Ecological-economic viability as a criterion of strong sustainability under uncertainty

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Ecological-economic viability as a criterion of strong sustainability under uncertainty. / Quaas, Martin F.; Baumgärtner, Stefan.

In: Ecological Economics, Vol. 68, No. 7, 15.05.2009, p. 2008-2020.

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@article{7a52c4405e84408ca99ac48065f6d2a4,
title = "Ecological-economic viability as a criterion of strong sustainability under uncertainty",
abstract = "Strong sustainability, according to the common definition, requires that different natural and economic capital stocks be maintained as physical quantities separately. Yet, in a world of uncertainty this cannot be guaranteed. To therefore define strong sustainability under uncertainty in an operational manner we propose to use the concept of viability. Viability means that the different components and functions of a dynamic, stochastic system at any time remain in a domain where the future existence of these components and functions is guaranteed with sufficiently high probability. We develop a unifying and general ecological-economic concept of viability that encompasses the traditional ecological and economic notions of viability as special cases. It provides an operational criterion of strong sustainability under a mild form of uncertainty and for medium spatial and temporal scales. We illustrate this concept and demonstrate its usefulness by applying it to livestock grazing management in semi-arid rangelands.",
keywords = "Sustainability sciences, Management & Economics, Capital (natural and economic), Ecological-economic systems, Ecosystem services, Funds, Rangeland management, Stocks, Sustainability, Uncertainty, Viability, Economics, Capital (natural and economic), Ecological-economic systems, Ecosystem services, Funds, Rangeland management, Stocks, Sustainability, Uncertainty, Viability",
author = "Quaas, {Martin F.} and Stefan Baumg{\"a}rtner",
note = "Funding Information: We are grateful to Geir Asheim, Christian Becker, Christoph B{\"o}hringer, Luc Doyen, Udo Ebert, Malte Faber, Karin Frank, Lutz G{\"o}hring, Anja Humburg, Gebhard Kirchg{\"a}ssner, Frank Krysiak, Achim Lerch, Vincent Martinet, Wolfgang Peters, Hans Nutzinger, Johannes Schiller, Klara Stumpf, Heinz Welsch and Christian Wissel for helpful discussion and comments. Financial support from the Volkswagen Foundation under grants II/79 628 and II/82 883 and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research under grant 01UN0607 is gratefully acknowledged.",
year = "2009",
month = may,
day = "15",
doi = "10.1016/j.ecolecon.2009.01.016",
language = "English",
volume = "68",
pages = "2008--2020",
journal = "Ecological Economics",
issn = "0921-8009",
publisher = "Elsevier B.V.",
number = "7",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Ecological-economic viability as a criterion of strong sustainability under uncertainty

AU - Quaas, Martin F.

AU - Baumgärtner, Stefan

N1 - Funding Information: We are grateful to Geir Asheim, Christian Becker, Christoph Böhringer, Luc Doyen, Udo Ebert, Malte Faber, Karin Frank, Lutz Göhring, Anja Humburg, Gebhard Kirchgässner, Frank Krysiak, Achim Lerch, Vincent Martinet, Wolfgang Peters, Hans Nutzinger, Johannes Schiller, Klara Stumpf, Heinz Welsch and Christian Wissel for helpful discussion and comments. Financial support from the Volkswagen Foundation under grants II/79 628 and II/82 883 and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research under grant 01UN0607 is gratefully acknowledged.

PY - 2009/5/15

Y1 - 2009/5/15

N2 - Strong sustainability, according to the common definition, requires that different natural and economic capital stocks be maintained as physical quantities separately. Yet, in a world of uncertainty this cannot be guaranteed. To therefore define strong sustainability under uncertainty in an operational manner we propose to use the concept of viability. Viability means that the different components and functions of a dynamic, stochastic system at any time remain in a domain where the future existence of these components and functions is guaranteed with sufficiently high probability. We develop a unifying and general ecological-economic concept of viability that encompasses the traditional ecological and economic notions of viability as special cases. It provides an operational criterion of strong sustainability under a mild form of uncertainty and for medium spatial and temporal scales. We illustrate this concept and demonstrate its usefulness by applying it to livestock grazing management in semi-arid rangelands.

AB - Strong sustainability, according to the common definition, requires that different natural and economic capital stocks be maintained as physical quantities separately. Yet, in a world of uncertainty this cannot be guaranteed. To therefore define strong sustainability under uncertainty in an operational manner we propose to use the concept of viability. Viability means that the different components and functions of a dynamic, stochastic system at any time remain in a domain where the future existence of these components and functions is guaranteed with sufficiently high probability. We develop a unifying and general ecological-economic concept of viability that encompasses the traditional ecological and economic notions of viability as special cases. It provides an operational criterion of strong sustainability under a mild form of uncertainty and for medium spatial and temporal scales. We illustrate this concept and demonstrate its usefulness by applying it to livestock grazing management in semi-arid rangelands.

KW - Sustainability sciences, Management & Economics

KW - Capital (natural and economic)

KW - Ecological-economic systems

KW - Ecosystem services

KW - Funds

KW - Rangeland management

KW - Stocks

KW - Sustainability

KW - Uncertainty

KW - Viability

KW - Economics

KW - Capital (natural and economic)

KW - Ecological-economic systems

KW - Ecosystem services

KW - Funds

KW - Rangeland management

KW - Stocks

KW - Sustainability

KW - Uncertainty

KW - Viability

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=65249100818&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/8e5ada6f-7ecb-39cc-b02b-36f3b6bd73f8/

U2 - 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2009.01.016

DO - 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2009.01.016

M3 - Journal articles

VL - 68

SP - 2008

EP - 2020

JO - Ecological Economics

JF - Ecological Economics

SN - 0921-8009

IS - 7

ER -