IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/att/wimass/20038.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The kindergarten rule of sustainable growth

Author

Listed:
  • Brock,W.A.
  • Taylor,M.S.

    (University of Wisconsin-Madison, Social Systems Research Institute)

Abstract

The relationship between economic growth and the environment is not well understood: we have only limited understanding of the basic science involved and very limited data. Because of these difficulties it is especially important to develop a series of relatively simple theoretical models that generate stark predictions. This paper presents one such model where societies implement the Kindergarten rule of sustainable growth.' Following the Kindergarten rule means implementing zero emission technologies in either finite time or asymptotically. The underlying simplicity of the model allows us to provide new predictions linking the path of environmental quality to pollutant characteristics (stocks vs. flows; toxics vs. irritants) and primitives of the economic system. It also provides a novel Environmental Catch-up Hypothesis.
(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)
(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

Suggested Citation

  • Brock,W.A. & Taylor,M.S., 2003. "The kindergarten rule of sustainable growth," Working papers 8, Wisconsin Madison - Social Systems.
    • Handle: RePEc:att:wimass:20038
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/econ/archive/wp2003-08.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Romer, Paul M, 1986. "Increasing Returns and Long-run Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(5), pages 1002-1037, October.
    2. John, A & Pecchenino, R, 1994. "An Overlapping Generations Model of Growth and the Environment," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 104(427), pages 1393-1410, November.
    3. Grossman, G.M & Krueger, A.B., 1991. "Environmental Impacts of a North American Free Trade Agreement," Papers 158, Princeton, Woodrow Wilson School - Public and International Affairs.
    4. Smulders, Sjak & Gradus, Raymond, 1996. "Pollution abatement and long-term growth," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 505-532, November.
    5. Gene M. Grossman & Alan B. Krueger, 1995. "Economic Growth and the Environment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 110(2), pages 353-377.
    6. Hirtle, Beverly, 2009. "Credit derivatives and bank credit supply," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 125-150, April.
    7. Raymond Gradus & Sjak Smulders, 1993. "The trade-off between environmental care and long-term growth—Pollution in three prototype growth models," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 58(1), pages 25-51, February.
    8. Brian R. Copeland & M. Scott Taylor, 2004. "Trade, Growth, and the Environment," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 42(1), pages 7-71, March.
    9. CARSON, RICHARd T. & JEON, YONGIL & McCUBBIN, DONALD R., 1997. "The relationship between air pollution emissions and income: US Data," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 2(4), pages 433-450, November.
    10. McCONNELL, KENNETH E., 1997. "Income and the demand for environmental quality," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 2(4), pages 383-399, July.
    11. Durlauf, Steven N. & Quah, Danny T., 1999. "The new empirics of economic growth," Handbook of Macroeconomics, in: J. B. Taylor & M. Woodford (ed.), Handbook of Macroeconomics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 4, pages 235-308, Elsevier.
    12. Keeler, Emmett & Spence, Michael & Zeckhauser, Richard, 1972. "The optimal control of pollution," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 4(1), pages 19-34, February.
    13. Lopez Ramon, 1994. "The Environment as a Factor of Production: The Effects of Economic Growth and Trade Liberalization," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 163-184, September.
    14. Andreoni, James & Levinson, Arik, 2001. "The simple analytics of the environmental Kuznets curve," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(2), pages 269-286, May.
    15. Barbier, Edward B., 1997. "Introduction to the environmental Kuznets curve special issue," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 2(4), pages 357-367, November.
    16. Stokey, Nancy L, 1998. "Are There Limits to Growth?," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 39(1), pages 1-31, February.
    17. Larry E. Jones & Rodolfo E. Manuelli, 2001. "Endogenous Policy Choice: The Case of Pollution and Growth," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 4(2), pages 369-405, July.
    18. Lucas, Robert Jr., 1988. "On the mechanics of economic development," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 3-42, July.
    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. Brian R. Copeland & M. Scott Taylor, 2004. "Trade, Growth, and the Environment," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 42(1), pages 7-71, March.
    2. Abhishek Dutta & Debarati Ghosh & Meghna Dutta, 2024. "Can borrowing constraints enhance environmental sustainability? An alternative parametric approach," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(4), pages 2683-2693, May.
    3. Ingmar Schumacher, 2019. "Climate Policy Must Favour Mitigation Over Adaptation," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 74(4), pages 1519-1531, December.
    4. Liu Xiangdong & Wang Qi, 2016. "An Optimal Emission Mechanism of Sustainability of China: How to Achieve a Win-Win Solution Between Economy and Environment?," Journal of Systems Science and Information, De Gruyter, vol. 4(6), pages 534-546, December.
    5. Valeria Costantini & Chiara Martini, 2010. "A Modified Environmental Kuznets Curve for sustainable development assessment using panel data," International Journal of Global Environmental Issues, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 10(1/2), pages 84-122.
    6. Brock, William A. & Taylor, M. Scott, 2005. "Economic Growth and the Environment: A Review of Theory and Empirics," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 28, pages 1749-1821, Elsevier.
    7. UÄŸur UrsavaÅŸ & Veli Yilanci, 2023. "Convergence analysis of ecological footprint at different time scales: Evidence from Southern Common Market countries," Energy & Environment, , vol. 34(2), pages 429-442, March.
    8. Nicholas Apergis & James E. Payne, 2020. "NAFTA and the convergence of CO2 emissions intensity and its determinants," International Economics, CEPII research center, issue 161, pages 1-9.
    9. Stephane Dées, 2020. "Assessing the Role of Institutions in Limiting the Environmental Externalities of Economic Growth," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 76(2), pages 429-445, July.
    10. William Brock & M. Taylor, 2010. "The Green Solow model," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 127-153, June.
    11. Kwaku Addai & Sema Yılmaz Genç & Rui Alexandre Castanho & Gualter Couto & Ayhan Orhan & Muhammad Umar & Dervis Kirikkaleli, 2023. "Financial Risk and Environmental Sustainability in Poland: Evidence from Novel Fourier-Based Estimators," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-19, March.
    12. Maria Cunha-e-Sá & Ana Reis, 2007. "The Optimal Timing of Adoption of a Green Technology," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 36(1), pages 35-55, January.
    13. Brock,W.A. & Taylor,M.S., 2003. "Economic growth and the environment : matching the stylized facts," Working papers 16, Wisconsin Madison - Social Systems.
    14. Brock,W.A., 2003. "Tipping points, abrupt opinion changes, and punctuated policy change," Working papers 28, Wisconsin Madison - Social Systems.
    15. G. Bahar Senol & Oya Pinar Ardic, 2009. "Pollution, Abatementm and Sustainable Growth: A Schumpeterian Approach," 2009 Meeting Papers 800, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    16. Mazzanti, Massimiliano & Zoboli, Roberto, 2008. "Waste generation, waste disposal and policy effectiveness," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 52(10), pages 1221-1234.

