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Robbins and Malthus on Scarcity, Abundance, and Sufficiency

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  • Adel Daoud

Abstract

The problem of scarcity is often talked about, but it is rarely clearly defined. In this article, two different views of scarcity are outlined: absolute and relative scarcity. These two are respectively exemplified by Malthus's and Robbins's views of scarcity. However, both of these views tend to naturalize and universalize scarcity, and thus overlook abundance and sufficiency, which are important states in the social provisioning process. It is argued that this is due to ignorance of the sociocultural causal underpinnings of scarcity, abundance, and sufficiency (SAS). The introduction of these mechanisms enables further conceptual differentiation of SAS (e.g., quasi‐, artificial‐, natural‐).

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  • Adel Daoud, 2010. "Robbins and Malthus on Scarcity, Abundance, and Sufficiency," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 69(4), pages 1206-1229, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ajecsc:v:69:y:2010:i:4:p:1206-1229
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1536-7150.2010.00741.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Michal Mizerák, 2019. "Comparison of Transitional Theories to Post-Scarcity in Science-Fiction Literature," European Journal of Business Science and Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Faculty of Business and Economics, vol. 5(1), pages 107-123.
    2. Daoud, Adel & Reinsberg, Bernhard & Kentikelenis, Alexander E. & Stubbs, Thomas H. & King, Lawrence P., 2019. "The International Monetary Fund’s interventions in food and agriculture: An analysis of loans and conditions," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 204-218.
    3. Mahto, Raj V. & Belousova, Olga & Ahluwalia, Saurabh, 2020. "Abundance – A new window on how disruptive innovation occurs," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    4. Eesha Sharma & Stephanie Tully & Xiang Wang, 2022. "Scarcity and Intertemporal Choice," Working Papers 22-27, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
    5. Adel Daoud & Björn Halleröd & Debarati Guha-Sapir, 2016. "What Is the Association between Absolute Child Poverty, Poor Governance, and Natural Disasters? A Global Comparison of Some of the Realities of Climate Change," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(4), pages 1-20, April.
    6. Adel Daoud, 2021. "The International Monetary Funds intervention in education systems and its impact on childrens chances of completing school," Papers 2201.00013, arXiv.org.
    7. Daoud, Adel, 2021. "Abundance," OSF Preprints 7xbv9, Center for Open Science.
    8. Daoud, Adel, 2021. "The International Monetary Fund’s intervention in education systems and its impact on children’s chances of completing school," SocArXiv kbc34, Center for Open Science.
    9. Daoud, Adel & Herlitz, Anders & Subramanian, S.V., 2022. "IMF fairness: Calibrating the policies of the International Monetary Fund based on distributive justice," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    10. Daoud, Adel, 2018. "Unifying Studies of Scarcity, Abundance, and Sufficiency," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 208-217.
    11. Jonas B{aa}{aa}th & Adel Daoud, 2020. "Extending Social Resource Exchange to Events of Abundance and Sufficiency," Papers 2010.02658, arXiv.org.
    12. John E. Wagner & David H. Newman, 2013. "The Simon-Ehrlich Bet: Teaching Relative Vs. Absolute Scarcity," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 58(1), pages 16-26, May.
    13. Adel Daoud & Anders Herlitz & SV Subramanian, 2020. "Combining distributive ethics and causal Inference to make trade-offs between austerity and population health," Papers 2007.15550, arXiv.org, revised Aug 2020.

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