This paper studies the properties of second-best optimal policy in a standard general equilibrium model of growth augmented with renewable natural resources. The government chooses its policy instruments (the income tax rate and the allocation of collected tax revenues between public investment...

There is a disagreement on the concept, definition and application of the paradigm of sustainable development. The definition that has been accepted by many involves several components, and it is difficult to measure or quantify indicators. Depending on the structure of the economy, it is...

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...

In the United States, today’s ranches are engaging in small-scale nature-based endeavors to diversify their income base. But the geographic boundary of the land they own creates a relatively small area within which to operate, and fragmented ownership diminishes the ability of any single...

Human urine and faeces are products formed every day in every human society. The volume and fertilisation value of urine is higher than that of faeces. This paper reviews data that urine has been used successfully as a fertiliser for cereals and some vegetables. According to the literature,...

GDP, the leading economic measurement, is outdated and misleading. . . . It’s like grading a corporation based on today’s cash flow and forgetting to depreciate assets and other costs. – Joseph Stiglitz, “Good Numbers Gone Bad,” Fortune, October 2, 2006.

The article assesses the material footprints of households living on a minimum amount of social benefits in Finland and discusses the consequences in terms of ecological and social sustainability. The data were collected using interviews and a questionnaire on the consumption patterns of 18...

Abstract This paper focuses on testing if natural resources constituted a blessing or a curse to the progress of knowledge economy in Arab countries. Some of these economies are based on natural resources and mainly oil and gas that are major sources of economic rents. The attained results from...

This paper investigates the socio-ecological differences and interactions between upland and lowland areas in Shaxi Valley, Yunnan Province, Southwest China. As an analytical tool we used an extended Human–Environment System Framework by focusing particularly on the dynamics and sustainability...

We examine the efficiency, distributional, and environmental consequences of assigning spatial property rights to part of a spatially-connected natural resource while the remainder is competed for by an open access fringe. We refer to this as partial enclosure of the commons. We obtain sharp...