num_pages: 82
description: Natural ecosystems like wetlands and forests fulfill important environmental functions, while at the same time making significant contributions to OECD economies. Efficient management of natural resources depends on the appropriate valuation of the benefits and costs associated with their use. Markets often fail to reflect either the full social value of using these resources or the full social costs of their degradation. Inappropriate policy interventions by governments may reinforce these "market failures" or may lead to other forms of policy distortion of their own. This report illustrates some of the problems encountered in determining the optimum mix of market forces and government policies in managing wetlands and forests, and suggests how governments could intervene more effectively to get the prices right.
language: English
title: Market and Government Failures in Environmental Management: Wetlands and Forests
titlecomplete: Market and Government Failures in Environmental Management: Wetlands and Forests
publisher: Organization for Economic