Natural Resources and Economic Growth

Natural Resources and Economic Growth PDF

Author: Marc Badia-Miró

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2015-05-22

Total Pages: 463

ISBN-13: 1317669185

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The relationship between natural capital and economic growth is an open debate in the field of economic development. Is an abundance of natural resources a blessing or a curse for economic performance? The field of Economic History offers an excellent vantage to explore the relevance of institutions, technical progress and supply-demand drivers. Natural Resources and Economic Growth contains theoretical and empirical articles by leading scholars who have studied this subject in different historical periods from the 19th century to the present day and in different parts of the world. Part I presents the theoretical issues and discusses the meaning of the "curse" and the relevance of the historical perspective. Part II captures the diversity of experiences, presenting thirteen independent case studies based on historical results from North and South America, Africa, Asia, Oceania and Europe. This book emphasizes that an abundance of natural resources is not a fixed situation. It is a process that reacts to changes in the structure of commodity prices and factor endowments, and progress requires capital, labour, technical change and appropriate institutional arrangements. This abundance is not a given, but is part of the evolution of the economic system. History shows that institutional quality is the key factor to deal with abundant natural resources and, especially, with the rents derived from their use and exploitation. This wide ranging volume will be of great relevance to all those with an interest in economic history, development, economic growth, natural resources, world history and institutional economics.

Natural Resources and Economic Development

Natural Resources and Economic Development PDF

Author: Edward B. Barbier

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2019-09-19

Total Pages: 451

ISBN-13: 1107179262

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The second edition of this landmark book explores how natural resources contribute to development in poor economies.

Natural Resources, Growth, and Development

Natural Resources, Growth, and Development PDF

Author: Clement A. Tisdell

Publisher: Praeger

Published: 1990-09-18

Total Pages: 218

ISBN-13: 9780275934798

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This volume combines economics and ecology in a penetrating examination of the natural resources and environmental issues arising from economic growth, development, and change. The author focuses particular attention on the environmental consequences of economic change and argues that the management and conservation of biological resources is a requirement for sustainable economic growth. By setting traditional economic issues within their wider environmental context and covering issues not ordinarily addressed by economists, Tisdell offers an important new perspective on the problem of resource scarcity. He examines the two conflicting viewpoints on the magnitude of the problem--those who argue that technological progress will make scarcity of natural resources less important and those who argue that economic growth can only be expected to intensify scarcity--suggesting a reasonable course of action that will allow acceptable levels of economic growth while protecting important natural resources. Tisdell's work will be useful both as a supplementary text for courses in development or environmental economics and as recommended reading in biology, environmental studies, and ecology programs. Following an introduction which covers basic issues in resource scarcity, along with growth and development, the author addresses the major economic, ethical, and ecological issues involved in the conservation of biological resources. He goes on to examine concepts and changing views of sustainable economic growth, production, and development. Subsequent chapters explore such topics as conservation in less developed countries and the economic pressures that hinder conservation efforts, differing views on depletable resources as limits to growth, rural-urban migration and its effects on labor allocation, and foreign assistance to resource-poor developing countries. A case study of wildlife on New Zealand's Otago Peninsula is particularly useful in illustrating the economics of biological conservation. Throughout, Tisdell concentrates on providing a reasoned, balanced assessment of the impact of economic growth and change on the natural environment that will be an important resource for proponents on both sides of the environment versus development debate.

Natural Resource Endowment and the Fallacy of Development in Cameroon

Natural Resource Endowment and the Fallacy of Development in Cameroon PDF

Author: Fonjong, Lotsmart

Publisher: Langaa RPCIG

Published: 2019-10-05

Total Pages: 364

ISBN-13: 9956551244

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Cameroon is rich in petroleum, minerals, tropical forests, wildlife, water systems, fertile lands, and much more. Paradoxically however, most citizens live in abject poverty and without jobs, potable water, electricity, good healthcare and roads. This book is a thoughtful interrogation of some of the structural factors driving persistent poverty in Cameroon in the midst of natural resource abundance. It engages in a multidimensional critical analysis of the impact of natural resources on basic development indicators and concludes that good resource governance and sound management are the missing link. Natural resources alone will not create socio-economic prosperity void of good management with a clear development vision and strategy in Cameroon. The book assembles a wide diversity of analysis, views, perspectives and recommendations from economists, development experts, social and political scientists, on Cameroon’s current development inertia. What emerges in the end is a coherent interdisciplinary analysis of the natural resource-development paradox as it plays out in an African setting. Theories and good practices from Africa and beyond are systematically applied to identify and critique present policy and management approaches while providing alternative options that can unlock Cameroon’s natural resource wealth for national prosperity.

