This book collects some recent works on the application of dynamic game
and control theory to the analysis of environmental problems. This
collec- tion of papers is not the outcome of a conference or of a
workshop. It is rather the result of a careful screening from among a
number of contribu- tions that we have solicited across the world. In
particular, we have been able to attract the work of some of the most
prominent scholars in the field of dynamic analyses of the environment.
Engineers, mathematicians and economists provide their views and
analytical tools to better interpret the interactions between economic
and environmental phenomena, thus achiev- ing, through this
interdisciplinary effort, new and interesting results. The goal of the
book is more normative than descriptive. All papers include careful
modelling of the dynamics of the main variables involved in the game
between nature and economic agents and among economic agents themselves,
as well-described in Vrieze's introductory chapter. Fur- thermore, all
papers use this careful modelling framework to provide policy
prescriptions to the public agencies authorized to regulate emission dy-
namics. Several diverse problems are addressed: from global issues, such
as the greenhouse effect or deforestation, to international ones, such
as the management of fisheries, to local ones, for example, the control
of effluent discharges. Moreover, pollution problems are not the only
concern of this book.