Monetary green accounting at a regional scale in Sweden :

Abstract: In this thesis environmentally adjusted regional products (EDPRs) are calculated by introducing non-marketed values of natural capital assets into conventional GDPR (Gross Domestic Product of regions) figures for the years 1995 and 2000, following welfare based green accounting theoretical guidelines. The EDPRs of Sweden’s 21 counties presented are partially adjusted in the sense that values of two natural capital outputs in the form of ecosystem services, pollution sequestration and recreational services, from three types of ecosystems, forests, agricultural landscape and wetlands, are calculated and added to GDPRs using secondary data of resource quantities and value estimates from existing studies. The empirical demonstration shows that the net welfare contribution from these assets is positive, but that in several counties the use of the assets has been unsustainable. When comparing the EDPRs and conventional GDPRs it is shown that the two measurements of growth provide significantly different pictures of regional wealth and productivity; regions that are traditionally considered as relatively less growth promoting are shown to hold important sources of wealth, with high EDPRs per capita, while on the other hand counties that are rich in conventional terms fall behind when adjusting for values of natural capital. Moreover, it is shown that growth in EDPR and GDPR can show opposite signs.