Managing Natural Resources for Development in Africa

Managing Natural Resources for Development in Africa PDF

Author: Washington Odongo Ochola

Publisher: IDRC

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 572

ISBN-13: 9966792090

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The complex and dynamic interlinks between natural resource management (NRM) and development have long been recognized by national and international research and development organizations and have generated voluminous literature. However, much of what is available in the form of university course books, practical learning manuals and reference materials in NRM is based on experiences from outside Africa. Managing Natural Resources for Development in Africa: A Resource Book provides an understanding of the various levels at which NRM issues occur and are being addressed scientifically, economically, socially and politically. The book's nine chapters present state-of-the-art perspectives within a holistic African context. The book systematically navigates the tricky landscape of integrated NRM, with special reference to Eastern and Southern Africa, against the backdrop of prevailing local, national, regional and global social, economic and environmental challenges. The authors' wide experience, the rich references made to emerging challenges and opportunities, and the presentation of different tools, principles, approaches, case studies and processes make the book a rich and valuable one-stop resource for postgraduate students, researchers, policymakers and NRM practitioners. The book is designed to help the reader grasp in-depth NRM perspectives and presents innovative guidance for research design and problem solving, including review questions, learning activities and recommended further reading. The book was developed through a writeshop process by a multi-disciplinary team of lecturers from the University of Nairobi, Egerton University, Kenyatta University, the University of Zimbabwe, the University of Malawi, Makerere University and the University of Dar es Salam. In addition, selected NRM experts from regional and international research organizations including the World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF), the Africa Forest Forum, RUFORUM, IIRR and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) participated in the writeshop and contributed material to the book.

Resource Abundance and Economic Development

Resource Abundance and Economic Development PDF

Author: R. M. Auty

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2001-06-28

Total Pages: 357

ISBN-13: 0199246882

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Since the 1960s the per capita incomes of the resource-poor countries have grown significantly faster than those of the resource-abundant countries. In fact, in recent years economic growth has been inversely proportional to the share of natural resource rents in GDP, so that the small mineral-driven economies have performed least well and the oil-driven economies worst of all. Yet the mineral-driven resource-rich economies have high growth potential because the mineral exportsboost their capacity to invest and to import."Resource Abundance and Economic Development" explains the disappointing performance of resource-abundant countries by extending the growth accounting framework to include natural and social capital. The resulting synthesis identifies two contrasting development trajectories: the competitive industrialization of the resource-poor countries and the staple trap of many resource-abundant countries. The resource-poor countries are less prone to policy failure than the resource-abundant countriesbecause social pressures force the political state to align its interests with the majority poor and follow relatively prudent policies. Resource-abundant countries are more likely to engender political states in which vested interests vie to capture resource surpluses (rents) at the expense of policycoherence. A longer dependence on primary product exports also delays industrialization, heightens income inequality, and retards skill accumulation. Fears of 'Dutch disease' encourage efforts to force industrialization through trade policy to protect infant industry. The resulting slow-maturing manufacturing sector demands transfers from the primary sector that outstrip the natural resource rents and sap the competitiveness of the economy.The chapters in this collection draw upon historical analysis and models to show that a growth collapse is not the inevitable outcome of resource abundance and that policy counts. Malaysia, a rare example of successful resource-abundant development, is contrasted with Ghana, Bolivia, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, and Argentina, which all experienced a growth collapse. The book also explores policies for reviving collapsed economies with reference to Costa Rica, South Africa, Russia and Central Asia. Itdemonstrates the importance of initial conditions to successful economic reform.

Essay on Natural Resources, Economic Growth, Development and Equity

Essay on Natural Resources, Economic Growth, Development and Equity PDF

Author: Thi Tuyet Mai Nguyen

Publisher:

Published: 2020

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13:

