280 likes | 301 Views
I. Development-environment interactions. Growth and structural change. Economic expansion Sectoral changes in production and resource allocation Changes in relative prices (Engel effects) Changes in relative factor endowments Differences in technical progress rates
E N D
I-A/B I. Development-environment interactions
I-A/B Growth and structural change • Economic expansion • Sectoral changes in production and resource allocation • Changes in relative prices (Engel effects) • Changes in relative factor endowments • Differences in technical progress rates • Contribution of policy reforms, investment and trade in ‘globalizing’ economies
I-A/B Summary • Growth itself increases environmental pressures • Structural changes alter these • In globalizing economies, policy reforms and investment flows may make crucial contributions
I-A/B Environmental trends • ‘Drivers’: economic growth, population growth, and changes in economic structure, including those from policy reforms • Components of environmental trends: • Industrial emissions and air/water pollution flows • Natural resource depletion
I-A/B Summary of env. trends • Rapid growth and changing econ. structure is associated with: • Increases in (urban) air and water pollution • Continued rapid deforestation and depletion of soil and water resources • These trends have consequences that are local, national and even global in nature
I-A/B Valuation of env. damages • Difficult to define and measure, let alone value environmental degradation • Estimates of ‘adjusted’ NDP usually fall below ‘measured’ NDP. • ANDP = NDP less net depletion (cf. depreciation) of “environmental capital” • E.g. Indonesia (WRI 1989): Growth of NDP 7% per year; growth of ANDP only 4% per yr.
I-A/B Valuation and policy • Although aggregate values such as ANDP may be large, those for individual environmental phenomena are less so. • Challenge for env. economists is then to convince policy-makers that sacrifices for env. purposes are ‘worth it’. • This requires complete and careful accounting methods, inclusive of indirect costs & benefits (e.g. ‘double dividend’ arguments)
I-A/B Development and environment in LDCs • Economic growth in developing economies incurs high environmental costs. • Initial conditions: resource-dependent, capital poor countries. • Legacy of economic growth strategies • Import-substituting industrialisation • Agricultural development policies
I-A/B • Global research has focused on industrial emissions, but in LDCs most problems concern nat. res. degradation • — “…their severity and interaction with economic processes differs sharply from that of pollutants” • (Jha and Whalley 1999) • Growth & policy reforms have very different implications for pollution and for NR depletion and degradation
I-A/B • As countries ‘globalize’ there is an apparent increase in the rate at which resource depletion & environmental damage occurs. • Is globalization responsible for ENR depletion? • Is env. damage increasing linearly, or will problems solve themselves in time? • Are LDCs ‘the same’ as now-cleaner rich countries? • Policy/project solutions for NR degradation are typically defined within same geog. bounds as problems--and often fail. • ‘Proximate causes’ of deforestation (population growth and agricultural intensification in fragile ecosystems) are in fact endogenous
I-A/B The ‘grammar’ of policy arguments • Few arguments on growth, globalization and environment have consistent microeconomic foundations. • Need both positive analyses (what is happening, and why?), and normative analyses (what should be done?). • The scope of analysis (what is endogenous?) must be as broad as possible.
I-A/B I. Development-environment interactions
I-A/B The ‘environmental Kuznets curve’ • With economic growth, pollution intensity first rises, then declines: z = z(Y/P) z’ > 0; z” < 0.
I-A/B Components of EKC • Scale effect (economic expansion) • Composition effects • Relative price changes • ‘Unbalanced growth’-- from several sources • Technique & preference effects • Production technology • Consumer preferences & policy pressures
I-A/B Is there an EKC in Asia? • Empirical studies: • Industrial emissions-- maybe. • Deforestation, water and soil resource depletion--no robust evidence of EKC. • Yet experience of wealthy countries suggests that EKC concept remains a useful working hypothesis.
I-A/B Factors affecting EKC shape • Exogenous market influences (‘globalization’) • Property rights • Externalities • Policy ‘accidents’ (e.g ISI strategies affecting ind’l & ag growth) • All have economy-wide implications • Spatial dimensions may also be important
I-A/B Methodological approaches • Economy-wide mechanisms require general equilibrium techniques • Methods must also capture key elements of ‘real world’ conditions: • Trade and intersectoral market integration • Spatial dimensions of pollution • Institutional and policy dimensions
I-A/B A note on ‘micro’ vs. ‘macro’ approaches • Agents’ behavior (e.g. firm/farm) is dynamically linked to macro level changes. • Economy-wide or global changes affect decision- making by micro units, through prices, etc. • Behaviour of micro-units in aggregate affects macro outcomes: outputs, prices, employment, income distribution, and environmental externalities • Indirect and ‘loop back’ effects can be very important • Micro and macro approaches are complementary. Both are required.