Value Theory in the Economics of Sustainable Development

Historically, the value theory was based on an objectivist approach, where the value of the goods arises through the involvement of private means of production, with a special role of work or a subjectivist approach, where value is a subjective phenomenon and depends on marginal utility of the economic entity. The neoclassical revolution replaced the vague value theory with price theory, the economic reality and consumer expectations led to a situation in which lowering the price of goods at the expense of the environment became a commonly accepted mode of operation. For a long time, the value theory in economics was not an area of reflection, both in the sense of economic and moral value. It was assumed that the subjective character of the value phenomenon makes the analysis of value elusive for the tools of economics. At the same time, environmental goods were considered to be so-called free, occurring in unlimited quantities. These assumptions have contributed to the development of an economics theory that is the antithesis of the economics of sustainable development, excessively exploiting the environment and, indirectly, society as well. The assumptions of sustainable development redefine the space for interpretation of the value theory and imply a change in the approach to an environmental element that cannot be understood in the sense of a free good and which imposes an objective understanding of values that can be preserved or lost in the production process.