    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. Brock,W.A. & Taylor,M.S., 2003. "Economic growth and the environment : matching the stylized facts," Working papers 16, Wisconsin Madison - Social Systems.
    2. Brock, William A. & Taylor, M. Scott, 2005. "Economic Growth and the Environment: A Review of Theory and Empirics," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 28, pages 1749-1821, Elsevier.
    3. Theodore Panayotou, 2000. "Economic Growth and the Environment," CID Working Papers 56A, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    4. Fabien Prieur, 2009. "The environmental Kuznets curve in a world of irreversibility," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 40(1), pages 57-90, July.
    5. Dinda, Soumyananda, 2004. "Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis: A Survey," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 431-455, August.
    6. Carlo Orecchia & Maria Elisabetta Tessitore, 2011. "Economic Growth and the Environment with Clean and Dirty Consumption," Working Papers 2011.57, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    7. Neophyta Empora, 2017. "Air pollution spillovers and U.S. state productivity growth," University of Cyprus Working Papers in Economics 06-2017, University of Cyprus Department of Economics.
    8. Roxana Pincheira & Felipe Zuniga, 2021. "Environmental Kuznets curve bibliographic map: a systematic literature review," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(S1), pages 1931-1956, April.
    9. William Brock & M. Taylor, 2010. "The Green Solow model," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 127-153, June.
    10. Esteve, Vicente & Tamarit, Cecilio, 2012. "Threshold cointegration and nonlinear adjustment between CO2 and income: The Environmental Kuznets Curve in Spain, 1857–2007," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(6), pages 2148-2156.
    11. Valeria Costantini & Chiara Martini, 2010. "A Modified Environmental Kuznets Curve for sustainable development assessment using panel data," International Journal of Global Environmental Issues, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 10(1/2), pages 84-122.
    12. Marzio Galeotti, 2003. "Environment and Economic Growth: Is Technical Change the Key to Decoupling?," Working Papers 2003.90, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    13. Pascalau, Razvan & Qirjo, Dhimitri, 2017. "TTIP and the Environmental Kuznets Curve," MPRA Paper 80192, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Inma Martínez-Zarzoso & Shampa Roy-Mukherjee & Finn-Ole Semrau & Anca M. Voicu, 2020. "Pollution Reduction by Rationalization in Indian Firms," Working Papers 2020.01, International Network for Economic Research - INFER.
    15. Ryo Horii & Masako Ikefuji, 2014. "Environment and Growth," DSSR Discussion Papers 21, Graduate School of Economics and Management, Tohoku University.
    16. Eriksson, Clas & Persson, Joakim, 2002. "Economic Growth, Inequality, Democratization, and the Environment," Working Paper Series 178, Trade Union Institute for Economic Research.
    17. Cameron Hepburn & Alex Bowen, 2013. "Prosperity with growth: economic growth, climate change and environmental limits," Chapters, in: Roger Fouquet (ed.), Handbook on Energy and Climate Change, chapter 29, pages 617-638, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    18. J., AZNAR-MARQUEZ & Jose-Ramon, RUIZ-TAMARIT, 2005. "Demographic Transition Environmental Concern and the Kuznets Curve," Discussion Papers (ECON - Département des Sciences Economiques) 2005001, Université catholique de Louvain, Département des Sciences Economiques.
    19. Alexandra-Anca Purcel, 2020. "New insights into the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis in developing and transition economies: a literature survey," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 22(4), pages 585-631, October.
    20. J. Aznar-Márquez & J. R. Ruiz-Tamarit, "undated". "Non-Catastrophic Endogenous Growth and the Environmental Kuznets Curve," Working Papers 2004-15, FEDEA.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H4 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods
    • O1 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:att:wimass:20038. 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: Ailsenne Sumwalt (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.