Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Stern Review and the economics of climate change: an editorial essay

  • Editorial
  • Published:
Climatic Change Aims and scope Submit manuscript

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Anderson D (2007) The Stern review and the costs of climate change mitigation—a response to the ‘dual critique’ and the misrepresentations of Tol and Yohe’. World Econ 8(1):211–219

    Google Scholar 

  • Anthoff D, Tol RSJ (2008) The impact of climate change on the balanced growth equivalent: an application of FUND, Working Paper 228, Economic and Social Research Institute, Dublin

  • Arrow KJ (2007) Global climate change: a challenge to policy. Economists’ Voice (June), 1–5

  • Arrow KJ, Debreu G (1954) Existence of a competitive equilibrium for a competitive economy. Econometrica 22(3):265–290

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arrow KJ, Cline WR, Maeler K-G, Munasinghe M, Squitieri R, Stiglitz JE (1996) Intertemporal equity, discounting, and economic efficiency. In: Bruce JP, Lee H, Haites EF (eds) Climate CHANGE 1995: economic and social dimensions—contribution of working group III to the second assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 125–144

    Google Scholar 

  • Barker T (this volume) The economics of avoiding dangerous climate change. Clim Change DOI 10.1007/s10584-008-9433-x

  • Baumol WJ (1972) On taxation and the control of externalities. Am Econ Rev 62(3):307–322

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernouilli D (1954/1738) Exposition of a new theory on the measurement of risk. Econometrica 22(1):22–36 Originally published in 1738

    Google Scholar 

  • Broome J (1992) Counting the cost of global warming. White Horse, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Byatt I, Castles I, Goklany ID, Henderson D, Lawson N, McKitrick R, Morris J, Peacock A, Robinson C, Skidelsky R (2006) The Stern review: a dual critique—economic aspects. World Econ 7(4):199–229

    Google Scholar 

  • Carter RM, de Freitas CR, Goklany ID, Holland D, Lindzen RS (2006) The Stern review: a dual critique—the science. World Econ 7(4):167–198

    Google Scholar 

  • Cole DH (2007) The ‘stern review’ and its critics: implications for the theory and practice of benefit-cost analysis, mimeo, Indiana University School of Law, Indianapolis. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=989085

  • Dasgupta P (2007) Commentary: the Stern review’s economics of climate change. Natl Inst Econ Rev 199:4–7

    Google Scholar 

  • Dietz S, Hope CW, Patmore N (2007a) Some economics of “dangerous” climate change: reflections on the Stern review. Glob Environ Change 17:311–325

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dietz S, Anderson D, Stern NH, Taylor C, Zenghelis D (2007b) Right for the right reasons. World Econ 8(2):229–258

    Google Scholar 

  • Dietz S, Hope CW, Stern NH, Zenghelis D (2007c) Reflections on the Stern review (1) a robust case for strong action to reduce the risks of climate change. World Econ 8(1):121–168

    Google Scholar 

  • Evans DJ (2005) The elasticity of marginal utility of consumption: estimates for 20 OECD Countries. Fisc Stud 26(2):197–224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Evans DJ, Sezer H (2004) Social discount rates for six major countries. Appl Econ Lett 11:557–560

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Evans DJ, Sezer H (2005) Social discount rates for member countries of the European Union. J Econ Stud 32(1):47–59

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fankhauser S, Tol RSJ, Pearce DW (1998) Extensions and alternatives to climate change impact valuation: on the critique of IPCC working group III’s impact estimates. Environ Dev Econ 3:59–81

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frederick S, Loewenstein G, O’Donoghue T (2002) Time discounting and time preference: a critical review. J Econ Lit 40(2):351–401

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamid L, Stern NH, Taylor C (2007) Reflections on the Stern review (2) a growing International opportunity to move strongly on climate change. World Econ 8(1):169–186

    Google Scholar 

  • Hasselmann K, Baker T (this volume) The Stern review and the IPCC fourth assessment report: implications for interaction between policymakers and climate experts, Clim Change

  • Hotelling H (1931) The economics of exhaustible resources. J Polit Econ 39(2):137–175

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (1995) Climate change 1995. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (2007) Climate Change 2007: synthesis report. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Jaeger C, Schellnhuber HJ, Brovkin V (this volume) Stern’s review and Adam’s fallacy. Clim Change

  • Jensen PH, Webster E (2007) Is Stern correct? Does climate change require policy intervention. Aust Econ Rev 40(4):421–431

    Google Scholar 

  • Kenny C (2007) A note on the ethical implications of the Stern review. J Environ Dev 16(4):432–440

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mendelsohn RO (2006) A critique of the Stern report. Regulation (Winter 2006–2007):42–46

  • Moomaw WR, Moreira JR, Blok K, Greene DL, Gregorry K, Jaszay T, Kashiwagi T, Levine MD, McFarland M, Prasad NS, Price L, Rogner H-H, Sims R, Zhou F, Zhou P (2001) Technological and economic potential of greenhouse gas emissions reduction. In: Metz B et al (ed) Climate change 2001: mitigation-contribution of working group III to the third assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 168–299

    Google Scholar 

  • Nelson JA (2008) Economists, value judgments, and climate change: a view from feminist economics. Ecol Econ 65:441–447

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neumayer E (2007) A missed opportunity: the Stern review on climate change fails to tackle the issue of non-substitutable loss of natural capital. Glob Environ Change 17:297–301

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nordhaus WD (1997) Discounting in economics and climate change—an editorial comment. Clim Change 37:315–328

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nordhaus WD (2007a) A review of the Stern review on the economics of climate change. J Econ Lit 45(3):686–702

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nordhaus WD (2007b) Critical assumptions in the Stern review on climate change. Science 317:201–202

