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The relationship between resilience and sustainability of ecological-economic systems

Author Info

  • Derissen, Sandra
  • Quaas, Martin F.
  • Baumgärtner, Stefan

Abstract

Resilience as a descriptive concept gives insight into the dynamic properties of an ecological-economic system. Sustainability as a normative concept captures basic ideas of intergenerational justice when human well-being depends on natural capital and services. Thus, resilience and sustainability are independent concepts. In this paper, we discuss the relationship between resilience and sustainability of ecological-economic systems. We use a simple dynamic model where two natural capital stocks provide ecosystem services that are complements for human well-being, to illustrate different possible cases of the relationship between resilience and sustainability, and to identify the conditions under which each of those will hold: a) resilience of the system is necessary, but not sufficient, for sustainability; b) resilience of the system is sufficient, but not necessary, for sustainability; c) resilience of the system is neither necessary nor sufficient for sustainability; and d) resilience is both necessary and sufficient for sustainability. We conclude that more criteria than just resilience have to be taken into account when designing policies for the sustainable development of ecological-economic systems, and, vice versa, the property of resilience should not be confused with the positive normative connotations of sustainability.

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Article provided by Elsevier in its journal Ecological Economics.

Volume (Year): 70 (2011)
Issue (Month): 6 (April)
Pages: 1121-1128

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Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:70:y:2011:i:6:p:1121-1128
Contact details of provider: Web page: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolecon

Keywords: Ecosystem resilience Dynamics Management of ecological-economic systems Sustainability;

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  1. Bretschger, Lucas & Pittel, Karen, 2008. "From time zero to infinity: Transitional and long-run dynamics in capital-resource economies," Munich Reprints in Economics 20224, University of Munich, Department of Economics.
  2. Karl-Göran Mäler, 2008. "Sustainable Development and Resilience in Ecosystems," Environmental & Resource Economics, European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 39(1), pages 17-24, January.
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  13. Levin, Simon A. & Barrett, Scott & Aniyar, Sara & Baumol, William & Bliss, Christopher & Bolin, Bert & Dasgupta, Partha & Ehrlich, Paul & Folke, Carl & Gren, Ing-Marie & Holling, C.S. & Jansson, Annma, 1998. "Resilience in natural and socioeconomic systems," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 3(02), pages 221-262, May.
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Cited by:

  1. Martin F. Quaas & Daan van Soest & Stefan Baumgaertner, 2011. "Complementarity, impatience, and the resilience of natural-resource-dependent economies," Working Paper Series in Economics 220, University of Lüneburg, Institute of Economics.
  2. Mari, Sonia Irshad & Lee, Young Hae & Memon, Muhammad Saad & Cho, Su Yeon, 2014. "A Three-level Sustainable and Resilient Supply Chain Network Design under Disruption," MPRA Paper 58228, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  3. Lázaro-Touza, Lara & Atkinson, Giles, 2013. "Nature, roads or hospitals? An empirical evaluation of ‘sustainable development preferences’," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 63-72.
  4. Sébastien Foudi, 2012. "Exploitation of soil biota ecosystem services in agriculture: a bioeconomic approach," Working Papers 2012-02, BC3.
  5. Finger, Robert & Buchmann, Nina, 2014. "An ecological economic assessment of risk reducing effects of species diversity in grassland production," 2014 International Congress, August 26-29, 2014, Ljubljana, Slovenia 182681, European Association of Agricultural Economists.

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