%0 Articles %T The emergence and early development of forest resource economic thought: From land and forest valuation to marginal analysis and vintage capital models %A Viitala, Esa-Jussi %D 2016 %J Dissertationes Forestales %V 2016 %N 212 %R doi:10.14214/df.212 %U http://dissertationesforestales.fi/article/1995 %X One of the fundamental principles of natural resource economics is that nature may be treated as capital. Thus a decision-maker faces a trade-off between how much to consume of the natural capital now, and how much to save for future periods (generations) so that economic efficiency and welfare are maximized. By ‘natural capital’ is meant land, forests, water, air, and all the ecosystems and natural stocks associated with them. In forestry, the most prominent manifestation of this fundamental resource economic principle is the so-called Faustmann model. It has been regarded as perhaps the oldest formal description of natural resource use that is still considered to be theoretically valid. When combined with neoclassical utility theory, the model and its underlying economic principles form a basis for determining optimal forest resource use in current and thus in all future periods. However, compared to many other forms of natural and manufactured capital, efficient allocation of forest resources is a particularly difficult task due to extended periods of production and the multitude and complexity of forest systems. This dissertation examines how the Faustmann model and the related principles that govern economic forest management emerged and developed in England and in the German states. At the same time, it shows that many of the persistent controversies in forestry not only imply insufficient understanding of the relevant domain of the Faustmann model, but also reflect the centuries-long and deeply rooted perception that land, nature and forests are distinct if not unique forms of capital and should be treated as such. The dissertation also shows how the development of forest and natural resource economic thought has been connected to broader socio-economic changes and accompanying intellectual currents in Europe for centuries.