Light pollution is a worldwide problem that has a range of adverse effects on human health and natural ecosystems. Using data from the New World Atlas of Artificial Night Sky Brightness, VIIRS-recorded radiance and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data, we compared light pollution levels, and the light flux to the population size and GDP at the State and County levels in the USA and at Regional (NUTS2) and Province (NUTS3) levels in Europe. We found 6800-fold differences between the most and least polluted regions in Europe, 120-fold differences in their light flux per capita, and 267-fold differences in flux per GDP unit. Yet, we found even greater differences between US counties: 200,000-fold differences in sky pollution, 16,000-fold differences in light flux per capita, and 40,000-fold differences in light flux per GDP unit. These findings may inform policy-makers, helping to reduce energy waste and adverse environmental, cultural and health consequences associated with light pollution.

Purpose This paper aims to examine the economic impact from dark-sky tourism in national parks in the USA on the Colorado Plateau. The Colorado Plateau is a region encompassing parts of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah that is known for its dark, star-filled night skies. Tourists in national parks are increasingly interested in observing this natural recreational amenity – especially considering that it is an ecological amenity that is quickly disappearing from the planet. Using a 10-year forecast of visitors to the national parks and using standard input-output modeling, it is observed that, for the first time anywhere, the value of dark skies to tourism in this area. The authors find that non-local tourists who value dark skies will spend $5.8bn over the next 10 years in the Colorado Plateau. These tourist expenditures will generate $2.4bn in higher wages and create over 10,000 additional jobs each year for the region. Furthermore, as dark skies are even more intense natural amenity in the non-summer months, they have the ability to increase visitor counts to national parks year-round and lead to a more efficient use of local community and tourism-related resources throughout the year. Design/methodology/approach Using a 10-year forecast of visitors to the national parks and using standard input-output modeling, we find that non-local tourists who value dark skies will spend $5.8bn over the next 10 years in the Colorado Plateau. Findings These tourist expenditures will generate $2.4bn in higher wages and create over 10,000 additional jobs each year for the region. Furthermore, as dark skies are even more intense natural amenity in the non-summer months, they have the ability to increase visitor counts to national parks year-round and lead to a more efficient use of local community and tourism-related resources throughout the year. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no other study has attempted to value the environmental amenity of dark skies.

This paper uses a unique US dataset to study the economic causes of light pollution at the local (county) level. Light pollution has been shown to have negative consequences for both wildlife and humans. Light pollution is a form of pollution commonly ignored by environmental professionals. Traditionally, light-pollution models focus on population-based explanations. This paper confirms the importance of population in understanding light pollution. However, the results highlight the importance of economic variables, especially local economic development, in explaining the existence and extent of light pollution. Estimated models show, for example, that local employment patterns, personal income, roads and energy use are all important explanatory variables. By highlighting the connections between light pollution and specific types of local economic activity, this paper provides policy makers with additional information that they can use to improve public policies intended to safeguard the environment and local wildlife.

This paper is the first analysis of the economic factors of global light pollution. Light pollution commonly refers to excessive or obtrusive artificial light caused by bad lighting design. Light pollution generates significant costs including negative impacts on wildlife, health, astronomy, and wasted energy—which in the U.S. amounts to nearly 7billion dollars annually. Current scientific models of light pollution are purely population based. The current paper utilizes unique remote sensing data and economic data from the World Bank to quantify the economic causes of light pollution globally. Fractional logit models show that, similar to other types of pollution, both population and GDP are significant explanatory variables.

The night sky is a unique and exquisitely valuable cultural asset that is being lost to humanity. Light pollution obscures the heavens, interferes with wildlife, and wastes billions of dollars in energy annually. Light pollution can be easily mitigated, but unfortunately, it has gone largely unnoticed as a preventable environmental problem. This paper examines light pollution as well as the value of the night sky. The paper focuses on society's disregard for the loss of a cultural asset that has been a part of art, science, and culture for as long as these things have existed. It argues that the blame lies largely in an inability to articulate adequately the value of natural beauty. It is further argued that such beauty has instrumental value, and the explicit recognition of this value is an important step toward preserving the night sky and other objects of natural beauty.

