Growth theory and "green growth"
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 insigh...
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| Format: | Working paper |
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University of Oxford
2014
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| _version_ | 1797062956954943488 |
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| author | Smulders, S Toman, M Withagen, C |
| author_facet | Smulders, S Toman, M Withagen, C |
| author_sort | Smulders, S |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | 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. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-06T20:52:57Z |
| format | Working paper |
| id | oxford-uuid:3837b0e1-567d-44ec-a744-918c4059aaaa |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-06T20:52:57Z |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| publisher | University of Oxford |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:3837b0e1-567d-44ec-a744-918c4059aaaa2022-03-26T13:48:39ZGrowth theory and "green growth"Working paperhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_8042uuid:3837b0e1-567d-44ec-a744-918c4059aaaaBulk import via SwordSymplectic ElementsUniversity of Oxford2014Smulders, SToman, MWithagen, CThe 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. |
| spellingShingle | Smulders, S Toman, M Withagen, C Growth theory and "green growth" |
| title | Growth theory and "green growth" |
| title_full | Growth theory and "green growth" |
| title_fullStr | Growth theory and "green growth" |
| title_full_unstemmed | Growth theory and "green growth" |
| title_short | Growth theory and "green growth" |
| title_sort | growth theory and green growth |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT smulderss growththeoryandgreengrowth AT tomanm growththeoryandgreengrowth AT withagenc growththeoryandgreengrowth |