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Sustainable development is an attractive topic for economists. In the literature on economic growth and sustainable development, there are two core approaches used in most discussions. The first one is recognizing the importance of natural resources as well as strategies for using these resources for economic development in the context of their depletion. The second one is the issue of intergenerational equity in which the needs of the present generations can be assured without compromising the ability to meet the needs of the future generation. My thesis aims to study theoretical models on natural resources, economic growth, development and equity. Chapter I considers a two-sector economy with externalities. We study a theoretical model that investigates the relationship between the optimal dynamics of economic growth using renewable resources and environmental quality. In this model, the industrial sector uses intermediate inputs to produce a final consumption good, and another sector, called the exploitation sector, engages in exploiting a renewable resource. This resource can be sold directly at an exogenously determined market price, generating an additional source of income. We also take into account the negative externalities of the polluting industrial sector on the regenerating capacity of the renewable resource sector. Without the usual convexity or the super-modularity, we prove that the economy evolves to increase the net gain of stock some day in the future. This property ensures that in the long run, the economy gets very close to a steady state. We also establish the conditions ensuring the convergence of the economy in the long run. For sustainable development, one of the most difficult problems relying on criteria for Social Welfare Function is the reconciliation between equality and efficiency. The Anonymity Axiom states that the social ordering is invariant to the information regarding individual orderings. The Pareto Axiom imposes that if at least one generation increases its utility then the social welfare must improve. However, there is no SWF which satisfies both the Anonymity and Pareto Axioms. To overcome this difficulty, some authors propose several approaches to mitigate these axioms. Therefore, a lot of criteria have been introduced such as: Dominance, Weak Dominance, Weak Pareto, Monotonicity and so on. In the second chapter of my thesis, we have revisited some properties of a SWF in the literature taking into account the continuity of this SWF under different topologies. [...] Furthermore, we propose the notions weak no-dictactorship and strong no-dictatorship of the present and the future following the spirit of Chichilniski and provide a detailed description for parameters characterizing the two No dictatorship. In chapter 3, we study an inter-temporal optimization problem using a criterion which is a combination of Ramsey and Rawls criteria. A detailed description of the saving behavior through time is provided. [...] The last chapter develops a theoretical model to access the determinants of the effectiveness of Special Economic Zone and the conditions for its implementation. The results of this study show that there is a threshold such that for all the initial savings of a country above this level, it will be optimal to invest in new technology. Moreover, several factors including the price of technological capital, the wage of high-skilled labor, the initial income of the economy and the total factor productivity in the SEZ sector, endogenously determine this threshold. This chapter also proposes a service sector as an additional source to the accumulated capital, that can help the country pass this threshold.

Scarcity and Growth Revisited

Scarcity and Growth Revisited PDF

Author: R. David Professor Simpson

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2012-05-23

Total Pages: 306

ISBN-13: 113652472X

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In this volume, a group of distinguished international scholars provides a fresh investigation of the most fundamental issues involved in our dependence on natural resources. In Scarcity and Growth (RFF, 1963) and Scarcity and Growth Reconsidered (RFF, 1979), researchers considered the long-term implications of resource scarcity for economic growth and human well-being. Scarcity and Growth Revisited examines these implications with 25 years of new learning and experience. It finds that concerns about resource scarcity have changed in essential ways. In contrast with the earlier preoccupation with the adequacy of fuel, mineral, and agricultural resources and the efficiency by which they are allocated, the greatest concern today is about the Earth‘s limited capacity to handle the environmental consequences of resource extraction and use. Opinion among scholars is divided on the ability of technological innovation to ameliorate this 'new scarcity.' However, even the book‘s more optimistic authors agree that the problems will not be successfully overcome without significant advances in the legal, financial, and other social institutions that protect the environment and support technical innovation. Scarcity and Growth Revisited incorporates expert perspectives from the physical and life sciences, as well as economics. It includes issues confronting the developing world as well as industrialized societies. The book begins with a review of the debate about scarcity and economic growth and a review of current assessments of natural resource availability and consumption. The twelve chapters that follow provide an accessible, lively, and authoritative update to an enduring-but changing-debate.

Green Growth That Works

Green Growth That Works PDF

Author: Lisa Ann Mandle

Publisher:

Published: 2019-09-12

Total Pages: 334

ISBN-13: 1642830038

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Rapid economic development has been a boon to human well-being, but comes at a significant cost to the fertile soils, forests, coastal marshes, and farmland that support all life on earth. If ecosystems collapse, so eventually will human civilization. One solution is inclusive green growth--the efficient use of natural resources. Its genius lies in working with nature rather than against it. Green Growth That Works is the first practical guide to bring together pragmatic finance and policy tools that can make investment in natural capital both attractive and commonplace. Pioneered by leading scholars from the Natural Capital Project, this valuable compendium of proven techniques can guide agencies and organizations eager to make green growth work anywhere in the world.