John V. Krutilla

John Vasil Krutilla (February 13, 1922 – June 27, 2003) was an American environmental economist, known for inventing the concept of existence value, the idea that undisturbed wilderness has economic value ("nonuse value").[1][2] According to Kenneth Arrow,

"John Krutilla can fairly be said to have created or stimulated most of the agenda of modern environmental economics. . . . He pioneered in developing the idea later called 'existence value,' the value generated by the mere existence of an amenity, such as an unspoiled wilderness or species of animal or plants."[3]

Krutilla was born in Tacoma, Washington;[4] his parents were farmers who had immigrated there from Slovakia.[5] After serving in the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II, he earned a bachelor's degree in economics from Reed College in 1949, a master's degree from Harvard University in 1951, and a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1952. He worked from 1952 to 1955 at the Tennessee Valley Authority, before going to Resources for the Future where he worked until his retirement in 1988.[6]

Krutilla is perhaps most famous for his essay, "Conservation Reconsidered," in which he coined the idea of Existence value.[7][8]

With Allen V. Kneese, he was the inaugural winner of the Volvo Environment Prize in 1990.[4]

References
  1. Brown, Gardner M.; Smith, V. Kerry; Munro, Gordon R.; Bishop, Richard (2016). "Early Pioneers in Natural Resource Economics". Annual Review of Resource Economics. 8: 25–42. doi:10.1146/annurev-resource-100815-095243. ISSN 1941-1340. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  2. Pearce, David (November 2002). "An Intellectual History of Environmental Economics". Annual Review of Energy and the Environment. 27 (1): 57–81. doi:10.1146/annurev.energy.27.122001.083429. ISSN 1056-3466. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  3. "John Krutilla", Washington Post, July 12, 2003.
  4. Saxon, Wolfgang (July 20, 2003), "John Krutilla, 81, Economist Who Focused on Environment", New York Times.
  5. Emmett, Ross B. (2010), "Krutilla, John Vasil (1922–2003)", The Biographical Dictionary of American Economists, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-975474-8.
  6. "In Appreciation of John V. Krutilla, 1922-2003", Resources, October 2003.
  7. Krutilla, John V. (1967), "Conservation Reconsidered", American Economic Review, vol. 57, pp. 777–786
  8. Banzhaf, H. Spencer (2019), "The Environmental Turn in Natural Resource Economics: John Krutilla and 'Conservation Reconsidered'", Journal of the History of Economic Thought, vol. 41, pp. 27–46
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