Environmental Economics Research Paper- feature Villanova Professor Chris Jeffords
Environmental Economics: Theory, Rights, and Policy Nicholas Djoulia March 2026 Abstract This paper will provide an overview and analysis of environmental economics, an interdisciplinary field of economics, with a focus on the relationship among markets, policy, and human rights. Expanding on research by economist Chris Jeffords, the paper argues that standard, more traditional economic models are insufficient to describe the issues facing society, failing to recognize equity constraints, demographic disparities, and the humanity that defines us at our core. This argument is expanded on throughout the paper through the breakdown of five interconnected substructures: the market failure theory and its impact on policy; the Kuznets Curve, along with the Jeffords and Thompson minimum consumption modification; the global record on environmental rights constitutionally and the difference between the promises legal frameworks and the real-world outcomes; the extent of environmental conc...
