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Poverty, social preference for employment, and natural resource depletion

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Abstract

We show that in poor resource-based communities, the socio-psychological preference for employment, which arises from a strong desire to follow the communal norm of sharing in harvesting efforts, can lead to the optimality of full-employment harvesting until resource extinction. We show that such communities may be able to sustain both their natural resources and full employment by using outside-the-community employment opportunities or by economic diversification. However, to be effective, such policies must ensure that the outside wage rate and the initial capital stock are above certain minimum levels which depend on the existing size of the resource stock, the characteristics of the community’s harvesting technology, and the biological growth characteristics of the resource in question, and which will be higher the longer the remedial policies are delayed. Copyright Springer Japan 2015

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  • Y. Farzin & K. Akao, 2015. "Poverty, social preference for employment, and natural resource depletion," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 17(1), pages 1-26, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:envpol:v:17:y:2015:i:1:p:1-26
    DOI: 10.1007/s10018-013-0074-6
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    2. Ayad, Fayssal, 2023. "Mapping the path forward: A prospective model of natural resource depletion and sustainable development," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PA).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Communal norm; Social preference for work; Full employment; Resource extinction; Sustainability; Q01; Q28; Q56; O13;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q01 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - General - - - Sustainable Development
    • Q28 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Government Policy
    • Q56 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environment and Development; Environment and Trade; Sustainability; Environmental Accounts and Accounting; Environmental Equity; Population Growth
    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products

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