An intriguing problem in stochastic growth theory is as follows: even when the return on investment is arbitrarily high near zero and discounting is arbitrarily mild, long run capital and consumption may be arbitrarily close to zero with probability one. In a convex one-sector model of optimal...

For a class of aggregative optimal growth models, which allow for a non-convex and non-differentiable production technology, this paper examines whether the set of utilitarian maximal programs coincides with the set of weakly maximal programs. It identifies a condition, called the...

In a standard exhaustible resource model, it is known that if, along a competitive path, investment in the augmentable capial good equals the rents on the exhaustible resource (known as Hartwick's rule), then the path is equitable in the sense that the consumption level is constant over time. In...

The paper re-examines the foundations of representation of intertemporal preferences that satisfy intergenerational equity, and provides an axiomatic characterization of those social welfare relations, which are representable by the utilitarian ordering, in ranking consumption sequences which...

We show that in multi-sector optimal growth models, where the technology satisfies a simple reachability condition, infinite horizon programs which satisfy the competitive conditions are optimal. We provide examples of a variety of production models where the reachability condition is satisfied....

For a class of aggregative optimal growth models, which allow for a non-convex and non-differentiable production technology, this paper examines whether the set of utilitarian maximal programs coincides with the set of weakly maximal programs. It identifies a condition, called the...

We study the underlying structure of the two-dimensional dynamical system generated by a class of dynamic optimization models, which allow for intertemporal complementarily between adjacent periods, but which preserve the time additively separable framework of Ramsey models. Specifically, we...

For a class of aggregative optimal growth models, which allow for a non-convex and non-differentiable production technology, this paper examines whether the set of utilitarian maximal programs coincides with the set of weakly maximal programs. It identifies a condition, called the...

The paper examines the nature of competitive paths in an exhaustible resource model, which allows for growing population. For competitive paths which are equitable in the sense that the per capita consumption level is constant over time, the implicit investment rule is derived. This is seen to...

Under a minimal set of assumptions, the paper identifies conditions on the transition function of a Markov process leading to the following three scenarios: extinction, conservation, and the existence of a safe standard of conservation. These conditions are used to obtain restrictions on a...