Introduction

It is, however, evidently questionable whether economists are the ones best suited to determine the value of the night sky or biodiversity. From environmental economics we know that the approaches developed by economists to value environmental changes are often met with scepticism. In general, opponents argue that the economic approach based on individual preferences, the assumption of utility maximisation and the use of money as a measure is not appropriate to value environmental goods and services. However, what economics can offer is a systematic approach to investigate the positive (also known as benefi ts) and negative (also known as costs) consequences of artifi cial light-for example, the vast quantity we use every day. This chapter details how the economic analysis can shed light on artifi cial lighting and the loss of the night sky and inform decision making that seeks to balance the benefi ts and costs associated with it.