THE ECONOMICS OF THIRD WORLD NATIONAL PARKS: Issues of Tourism and Environmental Management

In , Anup Shah argues that parks and reserves are worth preserving, rigorously analyses the problem and advocates solutions drawing on a wide range of sources. Issues discussed include the effects of economic activity on a national park, the tourist problem, valuing a national park and the use of cost-benefit decision making. Dr Shah uses economic analysis to explore institutional arrangements which would compensate for externalities resulting from exploitation and over-use by tourists and local communities. The price mechanism, he argues, is not a satisfactory tool with which to protect areas of rich bio-diversity. presents a clear and thoughtful application of economic thought, and especially the concept of externalities, to a key problem which current institutional structures seem unable to resolve.