The Contribution of Economic Information to Environmental Decision-Making

国会对扩大环境法规的担忧促使立法提案正式比较新法规的好处和成本。克林顿政府和前几届政府都发布了评估新法规和联邦环境支出的收益和成本的指导方针。联邦和州法院的判决和行政程序对那些对环境损害负有责任的人施加经济处罚。在公开辩论中，经济论据经常被用来支持或反对特定的环境决定。认识到人们对经济测量的广泛兴趣，经济学专业内的一个重要研究项目已经成为开发工具，用来对环境价值进行金钱测量。然而，在决策者和经济学家中，使用环境价值的货币估计作为决策指南仍然存在争议。此外，其他经济信息(例如成本估算)可能会对决策产生更大的影响。如果没有采用许多经济学家倡导的货币衡量标准，那么在决策过程中，什么经济信息最有价值？为什么要使用这种特定的经济信息？经济学研究能提高决策中经济信息的质量吗？考虑到公共决策过程的复杂性，识别决策者认为既有用又可信的经济信息具有挑战性。为了反映这种复杂性并识别共同关系，本研究利用模式模型方法来理解环境政策决策。将综合案例研究、出版材料和机构指南，初步描述分析结果和最终决策结果之间的因果关系。然后，将通过与参与相关决策过程的分析师、律师和公职人员的访谈，对初步模式模型进行细化和扩展。在考虑了其他解释因素的作用后，模式模型将被用来确定具体的经济信息如何影响最终的决策结果。对结果的验证是通过将模型应用于具有代表性的案例样本并检查模型代表决策过程和结果的程度来完成的。确定哪些经济信息对决策参与者在评估环境变化方面最有用和最可信，将导致将环境价值更有效地纳入公共决策。

Congressional concern over the expansion of environmental regulation has motivated legislative proposals to formally compare the benefits and costs of new regulations. The Clinton administration and past administrations all have issued guidelines for evaluating the benefits and costs of both new regulations and federal environmental expenditures. Federal and state court judgements and administrative processes levy financial penalties on those liable for damages to the environment. In public debate, economic arguments often are made to support or to oppose particular environmental decisions. Recognizing the widespread interest in economic measurement, a significant research program within the economics profession has become the development of tools to make money measurements of the value of the environment. However, using money estimates of environmental values as a guide for decisions remains controversial among decision-makers and economists. In addition, other economic information (for example, cost estimates) may be a more significant influence on the decisions made. If the money measurements advocated by many economists are not employed, what economic information is most valued in decision making? Why is that particular economic information employed? Can economics research improve the quality of the economic information in decision making? Identifying the economic information decision participants find both useful and credible is challenging given the complex nature of public decision-making processes.To reflect this complexity and identify common relationships, this study utilizes a pattern model approach to understanding environmental policy decisions . Case studies, published materials, and agency guidelines will be synthesized to form an initial description of causal relationships between analytical results and final decision outcomes. The preliminary pattern model will then be refined and expanded through interviews with analysts, lawyers, and public officials involved in the relevant decision process. After accounting for the role of other explanatory factors, the pattern model will be used to identify how specific economic information affects final decision outcomes. Verification of results is accomplished by applying the model to a representative sample of cases and examining how closely the model represents the decision process and outcomes. The identification of what economic information is most useful and credible to decision participants in evaluating environmental changes will lead to more effective incorporation of environmental values into public decisions.