IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/enreec/v5y1995i4p321-332.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

National product related welfare measures in the presence of technological change: Externalities and uncertainty

Author

Listed:
  • Thomas Aronsson
  • Karl-Gustaf Löfgren

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to discuss under what conditions welfare can be measured by observables related to the national product (or Hamiltonian along the optimal trajectory). Under nonattributable technological or environmental change, welfare will depend on time itself, meaning that the Hamiltonian along the optimal trajectory will be a biased measure of welfare. This result will also hold if we make the time dependence of welfare endogenous, by replacing technological change will externalities that are not internalized during optimization. On the other hand, if we take the externalities fully into account, then the Hamiltonian will represent the appropriate measure of welfare. Similar results also hold in the case of uncertainty, where we show that a ‘generalized’ Hamiltonian provides a welfare measure, and that the deterministic measures are special cases of their stochastic counterparts. Copyright Kluwer Academic Publishers 1995

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas Aronsson & Karl-Gustaf Löfgren, 1995. "National product related welfare measures in the presence of technological change: Externalities and uncertainty," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 5(4), pages 321-332, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:enreec:v:5:y:1995:i:4:p:321-332
    DOI: 10.1007/BF00691572
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/BF00691572
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/BF00691572?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. repec:bla:scandj:v:94:y:1992:i:0:p:s9-24 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Asheim, G.B. & Brekke, K.A., 1993. "Sustainability when Resource Management has Stochastic Consequences," Papers 01-93, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration-.
    3. Hartwick, John M., 1990. "Natural resources, national accounting and economic depreciation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 291-304, December.
    4. Brock, William A & Magill, Michael J P, 1979. "Dynamics under Uncertainty," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 47(4), pages 843-868, July.
    5. Martin L. Weitzman, 1976. "On the Welfare Significance of National Product in a Dynamic Economy," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 90(1), pages 156-162.
    6. Karl-Göran Mäler, 1991. "National accounts and environmental resources," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 1(1), pages 1-15, March.
    7. Robert C. Merton, 1975. "An Asymptotic Theory of Growth Under Uncertainty," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 42(3), pages 375-393.
    8. repec:bla:scandj:v:96:y:1994:i:2:p:257-65 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Magill, Michael J. P., 1977. "Some new results on the local stability of the process of capital accumulation," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 15(1), pages 174-210, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Winter-Nelson, Alex, 1996. "Discount rates, natural resources, and the measurement of aggregate economic growth in Africa," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 21-32, April.
    2. Thomas Aronsson & Karl-Gustaf Löfgren (ed.), 2010. "Handbook of Environmental Accounting," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 12796.
    3. Susanto Basu & Luigi Pascali & Fabio Schiantarelli & Luis Serven, 2022. "Productivity and the Welfare of Nations," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 20(4), pages 1647-1682.
    4. Butterfield, David W., 2003. "Resource depletion under uncertainty: implications for mine depreciation, Hartwick's Rule and national accounting," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 219-238, August.
    5. Li, Chuan-Zhong & Lofgren, Karl-Gustaf, 2000. "Renewable Resources and Economic Sustainability: A Dynamic Analysis with Heterogeneous Time Preferences," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 236-250, November.
    6. Haener, Michel K. & Adamowicz, Victor L., 2000. "Incorporation of risk in regional forest resource accounts," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 439-455, June.
    7. Winter-Nelson, Alex, 1995. "Natural resources, national income, and economic growth in Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 23(9), pages 1507-1519, September.
    8. Weitzman, Martin L. & Lofgren, Karl-Gustaf, 1997. "On the Welfare Significance of Green Accounting as Taught by Parable," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 139-153, February.
    9. Gret-Regamey, Adrienne & Kytzia, Susanne, 2007. "Integrating the valuation of ecosystem services into the Input-Output economics of an Alpine region," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(4), pages 786-798, September.
    10. Mino, Kazuo, 2004. "On the Generalized Weitzman's Rule," MPRA Paper 16996, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Weitzman, Martin L., 1998. "On the welfare significance of national product under interest-rate uncertainty," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 42(8), pages 1581-1594, September.
    12. Aronsson, Thomas & Lofgren, Karl-Gustaf, 1999. "Pollution tax design and 'Green' national accounting," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(8), pages 1457-1474, August.
    13. Chuan-Zhong Li & Karl-Gustaf Löfgren, 2012. "Genuine saving under stochastic growth," Letters in Spatial and Resource Sciences, Springer, vol. 5(3), pages 167-174, October.
    14. Kenneth Backlund, 2003. "On the Role of Green Taxes in Social Accounting," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 25(1), pages 33-50, May.
    15. Mino, Kazuo, 2004. "Weitzman's rule with market distortions," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 307-329, August.
    16. Asheim, Geir B., 2000. "Green national accounting: why and how?," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 5(1), pages 25-48, February.
    17. Marklund, Per-Olov, 2004. "Essays on Productive Efficiency, Shadow Prices, and Human Capital. PhD Thesis," Umeå Economic Studies 621, Umeå University, Department of Economics.
    18. Mota, Rui Pedro & Cunha-e-Sá, Maria A., 2019. "The Role of Technological Progress in Testing Adjusted Net Savings: Evidence from OECD Countries," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 1-1.
    19. Samakovlis, Eva, 2008. "How are Green National Accounts Produced in Practice?," Working Papers 105, National Institute of Economic Research.

