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From Depreciation to Exhaustible Resources: On Harold Hotelling's First Steps in Economics

Author

Listed:
  • Antoine Missemer

    (CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AgroParisTech - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - Université Paris-Saclay - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Marion Gaspard

    (TRIANGLE - Triangle : action, discours, pensée politique et économique - ENS de Lyon - École normale supérieure de Lyon - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - IEP Lyon - Sciences Po Lyon - Institut d'études politiques de Lyon - Université de Lyon - UJM - Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Étienne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Roberto P. Ferreira da Cunha

    (Berkeley Research Group, LLC)

Abstract

Harold Hotelling's 1931 article on the economics of exhaustible resources is considered groundbreaking in the history of non-renewable resource analysis. Hotelling's innovation has been characterized by comparing his work with other contributions dealing with conservation issues. It has also been connected to his earlier work on depreciation, published in 1925, for using the same kind of mathematical formalism. This paper further explores this second research direction on the basis of new archival materials, showing that Hotelling conceived his contributions on resources and depreciation as closely and substantially intertwined. It also suggests that Hotelling's interest in exhaustible resources came from his earlier readings in accounting. These results shed new light on Hotelling's early economic research, on our common understanding of his 1931 contribution, and on the origins of the connection between nature and capital in the history of environmental economics.

Suggested Citation

  • Antoine Missemer & Marion Gaspard & Roberto P. Ferreira da Cunha, 2022. "From Depreciation to Exhaustible Resources: On Harold Hotelling's First Steps in Economics," Post-Print halshs-03000581, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-03000581
    DOI: 10.1215/00182702-9548337
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-03000581
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    Cited by:

    1. Louis-Gaëtan Giraudet & Antoine Missemer, 2023. "The History of Energy Efficiency in Economics: Breakpoints and Regularities," Post-Print halshs-02301636, HAL.

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