The Production of Natural Resource Services: An Analysis of Supply Side Economic Benefits and Costs

Natural resource economics gives relatively little consideration to economic benefits that arise on the supply side. For instance, the index of Kneese and Sweeny’s otherwise excellent Handbook of Natural Resource and Energy Economics (Kneese and Sweeny 1985) contains no references to either producer or factor surplus. Recent reviews of valuation methods by Freeman (1979) and McConnell (1985) focus almost exclusively on the demand side of resource use. The supply side is mentioned only in the treatment of hedonic analysis.