The findings of empirical studies on the question whether endowments with natural resources are a curse or a blessing are ambiguous. The majority of studies found that resource rich countries grow slower than their resource scarce counterparts (“resource curse”). In recent studies, this...

The paper presents and analyses the structure and consequences of limits to growth for the global economy. Apart from the famous report for the Club of Rome, a wide range of related literature, which all caution against the idea of unrestricted growth, is also covered. In presenting side tracks...

This paper investigates the dynamic impact of natural resource discoveries on government debt sustainability. We use a 'natural experiment' framework in which the timing of discoveries is treated as an exogenous source of within-country variation. We combine data on government debt, fiscal...

Improving resource productivity and ensuring a sustainable resource and materials management building on the principle of the 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) is a central element of green growth policies. It helps to improve the environment, by reducing the amount of resources that the economy...

A more resource efficient and circular economy will help to decouple global economic growth from natural resource use, decrease environmental degradation and improve energy efficiency. Existing circular economy policies have been largely focused at the national level. However, trade policies can...