Almost 100 pages are dedicated to an interesting summary of 37 open interviews with a broad range of experts on status emulation, mentality changes, and so on. The experts are also characterized in an ideal type way (the economist, the cynic, the nostalgic, etc.). At the end the author draws conclusions and makes some proposals for reform. As mentioned, in East Germany the "transcendent" dimension is missing and emulative comparisons prevalent. What is needed therefore is a change in cultural dispositions via a postsecular society (Habermas) which can hardly be implemented from above. The often used neoliberal mainstream economic policy combined with the implementation of antagonistic interventions which tried to exploit shortsighted economic incentives (transfers, etc.) failed. What are needed among other things are what the author calls "Veblenian heroes," motivated, for example, by the instinct of workmanship and conspicuous minimalism, fostering a sense of community and personal responsibility and initiative. We can leave open whether Veblenian heroes are the most important cure and whether the capitalism of the West is or should be the end of the road: It can be no doubt that Bohmer has written a very interesting book on the economic problems of German reunification from a cultural economic perspective. He also demonstrates that Veblen's analytical concepts are still very fruitful to understand the world we live in.

Conjunctures create opportunity. This paper examines both natural and institutional conjunctures that provide unique and valuable opportunities whose beneficiaries range from bugs to businesses. Thorstein Veblen, for example, argued that with the rise of the machine age businessmen sought gain by controlling industrial conjunctures rather than relying on unmanageable ones found in nature (1904, 17). The paper shows that ecotones are conjunctures that have been studied by ecologists, anthropologists, and economists such as Karl Polanyi. Moreover, the examination of ecotones may prove valuable to subjects as varied as economic geography, environmental economics, and economic anthropology. Ecotones and edge effects are concepts borrowed from ecology and are useful tools for analyzing a wide range of economic phenomena. Ecotones are commonly defined as the transition zone between adjacent ecosystems (Holland 1988; Gosz 1991; Bowersox and Brown 2001). 1 Wetlands, tree lines, and the meeting of savanna and desert are all examples of ecotones. Ecotones, sometimes called edges, frequently support comparatively large amounts of diversity, activity, and biomass—a phenomenon known as edge effect. 2 Part of this edge effect is accounted for by the simple fact that the ecotone supports many of the species from each of the overlapping communities. In addition, there are species “which are characteristic of and often restricted to the ecotone” (Odum 1971, 157). This paper examines the economic analog of ecological ecotones and demonstrates the usefulness of the concept in explaining the locus of economic activity as

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(2004). Open Source Software, the Wrongs of Copyright, and the Rise of Technology. Journal of Economic Issues: Vol. 38, Papers From The 2004 AFEE Meeting, pp. 467-474.

(2002). Free Ride: An Institutionalist Analysis of Information in the Internet Age. Journal of Economic Issues: Vol. 36, Papers From The 2002 AFEE Meeting, pp. 441-447.

Recent innovations allow Internet users to access and trade digital music files without paying those who have produced the music. MP3 and other data compression algorithms allow digital files to easily fit on hard drives or portable discs, and software such as Napster and Gnutella allow music fans to trade files on the Internet. These new technologies are turning recorded music into a public good, since no one can be prevented from enjoying an inexhaustible supply of digital copies. We may expect private markets to provide less-than-optimal quantities of music as a public good. Indeed, foes of Napster claim that downloads are hurting sales of prerecorded CDs (Stern 2000, A03). Others, such as Napster attorney David Boies, argue that Internet music trading does not hurt sales of prerecorded CDs and may actually enhance them by whetting consumers' appetites for new music (E03). Recent congressional inquiries and civil lawsuits have heightened interest in this question: What effect does Internet music trading have on sales of prerecorded CDs? Controversy aside, Internet music trading demands study because it is a more efficient distribution system than the industry's traditional model.' With no costs of manufacturing, packaging, shipping, or retailing CDs, downloads can be offered at a marginal cost of virtually zero and can be enjoyed by music fans at the cost of just a few minutes of computer time. Internet music trading thus represents a tremendous