discussions with Tom McClurg, Richard Peters and Peter Ackroyd, three fellow critical rationalists. I have also benefited from Dr Henry Connor's demands that I write clearly and correctly. The occasional stern bark from this mastiff of the English language has not only lightened the reader's task but has also forced me to think more clearly and critically about property rights. It has also been my good fortune to enjoy the stimulating research atmosphere provided by Dr John Hayward at the Centre for Resource Management. These friends and colleagues have not only made this paper possible but have also ensured that it is very much better than it otherwise would have been. No one but myself, however, is to blame for the final outcome.Publication Open Access Working through complex issues - with special reference to environment(Centre for Resource Management, 1988)The perception of 'complexity' is in part a statement about an observer's lack of understanding. It may arise when a process of observing has insufficiently pieced together those relationships that are essential to a satisfying explanation. Although the process of observing tends in practice to be second-nature, it relies on method - and methods at times can be used inappropriately. Should inappropriate observation lead to elements of confusion, we may label the focal object 'complex'. A relationship is traced between observer and observed to suggest that complex issues (imagined or real) may be better understood by giving attention to organising principles. An explicit methodology is presented, and is based on recent advances in the holistic theory of systems. The method formalises four working rules that can be applied to any viewing field of the observer's choice. Although the four rules can be adopted as generalisations, the precise context of their use has been formulated as a user-friendly computer program FOCUS. Five user guidelines complement the rules, and descriptive systems diagrams are generated as hypotheses of system functioning. Each hypothesis is bounded by specific definitions of observer focus, and so restrains any involuntary tendency to shift or confound one's focus and thence to confuse issues unnecessarily. Three examples are presented and the cultural context of the observing process is emphasised. Although special reference is given to issues of environmental management, the methodology has been conceived for systems research in general.
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