Environmental Problems in the Shortage Economy is one of the first books to analyse environmental disruption under the Soviet economic system. Using original Soviet data the author shows that considerable damage has been done to the environment and that measures which were intended to protect it have been largely ineffective.
A detailed account of environmental problems in the Soviet economy is followed by discussion of two specific problems: the ineffectiveness of measures to protect the environment and the general mismanagement of natural resource extraction. In order to explain these problems, a framework is adopted which views the former Soviet Union as a shortage economy with environmental problems as part of its general functioning. Further insight into the impact of the shortage economy on the management of natural resources is provided by a case study on the use of forestry resources. The book also includes an account of Soviet academic work in the field of environmental economics.
This rigorous and authoritative assessment of the implications of Soviet environmental policy will be welcomed by environmental economists and political scientists concerned with the wider legacy of the Soviet Union and its economic policy.
