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On the relationship between population change and sustainable development

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  • Marsiglio, Simone

Abstract

This paper investigates the relationship between population growth and economic growth, through the study of fertility choices and their effects on natural resources. It aims at analyzing the interactions between endogenous fertility choices and the environment and their link to the sustainable matter. We analyze a growth model driven by natural resources and without production, where agents have jointly to determine consumption and fertility, taking into account the effects of their decisions on the dynamics of natural resources. We adopt the most optimistic view on natural capital (it generates endogenous growth) and the weakest notion of sustainable paths (all variables are positive): in such a framework we expect that sustainable paths exist. We instead show that this is not always true. In fact, even if renewal capacity of natural resources is unbounded, not always can a sustainable path be found: this depends on the difference between the stationary fertility rate and the mortality rate. If the stationary fertility is lower than the mortality rate, a sustainable path will not be found, and in such a case public intervention is necessary in order to address the economy along a sustainable path. This can simply be done through policies affecting public attention to environmental protection or the intensity of the dilution effect.

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  • Marsiglio, Simone, 2011. "On the relationship between population change and sustainable development," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(4), pages 353-364, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:reecon:v:65:y:2011:i:4:p:353-364
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    2. Simone Marsiglio, 2017. "A simple endogenous growth model with endogenous fertility and environmental concern," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 64(3), pages 263-282, July.
    3. Marsiglio, Simone, 2014. "Reassessing Edgeworth’s conjecture when population dynamics is stochastic," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 130-140.
    4. Maristella Bergaglio, 2017. "The contemporary illusion: population growth and sustainability," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 19(5), pages 2023-2038, October.
    5. Marsiglio, Simone & La Torre, Davide, 2012. "Population dynamics and utilitarian criteria in the Lucas–Uzawa Model," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 1197-1204.
    6. Mustafa Akan, 2016. "Sustainability, Consumption, And Technology," Copernican Journal of Finance & Accounting, Uniwersytet Mikolaja Kopernika, vol. 5(2), pages 9-25.
    7. Alberto Ansuategi & Simone Marsiglio, 2017. "Is Environmental Protection Beneficial for the Environment?," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(3), pages 786-802, August.
    8. Davide Torre & Danilo Liuzzi & Simone Marsiglio, 2017. "Pollution Control Under Uncertainty and Sustainability Concern," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 67(4), pages 885-903, August.
    9. Cinzia Colapinto & Danilo Liuzzi & Simone Marsiglio, 2017. "Sustainability and intertemporal equity: a multicriteria approach," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 251(1), pages 271-284, April.
    10. Polyzos, Efstathios & Kuck, Simon & Abdulrahman, Khadija, 2022. "Demographic change and economic growth: The role of natural resources in the MENA region," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(1), pages 1-13.
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