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Resourceship: An Austrian theory of mineral resources

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  • Robert Bradley

Abstract

Economists inside and outside of the Austrian-school tradition have formulated a subjectivist theory of mineral resources. While von Mises ( 1940 ) presented a rudimentary theory, institutionalist Zimmermann (1933 and after) provided an in-depth mind-centered approach distinct from the objective, neoclassical theory for minerals developed by Jevons ( 1865 , 1866 ), Gray ( 1913 ), and Hotelling ( 1931 ). A full-fledged Austrian theory identifies the fixity/depletionism view of minerals as incompatible with entrepreneurship. Mineral resourceship, praxeologically akin to manufacturing, or the making of capital goods, demotes the distinction between depletable and nondepletable resources for the sciences of human action. Instead of nonreproducibility, the interplay of geography and institutions becomes the locus of mineral-resource theory, given the nonuniform distribution of deposits. An Austrian-institutional theory is more robust for explaining changes in mineral-resource scarcity than neoclassical depletionism, and offers a wide research agenda for current debates over resource production, usage, and future availability. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2007

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  • Robert Bradley, 2007. "Resourceship: An Austrian theory of mineral resources," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 20(1), pages 63-90, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:revaec:v:20:y:2007:i:1:p:63-90
    DOI: 10.1007/s11138-006-0008-7
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    3. William Hongsong Wang & Vicente Moreno-Casas & Jesús Huerta de Soto, 2021. "A Free-Market Environmentalist Transition toward Renewable Energy: The Cases of Germany, Denmark, and the United Kingdom," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-27, July.
    4. Paulina Kupisz, 2016. "The costs of resource-led development. An analysis of the economic impact of the oil extraction boom in Colombia," International Economics, University of Lodz, Faculty of Economics and Sociology, issue 13, pages 79-94, March.
    5. Corvellec, Hervé & Paulsson, Alexander, 2023. "Resource shifting: Resourcification and de-resourcification for degrowth," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    6. Hultman, Johan & Corvellec, Hervé & Jerneck, Anne & Arvidsson, Susanne & Ekroos, Johan & Gustafsson, Clara & Lundh Nilsson, Fay & Wahlberg, Niklas, 2021. "A resourcification manifesto: Understanding the social process of resources becoming resources," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(9).
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    8. Gordon, Richard L. & Tilton, John E., 2008. "Mineral economics: Overview of a discipline," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 4-11, March.
    9. Ugo Bardi & Rolf Jakobi & Hiroshan Hettiarachchi, 2016. "Mineral Resource Depletion: A Coming Age of Stockpiling?," Biophysical Economics and Resource Quality, Springer, vol. 1(1), pages 1-9, August.

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