Introduction to Research Tools in Natural Resource and Environmental Economics

Significant advances have now occurred in the theoretical and in the empirical knowledge-base of researchers studying problems in natural resource and environmental economics. This has been accompanied by the utilization of many and varied research tools. These developments notwithstanding, information about how these research tools can and have been used are scattered throughout the literature and, as such, it is difficult to find a single source that will not only familiarize researchers with the most common tools that are presently being utilized in the literature but will also enable these researchers to use these tools in their own work. Therefore, following this introductory chapter, the thirteen chapters of this book first focus on the most frequently used theoretical, empirical, experimental, and interdisciplinary research tools and then they discuss how these tools are useful in shedding valuable light on a whole host of research questions in natural resource and environmental economics