Bioeconomics

Bioeconomics is the study of the dynamics of living resources using economic models. It is an attempt to bridge the empirical culture of biology and the theoretical culture of economics, through methodology such as environmental economics and ecological economics. [http://www.eoearth.org/by/Topic/Ecological%20economics] Bioeconomics makes heavy use of mathematical modeling and optimal control theory as they relate to economics, and uses environmental and ecological elements for resource protection issues relating to resource economics.

History

Bioeconomics is closely related to the early development of theories in fisheries economics, initially in the mid 1950s by Canadian economists Scott Gordon (in 1954) and Anthony Scott (1955). Their ideas used recent achievements in biological fisheries modelling, primarily the works by Schaefer (1957) on establishing a formal relationship between fishing activities and biological growth through mathematical modelling confirmed by empirical studies, and also relates itself to ecology and the environment and resource protection.

These results a result of the multidisciplinary fisheries science environment in Canada at the time. Fisheries science and modelling developed rapidly during a productive and innovative period, particularly among Canadian fisheries researchers of various disciplines. Population modelling and fishing mortality were introduced to economists, and new interdisciplinary modelling tools became available for the economists, which made it possible to evaluate biological and economic impacts of different fishing activities and management decisions.

Energy accounting economics

An energy balance can be used to track energy through a system, and is a very useful tool for determining resource use and environmental impacts. It uses the First and Second Laws of thermodynamics to determine how much energy is needed at each point in the system, and in what form that energy is. An energy accounting system keeps track of energy input, work done, wasted energy, and energy transformations in a system. [http://telstar.ote.cmu.edu/environ/m3/s3/05account.shtml Environmental Decision making, Science and Technology]

Physical scientists and biologists were the first individuals to use energy flows to explain social and economic development. Joseph Henry, an American physicist and first secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, remarked that the "fundamental principle of political economy is that the physical labor of man can only be ameliorated by...the transformation of matter from a crude state to a artificial condition...by expending what is called power or energy." [Cutler J. Cleveland, [http://www.eoearth.org/article/Biophysical_economics "Biophysical economics"] , "Encyclopedia of Earth", Last updated: September 14, 2006.]

Georgescu-Roegen introduced into economics, the concept of entropy from thermodynamics, and did foundational work which later developed into evolutionary economics. His work contributed significantly to bioeconomics and to ecological economics. [Cleveland, C. and Ruth, M. 1997. When, where, and by how much do biophysical limits constrain the economic process? A survey of Georgescu-Roegen's contribution to ecological economics. "Ecological Economics" 22: 203-223.] [Daly, H. 1995. On Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen’s contributions to economics: An obituary essay. "Ecological Economics" 13: 149-54.] [Mayumi, K. 1995. Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen (1906-1994): an admirable epistemologist. "Structural Change and Economic Dynamics" 6: 115-120.] [Mayumi,K. and Gowdy, J. M. (eds.) 1999. "Bioeconomics and Sustainability: Essays in Honor of Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen". Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.] [Mayumi, K. 2001. "The Origins of Ecological Economics: The Bioeconomics of Georgescu-Roegen". London: Routledge.]

ee also

*Green economics
*EconMult
*Thermoeconomics
*Economics of biodiversity
*Milner Baily Schaefer
*Technocracy Incorporated (Energy Accounting)
*Ecological economics

References

Further reading

* H. Scott Gordon (1954). The Economic Theory of a Common-Property Resource: The Fishery. The Journal of Political Economy 62(2): 124-142.
* M. B. Schaefer (1957). Some considerations of population dynamics and economics in relation to the management of marine fishes. Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada, 14: 669-81.
* kabir i. falau(2008). The modern Economics: The Objectives of Sole Ownership. The Journal of Political Economy 63(2): 116-124.

External links

* [http://ideas.repec.org/s/kap/jbioec.html Springer Journal of Bioeconomics]