The total economic value of Amazonian deforestation, 1978-1993

National income accounting has been criticized because of its failure to en compass the notion of sustainability. Several studies address this problem through 'green' income accounting - i.e. by adjusting conventionally measur ed GDP for reduction in a given country's 'stock' of natural resources. The se studies generally base value on the unit net price of the resource. Othe r studies go beyond net price, emphasizing a natural resource's total econo mic value (TEV) - that is, its non-marketable as well as its marketable val ues. This paper combines the green income accounting and TEV approaches and applies the new framework to Brazil in order to assess the foregone econom ic benefits resulting from Amazonian deforestation. The results lend suppor t to calls for greater policy emphasis on conservation of unique and irrepl aceable ecosystems. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.