http://repub.eur.nl/res/aut/13374/ List of Publications en http://repub.eur.nl/static-eur/img/logo.png http://repub.eur.nl http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/21873/ 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z Established environmental policy theory is based on the assumption of homo economicus. This means that people are seen as fully rational and acting in a self-regarding manner. In line with this, economics emphasizes efficient policy solutions and the associated advantages of price incentives. Behavioral economics offers alternative, more realistic views on individual behavior. In this paper we investigate opportunities to integrate bounded rationality and other-regarding preferences into environmental policy theory to arrive at recommendations for more effective policies. For this purpose, we will address decisions made under risk and uncertainty, intertemporal choice, decision heuristics, other-regarding preferences, heterogeneity, evolutionary selection of behaviors, and the role of happiness. Three aspects of environmental policy are considered in detail, namely sustainable consumption, environmental valuation and policy design. We pay special attention to the role of non-pecuniary, informative instruments and illustrate the implications for climate policy. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/11792/ 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z Many articles on the compatibility between growth and environmental preservation provide one single view and use particular concepts. Indeed, debates between advocates and opponents of economic growth are usually unfruitful since people do not talk the same language. The aim of this paper is to provide some clarification in this debate by offering a systematic comparison of perspectives on the basis of a benchmark economic-environmental framework. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/7794/ 1997-10-01T00:00:00Z The debate on growth versus environment, including the more recent literature on sustainable development, is systematically evaluated in a stylized framework. Diffent perspectives on the conflict and relation between the economy, growth and the natural environment, have created a situation where people do not talk the same language. A conceptual framework is developed which allows to explain main diffences between alternative perspectives. Five categories are distinguished, labelled as: "the immaterialist", "the pessimist", "the technocrat", "carpe diem" and "the optimist". Both the conceptual framework and a set of characteristics (time horizon, ideology, prediction and policy implication) are used to compare these perspectives. Primarily the choice of a time horizon and the subjective evaluation of technical potential, the flexibility of social preferences and institutions, and the stability and resilience of natural systems, explain differences between the perspectives. Such a systematic confrontation is hoped to contribute to more consensus and understanding between supporters of alternative perspectives.