Download This PaperThe Economics of Natural Resource Scarcity and Implications for Development Policy and International Cooperation
Resources and Development: Natural Resource Polices and Economic Development in an Interdependent World. P. Dorner and M.A.El- Shafie (eds), University of Wisconsin Press, 1980
40 Pages Posted: 21 Feb 2016
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The Economics of Natural Resource Scarcity and Implications for Development Policy and International Cooperation
The Economics of Natural Resource Scarcity and Implications for Development Policy and International Cooperation
Date Written: January 1, 1980
Abstract
This paper analyses the problem of natural resource scarcity and its implications for economic development and international cooperation. We examine the meaning and measurement of resource “scarcity” and its implications for economic growth and development. The paper describes the conditions required for the efficient use of exhaustible natural resources and for optimal inter-temporal efficient paths and considers the consequences of uncertainty, risk, externalities, disequilibria and institutional constraints on the market’s ability to achieve efficient resource utilization. Particular attention is paid to the implications of the cartelization of natural resource industries and the disturbing tendency to use political rather than economic motivations as the basis for resource production and distribution decisions.
Keywords: Natural resource scarcity; cartels; OPEC; energy prices; economic development; non-renewable resources; efficiency
JEL Classification: Q3, Q4, L1, L41, D6, D8
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation