Activation of the association of environmental and resource economists

Abstract

Following discussions between Larry E. Ruff, then a member of the Ford Foundation staff, and Terry Ferrar, then Director of the Environmental Policy Center at the Pennsylvania State University, a decision was made to solicit the opinions of professional economists actively involved in environmental economic analysis regarding the advisability of founding a formal association to promote the field and the effectiveness of such analysis for programs and policies. Under the leadership of Terry Ferrar, a group of economists 1 involved in environmental economic analysis attending the annual meetings of the Allied Social Sciences Association in Dallas in December of 1975 met to explore this question and concluded that the proposal had sufficient merit to pursue the issue further. It was agreed that “there was need for better communication among environmental economists, between economists and those in other disciplines involved in environmental policy, and between academics and policy makers.” 2 Accordingly, a study committee was appointed to further explore the proposal. It consisted of Terry Ferrar, John Cumberland, Alan Carlin, and V. Kerry Smith; John Cumberland was elected chairman, Two other decisions were made at the first meeting. One was to explore with Academic Press the feasibility and advisability of adopting the Journal of Environmental Ecorwmics and Management as the official journal in the event the proposed association were activated. The second was to arrange with the American Economic Association program chairman two joint sessions for the next AEA program. Will Baumol agreed to organize one session and John Krutilla and Tony Fisher accepted responsibility for the second. The informal association held its second meeting during the annual meetings of the Allied Social Sciences Association in Atlantic City on September 17, 197(X3 The Cumberland committee report led to a judgment that a viable association was a justifiable presumption. Two substantive issues surfaced; one dealt with