Property and Environment Research Center

The Property and Environment Research Center (PERC), previously known as the Political Economy Research Center, is a free market environmental think tank based in Bozeman, Montana, United States. Established in 1980,[2] PERC is dedicated to original research on market approaches to resolving environmental problems.

Property and Environment Research Center
MottoImproving Environmental Quality Through Property Rights and Markets
Formation1980 (1980) (as Political Economy Research Center)
HeadquartersBozeman, Montana, U.S.
Executive Director
Brian Yablonski
Revenue (2015)
$1,830,035[1]
Expenses (2015)$2,356,797[1]
Websiteperc.org
Formerly called
Political Economy Research Center

History

PERC began as an intellectual collaboration between economists John Baden and Richard L. Stroup.[3] PERC started with a simple question: "If markets can produce bread and cars, why can't they produce environmental quality?"[2]

In 1978, the two men established the Center for Political Economy and Natural Resources at Montana State University with the help of Terry Anderson, P.J. Hill and Ronald Johnson. Later, they founded PERC as a free-standing research institution with the goal of showing that economic freedom can improve environmental quality.[4]

While PERC later adopted the term "free market environmentalism," the original concept was called the New Resource Economics, which was discussed in an article by Terry Anderson in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics.[5] As Anderson indicated in his article in the AJAE, the New Resource Economics combined neoclassical economics, property rights, public choice, and Austrian economics.

Outreach

PERC engages in research and advocacy related to free-market environmentalism and is active on issues including endangered species, water, pollution, and public lands.[4] PERC says that government policy is the root cause of much environmental degradation. The Dust Bowl Reconsidered, for instance, blames the federal Homestead Act for accelerating erosion problems by limiting claims of newly settled land to 160-320 acre (0.65 to 1.3 km²) parcels. According to this article, fragmented land ownership reduced the incentives for implementing erosion countermeasures and made it difficult for farmers to negotiate contracts for voluntary soil conservation.[6]

PERC also addresses the environmental problems of developing countries. For instance, a 2005 PERC Report noted that farmers were growing chili peppers along the boundaries of their fields to prevent elephants from damaging their crops, since elephants find spicy foods unpalatable. The chili peppers are cheaper than electric fences and can be sold as a cash crop.

PERC seeks to influence public policy by publishing guides for Congressional staff and organizing weeklong seminars for undergraduates. The organization's monthly publication, PERC Reports, regularly features articles questioning assumptions that form the basis of U.S. federal environmental law.

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References
  1. "Property and Environment Research Center" (PDF). Foundation Center. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
  2. "PERC's History | PERC – The Property and Environment Research Center". www.perc.org. Retrieved 2017-07-17.
  3. Stroup, Richard; Baden, John (October 1973). "Externality, Property Rights, and the Management of Our National Forests". The Journal of Law and Economics. 16 (2): 303–312. doi:10.1086/466768. ISSN 0022-2186.
  4. Frohnen, Bruce; Beer, Jeremy; Jeffrey, Nelson (2014). American Conservatism: An Encyclopedia. Open Road Media. ISBN 9781497651579.
  5. Anderson, Terry L. (December 1982). "The New Resource Economics: Old Ideas and New Applications" (PDF). American Journal of Agricultural Economics. 64 (5): 928–934. doi:10.2307/1240760. JSTOR 1240760.
  6. Benjamin, Daniel (December 10, 2004). "The Dust Bowl Reconsidered". PERC. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
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