IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/ajecsc/v65y2006i3p641-691.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Heavy Constraints on a “Weightless World”?

Author

Listed:
  • Jonathan Perraton

Abstract

. Late 1990s claims of a shift toward a new economy in the United States and other developed economies were said to accelerate earlier trends reducing the material content of production. The shift toward a postindustrial services economy is said to have been accentuated by application of new information and communications technologies, dramatically reducing the material content of production. This offers the possibility for continuous economic expansion unconstrained by resources supply. This paper provides a critical analysis of these trends in relation to resource use by developed economies. It shows that trends toward a lower material content of production are occurring, and this has led to poor demand conditions for primary producers. Nevertheless, these trends fall well short of eliminating Western economies’ dependence on key resources. This paper shows the changing role of resources in economic activity among developed economies.

Suggested Citation

  • Jonathan Perraton, 2006. "Heavy Constraints on a “Weightless World”?," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 65(3), pages 641-691, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ajecsc:v:65:y:2006:i:3:p:641-691
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1536-7150.2006.00468.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1536-7150.2006.00468.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1536-7150.2006.00468.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Oulton, Nicholas, 2001. "Must the Growth Rate Decline? Baumol's Unbalanced Growth Revisited," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 53(4), pages 605-627, October.
    2. Beckerman, Wilfred & Jenkinson, Tim, 1986. "What Stopped the Inflation? Unemployment of Commodity Prices?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 96(381), pages 39-54, March.
    3. Robert J. Gordon, 2000. "Does the "New Economy" Measure Up to the Great Inventions of the Past?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 14(4), pages 49-74, Fall.
    4. John Hartwick, 1977. "Intergenerational Equity and the Investment of Rents from Exhaustible Resources in a Two Sector Model," Working Paper 281, Economics Department, Queen's University.
    5. Cornwall, John & Cornwall, Wendy, 2002. "A demand and supply analysis of productivity growth," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 203-229, June.
    6. Jonathan Temple, 2002. "The Assessment: The New Economy," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 18(3), pages 241-264.
    7. Benjamin Hunt & Peter Isard & Douglas Laxton, 2002. "The Macroeconomic Effects of Higher Oil Prices," National Institute Economic Review, National Institute of Economic and Social Research, vol. 179(1), pages 87-103, January.
    8. Graciela Chichilnisky, 1998. "The knowledge revolution," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(1), pages 39-54.
    9. Philip Mirowski, 1988. "Energy and Energetics in Economic Theory: A Review Essay," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(3), pages 811-830, September.
    10. Thompson, Peter & Taylor, Timothy G, 1995. "The Capital-Energy Substitutability Debate: A New Look," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 77(3), pages 565-569, August.
    11. Nordhaus, William D, 1974. "Resources as a Constraint on Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 64(2), pages 22-26, May.
    12. Hamilton, James D., 2003. "What is an oil shock?," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 113(2), pages 363-398, April.
    13. Ian Rutledge, 2003. "Profitability and supply price in the US domestic oil industry: implications for the political economy of oil in the twenty-first century," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 27(1), pages 1-23, January.
    14. Dale W. Jorgenson & Kevin J. Stiroh, 2000. "Raising the Speed Limit: U.S. Economic Growth in the Information Age," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 31(1), pages 125-236.
    15. Neumayer, Eric, 2000. "Scarce or Abundant? The Economics of Natural Resource Availability," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(3), pages 307-335, July.
    16. Francesco Daveri & Olmo Silva, 2004. "Not only Nokia: what Finland tells us about new economy growth [‘The role of Nokia in the Finnish economy’]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 19(38), pages 118-163.
    17. Labson B. Stephen, 1995. "Stochastic Trends and Structural Breaks in the Intensity of Metals Use," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 29(3), pages 34-42, November.
    18. Ocampo, José Antonio & Parra, María Angela, 2003. "The terms of trade for commodities in the twentieth century," Revista CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), April.
    19. Hartwick, John M, 1977. "Intergenerational Equity and the Investing of Rents from Exhaustible Resources," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 67(5), pages 972-974, December.
    20. Richard B. Howarth & Lee Schipper, 1991. "Manufacturing Energy Use in Eight OECD Countries: Trends through 1988," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 4), pages 15-40.
    21. Atkinson, G. & Hamilton, K., 2002. "International trade and the 'ecological balance of payments'," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(1-2), pages 27-37.
    22. Roberts, Mark C., 1996. "Metal use and the world economy," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 183-196, September.
    23. Diane Coyle, 1999. "The Weightless World: Strategies for Managing the Digital Economy," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262531666, December.
    24. Fisher-Vanden, Karen & Jefferson, Gary H. & Liu, Hongmei & Tao, Quan, 2004. "What is driving China's decline in energy intensity?," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 77-97, March.
    25. Alan A. Carruth & Mark A. Hooker & Andrew J. Oswald, 1998. "Unemployment Equilibria And Input Prices: Theory And Evidence From The United States," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 80(4), pages 621-628, November.
    26. Cohen, Daniel & Garibaldi, Pietro & Scarpetta, Stefano (ed.), 2004. "The ICT Revolution: Productivity Differences and the Digital Divide," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199270118.
    27. Fatih Birol, 2005. "The Investment Implications of Global Energy Trends," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 21(1), pages 145-153, Spring.
