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On Technical Change in the Elasticities of Resource Inputs

Author Info

  • Jakub, GROWIEC

    (UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE))

  • Ingmar, SCHUMACHER

    (UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE))

Abstract

This article considers an economy whose production function takes both renewable and non-renewable resources as inputs. We extend the current literature by allowing for exogneous technical change in the elasticity of subsstitution between these two types of resources. In addition, we study the consequences of biased technical change which alters the resources’ relative productivities. We derive long-run asymptotic results, which we use to compare several cases. In the benchmark case of no technical change, our results are close to those obtained by Dasgupta and Heal (1974). In the case of technical change helps obtain positive long-run production despite the depletion of non-renewable resources. In the biased technical change case, long-run production is only possible either if non-renewable resources are non-essential or if biased technical change is quick enough to compensate for the decreasing flow of non-renewable resources. We embed our production function in an optimal model and study its dynamics. As a steady state (or a balanced growth path) is only attainable as time goes to infinity, we resort to numerical simulations to convey what is happening during the short and medium run. Our results provide new considerations for the debate on natural resources. We suggest that technical change should be directed to the resource which is most important for production.

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Paper provided by Université catholique de Louvain, Département des Sciences Economiques in its series Discussion Papers (ECON - Département des Sciences Economiques) with number 2006031.

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Length: 37
Date of creation: 01 Jun 2006
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:ctl:louvec:2006031
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Keywords: Elasticity of substitution; Technical change; Biased technical change; Non-renewable resources; Renewable resources;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
  • Q20 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - General
  • Q30 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Nonrenewable Resources and Conservation - - - General
  • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General

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  1. Christian Groth & Poul Schou, 2002. "Can non-renewable resources alleviate the knife-edge character of endogenous growth?," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 54(3), pages 386-411, July.
  2. AMIGUES Jean-Pierre & MOREAUX Michel & RICCI Francesco, 2006. "Overcoming the Natural Resource Constraint Through Dedicated R&D Effort with Heterogenous Labor Supply," LERNA Working Papers 06.22.215, LERNA, University of Toulouse.
  3. Jakub, GROWIEC & Ingmar, SCHUMACHER, 2006. "On Technical Change in the Elasticities of Resource Inputs," Discussion Papers (ECON - Département des Sciences Economiques) 2006031, Université catholique de Louvain, Département des Sciences Economiques.
  4. Yuhn, Ky-hyang, 1991. "Economic Growth, Technical Change Biases, and the Elasticity of Substitution: A Test of the De La Grandville Hypothesis," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 73(2), pages 340-46, May.
  5. Bretschger, Lucas, 2005. "Economics of technological change and the natural environment: How effective are innovations as a remedy for resource scarcity?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(2-3), pages 148-163, August.
  6. de La Grandville, Olivier, 1989. "Erratum [In Quest of the Slutsky Diamond]," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(5), pages 1307, December.
  7. Heal, Geoffrey M., 1993. "The optimal use of exhaustible resources," Handbook of Natural Resource and Energy Economics, in: A. V. Kneese† & J. L. Sweeney (ed.), Handbook of Natural Resource and Energy Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 18, pages 855-880 Elsevier.
  8. Grimaud, Andre & Rouge, Luc, 2005. "Polluting non-renewable resources, innovation and growth: welfare and environmental policy," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 109-129, June.
  9. Poul Schou, 2000. "Polluting Non-Renewable Resources and Growth," Environmental & Resource Economics, European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 16(2), pages 211-227, June.
  10. Kaz Miyagiwa & Chris Papageorgiou, 2007. "Endogenous Aggregate Elasticity of Substitution," Emory Economics 0707, Department of Economics, Emory University (Atlanta).
  11. de La Grandville, Olivier, 1989. "In Quest of the Slutsky Diamond," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(3), pages 468-81, June.
  12. Paul Romer, 1989. "Endogenous Technological Change," NBER Working Papers 3210, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  13. Daron Acemoglu, 2000. "Labor- and Capital- Augmenting Technical Change," NBER Working Papers 7544, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  14. Cleveland, Cutler J. & Ruth, Matthias, 1997. "When, where, and by how much do biophysical limits constrain the economic process?: A survey of Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen's contribution to ecological economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 203-223, September.
  15. Christian Groth, 2003. "Strictly Endogenous Growth with Non-renewable Resources Implies an Unbounded Growth Rate," EPRU Working Paper Series 03-20, Economic Policy Research Unit (EPRU), University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics.
  16. Francisco J. André & Emilio Cerdá, 2004. "On natural resource substitution," Economic Working Papers at Centro de Estudios Andaluces E2004/48, Centro de Estudios Andaluces.
  17. Klump, Rainer & Preissler, Harald, 2000. " CES Production Functions and Economic Growth," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 102(1), pages 41-56, March.
  18. Christian Scholz & Georg Ziemes, 1999. "Exhaustible Resources, Monopolistic Competition, and Endogenous Growth," Environmental & Resource Economics, European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 13(2), pages 169-185, March.
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Cited by:

  1. Pierre-André Jouvet & Ingmar Schumacher, 2011. "Learning-by-doing and the Costs of a Backstop for Energy Transition and Sustainability," Working Papers hal-00637960, HAL.
  2. Jakub, GROWIEC & Ingmar, SCHUMACHER, 2006. "On Technical Change in the Elasticities of Resource Inputs," Discussion Papers (ECON - Département des Sciences Economiques) 2006031, Université catholique de Louvain, Département des Sciences Economiques.
  3. Pittel, Karen & Röpke, Luise, 2014. "The Implications of Energy Input Flexibility for a Resource Dependent Economy," Annual Conference 2014 (Hamburg): Evidence-based Economic Policy 100321, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
  4. Voosholz, Frauke, 2014. "The influence of different production functions on modeling resource extraction and economic growth," CAWM Discussion Papers 72, Center of Applied Economic Research Münster (CAWM), University of Münster.

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