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. According to Kenneth Arrow,
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"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."[1]
Krutilla was born in Tacoma, Washington;[2] his parents were farmers who had immigrated there from Slovakia.[3] 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, and then acted as an independent international researcher from 1955 to 1988, associated with a nonprofit research center that he helped establish, Resources for the Future.[4]
With Allen V. Kneese, he was the inaugural winner of the Volvo Environment Prize in 1990.[2]
