Economic Responsibility for the By-Products of Production
| Published date | 01 May 1970 |
| Author | Allen V. Kneese |
| DOI | 10.1177/000271627038900107 |
| Date | 01 May 1970 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
56
Economic
Responsibility
for
the
By-Products
of
Production
*
By
ALLEN
V.
KNEESE
Allen
V.
Kneese,
Ph.D.,
has
been
associated
with
Resources
for
the
Future,
Inc.,
Washington,
D.C.,
since
1961.
Presently,
he
is
director
of
the
Quality
of
the
Environ-
ment
Program.
He
has
also
taught
at
several
universities,
including
Stanford
and
the
University
of
New
Mexico.
His
published
work
is
primarily
in
the
area
of
natural
resources,
especially
water
resources.
His
most
recent
book
(with
Blair
T.
Bower)
is
Managing
Water
Quality:
Economics,
Technology,
and
Institutions
(1968).
ABSTRACT:
The
central
concepts
governing
resources-
allocation
in
the
United
States
have
historically
been
private
property,
freedom
of
exchange,
and
competition.
The
social
engine
built
on
these
concepts
has
produced
rapid
exploita-
tion
of
resources
and
rapidly
rising
per
capita
income
in
the
United
States.
In
recent
years,
however,
resources
which
cannot
readily
be
reduced
to
private
ownership
have
become
rapidly
more
important,
and
they
are
being
overused
and
mis-
used.
The
pollution
of
such
"common
property"
resources
as
water
and
the
air
mantle
is
inherent
in
an
economic
system
such
as
ours,
once
a
certain
stage
of
economic
development
is
reached.
To
deal
successfully
and
efficiently
with
these
prob-
lems
will
require
designing
new
governmental
institutions
and,
especially,
altering
our
system
of
incentives
in
such
a
way
that
the
value
of
common
property
resources
is
reflected
in
market-type
decisions.
* This
paper
largely
summarizes
material
by
the
author
and
his
associates
which
has
been
published
by
the
American
Economic
Association,
the
Joint
Economic
Committee
of
the
United
States
Congress,
the
Wildlife
Management
Institute,
and
Resources
for
the
Future,
Inc.
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