The first edition of this important work was the winner of the 2002 Publication of Enduring Quality award by the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists. The continuing premise for the book is that estimates of the economic values of environmental and natural resource services are essential for effective policy-making. As previous editions, the third edition, which includes two additional co-authors, presents a comprehensive treatment of the theory and methods involved in estimating environmental benefits.

Researchers, policy-makers, and practitioners will welcome the work as an up-to-date reference on recent developments. Students will gain a better understanding of the contribution that economics as a discipline can make to decisions concerning pollution control and human health, recreation, environmental amenities, and other critical issues concerning the way we use and interact with environmental and natural resource systems. To reflect recent progress in both the theory and practice of non-market valuation, the third edition includes more details on empirical approaches to measurement, expanded discussion of the reasons for divergence between "willingness to pay" and "willingness to accept compensation," and increased coverage of econometric issues encountered in estimation. In keeping with its cutting edge orientation, it also includes more discussion of survey design, equilibrium sorting models, and the implications of behavioral economics for welfare measurements and benefit cost analysis.

A Myrick Freeman III is William D. Shipman Professor of Economics Emeritus at Bowdoin College in Maine, USA, and a former Senior Fellow at Resources for the Future (RFF), Washington DC, USA.

Joseph A. Herriges is Professor of Economics at Iowa State University. USA. He was Managing Editor of the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management from 2001-2006.

Catherine L. Kling is Charles F. Curtiss Distinguished Professor at Iowa State University, USA, and the Director of the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development. She is a former President of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists.

1. Resource Evaluation and Public Policy 2. Measuring Values, Benefits, and Costs: An Overview 3. Welfare Measures: Definitions and Concepts 4. Welfare Measures: Theoretical Basis for Empirical Measurement 5. Valuing Changes in Risk 6. Aggregation of Values across Time 7. Valuing Longevity and Health 8. Environmental Quality as a Factor Input 9. Recreation Demand 10. Property Value Models 11. Hedonic Wage Models 12. Stated Preference Methods for Valuation 13. Additional Topics 14. Conclusions and the State of the Art