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Sustainability and the Measurement of Wealth

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  • Kenneth J Arrow

Abstract

The last two decades have witnessed growing concern that the pattern of economic growth in many countries is not sustainable because of the depletion in stocks of many natural resources and the deterioration in the quality of various environmental services. These concerns have helped spawn a growing literature on 'sustainable development.' This emerging literature expands traditional growth-accounting approaches by giving considerable attention to natural resource stocks and environmental quality. This paper aims to advance this literature. We extend earlier work by offering a fully consistent theoretical framework that offers a clear criterion for sustainable development. This framework yields an empirically implementable measure of whether a given national economy is following a sustainable path. We apply this framework to five countries that differ significantly in terms of their stages of development and resource bases: the United States, China, Brazil, India, and Venezuela.

Suggested Citation

  • Kenneth J Arrow, 2010. "Sustainability and the Measurement of Wealth," National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) Discussion Papers 369, National Institute of Economic and Social Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:nsr:niesrd:369
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    JEL classification:

    • D69 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Other
    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General
    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence
    • O50 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - General
    • Q32 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Nonrenewable Resources and Conservation - - - Exhaustible Resources and Economic Development
    • Q39 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Nonrenewable Resources and Conservation - - - Other

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