    28. Kevin J. Stiroh, 2002. "Are ICT Spillovers Driving the New Economy?," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 48(1), pages 33-57, March.
    29. Robert M. Solow, 1974. "The Economics of Resources or the Resources of Economics," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Chennat Gopalakrishnan (ed.), Classic Papers in Natural Resource Economics, chapter 12, pages 257-276, Palgrave Macmillan.
    30. Eric Neumayer, 2000. "Scarce or Abundant? The Economics of Natural Resource Availability," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(3), pages 307-335, July.
    31. Tilton, John E, 1989. "The New View of Minerals and Economic Growth," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 65(190), pages 265-278, September.
    32. John E. Tilton, 1989. "The New View of Minerals and Economic Growth," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 65(3), pages 265-278, September.
    33. Labys, Walter C. & Maizels, Alfred, 1993. "Commodity price fluctuations and macroeconomic adjustments in the developed economies," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 15(3), pages 335-352, June.
    34. Gallouj, Faiz, 2002. "Innovation in services and the attendant old and new myths," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 137-154.
    35. Ocampo, José Antonio & Parra, María Angela, 2003. "Returning to an external debate: the terms of trade for commodities in the twentieth century," Series Históricas 7797, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    36. Robert Summers & Alan Heston, 1991. "The Penn World Table (Mark 5): An Expanded Set of International Comparisons, 1950–1988," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(2), pages 327-368.
    37. Faïz Gallouj, 2002. "Innovation in services and the attendant myths," Post-Print halshs-00006854, HAL.
    38. Manuel Frondel & Christoph M. Schmidt, 2002. "The Capital-Energy Controversy: An Artifact of Cost Shares?," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 3), pages 53-79.
    39. Michael Bruno & Jeffrey D. Sachs, 1985. "Economics of Worldwide Stagflation," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number brun85-1, July.
    40. Francesco Daveri & Olmo Silva, "undated". "Not Only Nokia," Working Papers 222, IGIER (Innocenzo Gasparini Institute for Economic Research), Bocconi University.
    41. Lynch, Michael C., 2002. "Forecasting oil supply: theory and practice," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 373-389.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tobias Kronenberg, 2008. "Should We Worry About The Failure Of The Hotelling Rule?," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(4), pages 774-793, September.
    2. Francesco Venturini, 2009. "The long-run impact of ICT," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 37(3), pages 497-515, December.
    3. David I. Stern, 2010. "The Role of Energy in Economic Growth," CCEP Working Papers 0310, Centre for Climate & Energy Policy, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University.
    4. Jeffrey A. Krautkraemer, 1998. "Nonrenewable Resource Scarcity," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 36(4), pages 2065-2107, December.
    5. Francesco Venturini, 2005. "How Much Does IT Consumption Matter for Growth? Evidence from National Accounts," Rivista di Politica Economica, SIPI Spa, vol. 95(1), pages 57-110, January-F.
    6. Md Shahiduzzaman & Allan Layton & Khorshed Alam, 2015. "On the contribution of information and communication technology to productivity growth in Australia," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 48(3), pages 281-304, November.
    7. Louis Dupuy & Matthew Agarwala, 2014. "International trade and sustainable development," Chapters, in: Giles Atkinson & Simon Dietz & Eric Neumayer & Matthew Agarwala (ed.), Handbook of Sustainable Development, chapter 25, pages 399-417, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    8. Andrew Sharpe, 2007. "Lessons for Canada from International Productivity Experience," International Productivity Monitor, Centre for the Study of Living Standards, vol. 14, pages 20-37, Spring.
    9. Adrian Boos, 2015. "Genuine Savings as an Indicator for “Weak” Sustainability: Critical Survey and Possible Ways forward in Practical Measuring," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(4), pages 1-37, April.
    10. Fatma El-Hamidi, 2007. "Early Retirement in the Government Sector in Egypt: Preferences, Determinants and Policy Implications," Working Papers 721, Economic Research Forum, revised 01 Jan 2007.
    11. Yerramilli, C. & Sekhar, J.A., 2006. "A common pattern in long-term metals production," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 27-36, March.
    12. Hala Abu-Kalla & Ruslana Rachel Palatnik & Ofira Ayalon & Mordechai Shechter, 2020. "Hoard or Exploit? Intergenerational Allocation of Exhaustible Natural Resources," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-20, December.
    13. Jonathan Temple, 2002. "The Assessment: The New Economy," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 18(3), pages 241-264.
    14. Hashmat Khan & Marjorie Santos, 2002. "Contribution of ICT Use to Output and Labour-Productivity Growth in Canada," Staff Working Papers 02-7, Bank of Canada.
    15. Toman, Michael & Pezzey, John C., 2002. "The Economics of Sustainability: A Review of Journal Articles," RFF Working Paper Series dp-02-03, Resources for the Future.
    16. Dietz, Simon & Neumayer, Eric, 2007. "Weak and strong sustainability in the SEEA: Concepts and measurement," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(4), pages 617-626, March.
    17. Courage Mlambo, 2022. "Non-Renewable Resources and Sustainable Resource Extraction: An Empirical Test of the Hotelling Rule’s Significance to Gold Extraction in South Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-17, August.
    18. Yu, Yun & Lei, Yalin, 2017. "China's provincial exhaustible resources rent and produced capital stock—Based on Hartwick's rule," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 114-121.
    19. Manel Kamoun & Ines Abdelkafi & Abdelfetah Ghorbel, 2019. "The Impact of Renewable Energy on Sustainable Growth: Evidence from a Panel of OECD Countries," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 10(1), pages 221-237, March.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:ajecsc:v:65:y:2006:i:3:p:641-691. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0002-9246 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.