Is Ecological Economics an Alternative to Neoclassical Environmental Economics?

Description :

This paper examines the debate between ecological economics and neoclassical environmental economics. It isargued that these two approaches are, contrary to the view of several leading neoclassical environmental economists and some ecological economists, alternative paradigms. The paper attempts to shed further light on the issue by offering a Schumpeterian ‘pre-analytic’ vision of ecological economics. Ecological economics, it is argued, necessarily implies a fundamental change in the way problems are perceived and in how they should be addressed. In particular, it is shown that the way in which ecological economics combines and integrates insights obtained from several disciplines transforms the nature of the problem considered. Second, the paper clarifies the nature of the debate between neoclassical and ecological economics, arguing that the reason why the two have frequently not been seen as distinct is to be found in a general misinterpretation of the procedural and qualitative features of ecological economics. The paper concludes that the recognition of ecological economics as an alternative and competing paradigm suggests that there is a space to be explored in which neoclassical and ecological economics are likely to diverge further.