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Population Growth and Natural‐Resource Scarcity: Long‐Run Development under Seemingly Unfavorable Conditions
Author(s) -
Bretschger Lucas
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
the scandinavian journal of economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.725
H-Index - 64
eISSN - 1467-9442
pISSN - 0347-0520
DOI - 10.1111/sjoe.12017
Subject(s) - economics , natural resource , consumption (sociology) , golden rule , population growth , scarcity , resource (disambiguation) , capital (architecture) , population , natural capital , natural resource economics , sustainable development , resource scarcity , substitution (logic) , microeconomics , ecology , history , social science , philosophy , computer network , demography , theology , archaeology , ecosystem , sociology , computer science , ecosystem services , programming language , biology
In this paper, I consider an economy that is constrained by the use of natural resources and driven by knowledge accumulation. Resources are essential inputs in all sectors. I show that population growth and poor input substitution are not detrimental but, on the contrary, are even necessary to obtain a sustainable consumption level. I find a general rule to define the conditions for a constant innovation rate. The rule does not apply to capital but to labor growth, which is the crucial input in research. Furthermore, the rule relates to the sectoral structure of the economy, and to demographic transition. The results continue to hold with a backstop technology, and are extended for the case of minimum resource constraints.