ABSTRACT
This and the following chapter pick up on the reference made at a number of points in the previous one on the environmental effects of tourism that arise at the local level. In economics such issues fall largely within the purview of microeconomic analysis. The last two to three decades have witnessed the emergence of a number of economic fi elds considering environmental issues, such as accounting/auditing, ethical, green, neo-political, natural capital, and resource valuation economics. However, two, ecological and environmental economics, have become the two principal sub-fi elds of the mainstream subject. This has had two effects on the analytical approach of the discipline on environmental matters. While still rooted in the general principles of economics, the two fi elds have derived their own concepts, theories and methodologies specifi c to the issues to be addressed. As a consequence they have taken economics in new directions, especially with respect to their scope and approach. In particular, ecological economics has established itself as a trans-disciplinary fi eld of research, explained below.
