Environmental Economic, What is the theory of Coase and has it any Essay

Environmental Economic, What is the theory of Coase and has it any bearing on policies for the control of environmental pollution - Essay Example Now when the steel manufacturer makes his balance sheet he won't include these external costs into profit and loss statement for he pays nothing for that. The solution in this case may be that the government tells the company how much it can pollute air or it may impose the taxes depending upon the amount of the pollution it causes, called Pigovian taxes. This was the general theory followed before Coase came up with his theory (The Swedes Get it Right, 1). Coase approach: Coase begins by giving the example of straying cattle, which destroys the crops in the neighborhood land. In this case we get more cattle i.e. the meat at the expense of the crops. Thus we can get either the crops or the meat. The answer lies simply in deciding the value of what we obtain at the expense of value of what is sacrificed. Thus Coase gives prime importance to the value of the product (1). In this example Coase considers various options. Suppose if the value of the meat is more than the value of the crops in that case the cattle raiser may give some compensation to the farmer by mutual understanding. If the value of the crops on the other hand is more than the value of the meat in that case the farmer may build the fencing to protect its crops from the cattle and demand some compensation for doing so. In other case, if the farmer is not using some part of land he may allow the cattle bearer to use that land at some fixed costs agreed upon by both. There is also the possibility that if the cattle bearer finds that by increasing the number of the cattle he can get much more profits and he could easily pay the farmer all the cost of the crop in that case he may just compensate the farmer for completely stopping the growth of the crops. There is one more angle to these discussions. If the farmer had the initial rights to use the land for the crops, then the cattle bearer bargains with the farmer to allow the cattle rising in his vicinity. While if the cattle raiser has the initial rights to raise the cattle in his vicinity then farmer has to bargain with the cattle bearer so that his cattle create least damage to his crops (Coase, 2). In either way, what is important to come up with the solution is the value of the product that is be obtained and of the product that is sacrificed. The greatest thing is that the problem is solved by the mutual discussions and the contract is raised among the concerned parties, which benefits all. Here there is no involvement of the government, no regulations and no political or the beurauracratic proceedings. However, one of the most important things to understand is the fixing of the property rights which plays the dominant role in the success of the Coase method (Swedes Get it Right, 1). In the example considered by Coase the property rights belong to only the two persons, the cattle raiser and the farmer. Here it is quite easy for the two parties to get involved in the discussions and come out with some contract. In case of the example of steel plant if the plant owners have the initial rights to production and create pollution then the residents will bargain with the manufacturer to create the least possible pollution. In this case the residents may make some payments to them to either use some methods to stop the pollution