United States
£ GBP
Featuring real world examples of how risk information affects public choices, The Economics of Environmental Risk expertly demonstrates that policymakers need to consider how people learn about those risks. Offering insights into examples such as hazardous waste, radon, smoking, hurricanes and terrorist threats over the past four decades, this intuitive book illustrates environmental risks and the choices made to mitigate the potential effects.
Providing a deep dive into how public policies and information affect private choices, The Economics of Environmental Risk highlights the successes and failings of these choices, recognising how decisions made can have an influence on the hazards that are faced. It also focuses on important lessons to be learnt by officials providing information on risk and designing policies for managing them. Further consideration is also given to how experts understand these risks and how the public interprets the information provided.
Scholars and students of public policy, risk analysis and environmental and resource economics will value the useful examples found in this informative volume. Policymakers in risk and insurance, and risk management programs will also find this an instructive guide on the ever-changing environmental risks we face.
"Kerry Smith is a Renaissance Man of Economics. This book represents the master at work, drawing implications from research that traverses four decades of scholarship, the economics of environmental risk comes alive in ideas that scale, policies that are cost-effective, and insights that generalize to situations beyond risk. Anyone who wants to learn, or is just curious about pathbreaking economic work, should pick up this insightful and encyclopedic collection of articles."
– John List, University of Chicago, US
"Much of what I know about risk I learned from reading Kerry Smith's papers in this volume. He is the master of understanding how microeconomic theory and real world behavior meld together to provide insights into how to communicate risk, value risk, and improve policies designed to help manage risk."
– Richard T. Carson, University of California, San Diego, US
"How much is it worth to decrease pollution? Kerry Smith, a pioneer in using surveys to understand the public's perception and valuation of environmental health risks, brings together the insights he and his colleagues gleaned as they developed the methods that have become fundamental to evaluating environmental policy."
– James K. Hammitt, Harvard University, US
