Costanza adhered to the immediate influence-line
and had a relatively positive attitude towards contributions
from neoclassical economics, the socio-economists
were much more critical towards neoclassical
economics and wanted to promote this view
as a defining characteristic of ecological economics.
The conflicts also tended to have a geographical
dimension, as most of the active socio-economists
were European and were frustrated over what they
perceived as the American ownership of the international
society. The late establishment of a regional
society in the United States in a period when a number
of other regional societies were established was
interpreted as illustrative of this ownership idea.
Costanza argues that this was merely the result of the
difficulty of finding someone willing to do the work.