This intermediate-level undergraduate textbook in environmental economics builds on the microeconomics courses students take in their first year. It intentionally does not survey the whole field or present every possible topic. Instead, there is a clear focus on the theory of environmental policy and its practical applications. Most of the applied parts of the book deal with the economics of environmental policy in the European Union and in the United States. The book combines basic environmental economic analysis, such as the internalization of externalities, with recent developments in this field, including induced technical change and coalition theory. Moreover, topics from daily policy debates such as global warming are put into economic perspective. This is done in an intelligible form for advanced undergraduate students of economics, business administration and related fields. Each part of the book contains a set of exercises and suggested solutions.

‘Professor Endres invites the reader to look deeply into the microeconomic underpinnings of environmental economics, and not merely accept concepts as established wisdom without close scrutiny. Students will appreciate the author’s humorous, even playful treatment of the microeconomics of environmental policy choices.’

Robert T. Deacon - University of California, Santa Barbara

‘In Environmental Economics Alfred Endres provides a brilliant overview of available instruments and mechanisms of environmental policy and critically discusses those from an economic perspective. A must for everyone interested in increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of environmental policy instruments!’

Michael G. Faure - University of Maastricht and Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands

‘This unique textbook, based on basic economic theory, not only opens the door to the research frontiers of environmental economics, but also guides us to the field of environmental policy applications. Readers will surely be excited by studying how an economic theory can be applied to an analysis of institutional policy tools for environmental protection, such as property rights or liability rules.’

Eiji Hosoda - Keio University, Japan

‘This elegantly written book on environmental economics not only summarizes existing knowledge, but also provides a fresh look at the subject with new interpretations. Many exercises and examples of European, U.S., and international policy issues illustrate the value of theory and make the policy debate come alive. Alfred Endres’s style of presentation makes reading enjoyable and fun, not only for students and scholars in economics but for those in other disciplines as well.’

Michael Finus - University of Exeter

‘This is a wonderful textbook, combining the fundamentals of environmental economics with recent theoretical research, and applying it to the analysis of American and European environmental policy.’

Nadezda Pakhomova - St Petersburg State University

‘This textbook offers students with basic knowledge of (micro) economics a deep understanding of basic and topical environmental issues and research results in an easily digestible format. The nontechnical yet sound presentation of methodology and theoretical principles, the discussion of solution concepts, and applications to practical problems are in perfect balance. The author succeeds in conveying his profound knowledge and insights in a stimulating way garnished with a pinch of humor.’

Rüdiger Pethig - University of Siegen

‘In this textbook Alfred Endres uses microeconomic methods to investigate environmental policy and pollution. It is a brilliantly written book, in which the latest theoretical and empirical research is considered. I recommend it to anyone who is interested in these environmental questions.’

Friedrich Schneider - Johannes Kepler University of Linz