    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. Ollivier, Timothée & Giraud, Pierre-Noël, 2011. "Assessing sustainability, a comprehensive wealth accounting prospect: An application to Mozambique," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(3), pages 503-512, January.
    2. John C. V. Pezzey, 2002. "A One-sided Sustainability Test With Multiple Consumption Goods," Working Papers in Ecological Economics 0201, Australian National University, Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies, Ecological Economics Program.
    3. Alejandro Caparrós & Pablo Campos & Gregorio Montero, 2003. "An Operative Framework for Total Hicksian Income Measurement: Application to a Multiple-Use Forest," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 26(2), pages 173-198, October.
    4. Thomas Aronsson & Karl-Gustaf Löfgren, 1998. "Green Accounting in Imperfect Market Economies," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 11(3), pages 273-287, April.
    5. Giles Atkinson & Kirk Hamilton, 2007. "Progress along the path: evolving issues in the measurement of genuine saving," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 37(1), pages 43-61, May.
    6. Lars Hultkrantz, 1992. "National account of timber and forest environmental resources in Sweden," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 2(3), pages 283-305, May.
    7. John C. V. Pezzey, 2002. "One-sided Unsustainability Tests and NNP Measurement with Multiple Consumption Goods," Economics and Environment Network Working Papers 0208, Australian National University, Economics and Environment Network.
    8. Lozada, Gabriel A., 1995. "Resource depletion, national income accounting, and the value of optimal dynamic programs," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 137-154, August.
    9. Gardner M. Brown, 2000. "Renewable Natural Resource Management and Use without Markets," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 38(4), pages 875-914, December.
    10. Skånberg, Kristian, 2001. "Constructing a Partially Environmentally Adjusted Net Domestic Product for Sweden 1993 and 1997," Working Papers 76, National Institute of Economic Research.
    11. Kenneth Backlund, 2003. "On the Role of Green Taxes in Social Accounting," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 25(1), pages 33-50, May.
    12. 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.
    13. Mardones, Cristian & del Rio, Ricardo, 2019. "Correction of Chilean GDP for natural capital depreciation and environmental degradation caused by copper mining," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 143-152.
    14. Kirk Hamilton, 2003. "Sustaining Economic Welfare: Estimating Changes in Total and Per Capita Wealth," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 5(3), pages 419-436, September.
    15. Dasgupta, Partha, 2000. "Valuation and Evaluation: Measuring the Quality of Life and Evaluating Public Policy," RFF Working Paper Series dp-00-24, Resources for the Future.
    16. Figueroa B., Eugenio & Orihuela R., Carlos & Calfucura T., Enrique, 2010. "Green accounting and sustainability of the Peruvian metal mining sector," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 156-167, September.
    17. Barbier , Edward B., 2020. "From Limits to Growth to Planetary Boundaries: The Evolution of Economic Views on Natural Resource Scarcity," 2020 Conference (64th), February 12-14, 2020, Perth, Western Australia 305259, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society.
    18. Bayer, Christian & Rendall, Alan D. & Wälde, Klaus, 2019. "The invariant distribution of wealth and employment status in a small open economy with precautionary savings," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 17-37.
    19. Edward B. Barbier, 2017. "Natural Capital and Wealth in the 21st Century," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 43(3), pages 391-405, June.
    20. Knapp, Keith C., 2006. "Recursive Sustainability: Intertemporal Efficiency and Equity," 2006 Annual meeting, July 23-26, Long Beach, CA 21472, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).

    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:kap:enreec:v:5:y:1995:i:4:p:321-332. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.