Environmental and resource economics in South Africa: Status quo and lessons for developing countries

Abstract

We review the potential contributions of environmental and resource economics (ERE) to the achievement of sustainable development in developing countries; and highlight the limitations associated with applying ERE within a developing-country context, using examples from South Africa. We find that ERE has much to offer in helping to overcome the challenges associated with sustainable development in developing countries, but that the developing-country context needs to be taken into account before applying tools and methods that were designed with the developed country context in mind. In particular, the unique and often complex socioecological context of developing countries needs to be considered and integrated into policy and management prescriptions.