Growth theory and ‘green growth’
Smulders,Sjak A. Toman,M. Withagen,C.A.A.M.
Smulders,Sjak A.
Toman,M.
Withagen,C.A.A.M.
Abstract
The relatively new and still amorphous concept of ‘green growth’ can be understood as a call for balancing longer-term investments in sustaining environmental wealth with nearer-term income growth to reduce poverty. We draw on a large body of economic theory available for providing insights on such balancing of income growth and environmental sustainability. We show that there is no a priori assurance of substantial positive spillovers from environmental policies to income growth, or for a monotonic transition to a ‘green steady state’ along an optimal path. The greenness of an optimal growth path can depend heavily on initial conditions, with a variety of different adjustments occurring concurrently along an optimal path. Factor-augmenting technical-change targeting at offsetting resource depletion is critical to sustaining long-term growth within natural limits on the availability of natural resources and environmental services.
Description
Date
2014
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Keywords
growth, environment, natural resources, innovation, R&D spillovers, sustainable development, natural capital, O1 - Economic Development, O3 - Innovation ; Research and Development ; Technological Change ; Intellectual Property Rights, O4 - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity, Q2 - Renewable Resources and Conservation, Q3 - Nonrenewable Resources and Conservation, Q4 - Energy, SDG 1 - No Poverty, SDG 8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth, SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities, SDG 17 - Partnerships for the Goals
Citation
Smulders, S A, Toman, M & Withagen, C A A M 2014, 'Growth theory and ‘green growth’', Oxford Review of Economic Policy, vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 423-446. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxrep/gru027
License
info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess