The Economics of Sustainable Development

Examines the implication for orthodox economic theory of explicitly considering resource depletion, pollution abatement and sustainability.

This volume focuses on the issue of sustainability, examining the implications for orthodox economic theory, of explicitly considering resource depletion, pollution abatement and sustainability. Insights are provided by injecting an economy-wide dimension into the largely microeconomic debate on the environment.This book applies rigorous economic analysis to the question of sustainable development. It considers the inter-relationship between growth and sustainability showing that one does not necessarily exist to the detriment of the other. Sustainability may be measured and defined in national accounting terms and the contributors explore a potentially powerful theoretical definition. Case studies on Morocco and China examine some of the domestic policy requirements of sustainability, revealing the desirability of quite complex combinations of policies. International policy aspects of sustainability are considered, such as technology transfers and the establishment of workable agreements to reduce global pollution. The volume demonstrates the need to build the sustainability debate on sound economic foundations, and the ability of economists to provide such foundations.