Subject: Economics of Transitions to Sustainability

Organizer: Jeroen van den Bergh (ICREA, UAB and VU)

Currently, there is much interest in stimulating or accelerating socio-technical transitions to sustainable systems, most notably in the sectors of energy, transport and agriculture. It has been argued that transition management requires an approach that differs from the economic view on environmental policy. Although mainstream economics seems to conflict in certain ways with the approach called for by many involved in transition research, it certainly has something to offer to the study of transitions. Indeed, various sub-disciplines of economics have generated a wealth of concepts, theories and empirical methods that are potentially suitable for use and elaboration in the context of ‘transition research’. Studies on economic development, long waves, conflict resolution, public investments, and transitions from communist to market-democracy systems seem especially relevant to the study of sustainability transitions. We invite authors to submit papers for this special session on the economics of transitions.