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nordhaus WD, Tobin J (1972) ‘Is growth obsolete?’ In: Economic research: Retrospect and prospect, economic growth, Fiftieth Anniversary Colloquium, vol. 5. National Bureau of Economic Research, New York

  • Ogura S, Yohe G (1977) The complementarity of public and private capital and the optimal rate of return to government investment. Q J Econ 91:651–662

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pacala S, Socolow R (2004) Stabilization wedges: solving the climate problem for the next 50 years with current technologies. Science 305:968–972

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pielke RA Jr (2007) Mistreatment of the economic impacts of extreme events in the Stern review report on the economics of climate change. Glob Environ Change 17:302–310

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pigou AC (1920) The economics of welfare. McMillan, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Portney PR, Weyant JP (eds) (1999) Discounting and intergenerational equity resources for the Future. Washington, D.C

  • Quiggin J (this volume) Stern and his critics on discounting and climate change. Clim Change DOI 10.1007/s10584-008-9434-9

  • Ramsey F (1928) A mathematical theory of savings. Econ J 38:543–559

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schelling TC (1995) Intergenerational discounting. Energy Policy 23(4/5):395–401

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith A (1776) An enquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations. Methuen and Co., London

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith J, Hitz S (2003) Estimating the global impact of climate change. ENV/EPOC/GSP(2003)12. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Paris

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith JB, Schellnhuber H-J, Mirza MQ, Fankhauser S, Leemans R, Erda L, Ogallo L, Pittock B, Richels RG, Rosenzweig C, Safriel U, Tol RSJ, Weyant JP, Yohe GW (2001) Vulnerability to climate change and reasons for concern: a synthesis. In: McCarthy JJ et al (ed) Climate change 2001: impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability. Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK, pp 913–967

    Google Scholar 

  • Spash CL (2007) The economics of climate change impacts a la Stern: novel and nuanced to rhetorically restricted. Ecol Econ 63:706–713

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stern HN (1977) Welfare weights and the elasticity of marginal utility of income. In: Artis M, Norbay R (eds) Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the Association of University Teachers of Economics. Blackwell, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Stern N (2007) The economics of climate change: the Stern review. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Stern NH, Taylor C (2007) Climate change: risks, ethics and the Stern review. Science 317:203–204

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stern N, Peters S, Bakhshi V, Bowen A, Cameron C, Catovsky S, Crane D, Cruickshank S, Dietz S, Edmonson N, Garbett S-L, Hamid L, Hoffman G, Ingram D, Jones B, Patmore N, Radcliffe H, Sathiyarajah R, Stock M, Taylor C, Vernon T, Wanjie H, Zenghelis D (2006a) Stern review: the economics of climate change. HM Treasury, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Stern N, Peters S, Bakhshi V, Bowen A, Cameron C, Catovsky S, Crane D, Cruickshank S, Dietz S, Edmonson N, Garbett S-L, Hamid L, Hoffman G, Ingram D, Jones B, Patmore N, Radcliffe H, Sathiyarajah R, Stock M, Taylor C, Vernon T, Wanjie H, Zenghelis D (2006b) Postscript, HM Treasury, London (posted on the internet at http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/3DD/35/Postscript.pdf)

  • Sterner T, Persson UM (2007) An even Sterner review—introducing relative prices into the discounting debate, Discussion Paper 07–37,Resources for the Future, Washington, D.C.

  • Tol RSJ (2005) The marginal damage costs of carbon dioxide emissions: an assessment of the uncertainties. Energy Policy 33:2064–2074

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tol RSJ (2006) The Stern review of the economics of climate change: a comment. Energy Environ 17(6):977–981

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tol RSJ (2007) The social cost of carbon: trends, outliers and catastrophes. http://www.economics-journal.org/economics/discussionpapers/2007-44

  • Tol RSJ, Yohe GW (2006) A review of the Stern review. World Econ 7:233–250

    Google Scholar 

  • Tol RSJ, Yohe GW (2007) A Stern reply to the reply to the review of the Stern review. World Econ 8(2):153–159

    Google Scholar 

  • Varian HR (2006) Recalculating the costs of global climate change. New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/14/business/14scene.html?ex=1323752400&en=f752c231684bfc0a&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

  • Weitzman ML (2007) A review of the Stern review on the economics of climate change. J Econ Lit 45(3):703–724

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yohe GW (2006) Some thoughts on the damage estimates presented in the Stern review—an editorial. Integrated Assessment Journal 6:65–72

    Google Scholar 

  • Yohe G, Tirpak D (2008) Summary report: OECD global forum on sustainable development: the economic benefits of climate change policies. Integrated Assessment Journal; an earlier version is available at the OECD website under ENV/EPOC/GSP(2006)11 (in press)

  • Yohe GW, Tol RSJ (2007a) The Stern review: implications for climate change. Environment 49(2):36–42

    Google Scholar 

  • Yohe G, Tol R (2007b) The Stern review: implications for climate change. Environment 40:36–41

    Google Scholar 

  • Yohe GW, Tol RSJ, Murphy D (2007) On setting near-term climate policy while the dust begins to settle—the legacy of the Stern review. Energy Environ 18(5):621–633

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, Wesleyan University, 238 Church St., Middletown, CT, 06459, USA

    Gary W. Yohe

  2. Economic and Social Research Institute, Dublin, Ireland

    Richard S. J. Tol

  3. Institute for Environmental Studies, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Richard S. J. Tol

  4. Department of Spatial Economics, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Richard S. J. Tol

  5. Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Richard S. J. Tol

Authors
  1. Gary W. Yohe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Richard S. J. Tol
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gary W. Yohe.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Yohe, G.W., Tol, R.S.J. The Stern Review and the economics of climate change: an editorial essay. Climatic Change 89, 231–240 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-008-9431-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-008-9431-z

Search

Navigation