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On Impatience, Economic Growth and the Environmental Kuznets Curve: A Dynamic Analysis of Resource Management

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Abstract

The paper presents a dynamic analysis of natural resource management and investigates some key factors that affect optimal management and resource conservation.Using a recursive specification of time preferences, we show how endogenous discounting and impatience can affect the motivation for both capital investments and environmental preservation. We examine the relationships between economic growth and environmental quality. Endogenous discounting provides new insights in the economic dynamics underlying the environmental Kuznets curve. By treating growth as endogenous, we examine how externalities and economic growth interact with each other. We investigate how economic development can contribute to an increased demand for environmental preservation. As an important new result, we also show how poverty can contribute to environmental degradation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, University of Maryland, 2200 Symons Hall, College Park, MD, 20742-5535, USA

    Jean-Paul Chavas

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  1. Jean-Paul Chavas
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Chavas, JP. On Impatience, Economic Growth and the Environmental Kuznets Curve: A Dynamic Analysis of Resource Management. Environmental and Resource Economics 28, 123–152 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:EARE.0000029913.49860.e3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:EARE.0000029913.49860.e3

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