This book focuses on describing policy instruments in different
countries. Its purpose is not only descriptive but also, to some extent,
advocatory. We believe that economic instruments can make an important
contribution to an environmentally less disruptive path of development.
The design of economic instruments is however a fine art and depends
among other things on their political acceptability and this
acceptability is of course influenced by experience. It is therefore
important to provide information on the use of policy instruments in
other countries. Policies are currently developing quite fast and thus a
book such as this one can inevitably not capture more than a "snapshot"
view at a single moment of time. We would hope that the book encourages
more experimentation with economic instruments and that countries will
make a fuller use of the whole arsenal of economic policy instruments.
If the book does succeed in this sense then it will soon become dated as
policies change -but that would be a price well worth paying! The book
combines a dozen country monographs together with a few international
surveys on particular topics (gasoline pricing, vehicle regulations,
acid rain, deforestation and global warming). These papers are intended
to illustrate the diversity of policy options available. The actual
policies adopted depend on economic as well as ecological conditions.
The country studies cover two "Western" countries and then concentrate
on formerly planned and developing countries. They show that economic
instruments are still generally thought of as new and innovative.
