Suchergebnisse

A central issue in the study of sustainable development is the interplay of growth and sacrifice in a dynamic economy. This paper investigates the relationship among current consumption, sacrifice, and sustainability improvement in a general context and in two canonical, stylized economies. We argue that the maximin value of utility measures what is sustainable and provides the limit to growth. Maximin value is interpreted as a dynamic environmental-economic carrying capacity and current utility as an environmental-economic footprint. The time derivative of maximin value is interpreted as net investment in sustainability improvement. It is called durable savings to distinguish it from genuine savings, usually computed with discounted-utilitarian prices.

AbstractThe fundamental problem of economic accounting is to determine a forward‐looking schedule of rentals, user costs or quasi‐rents to provide for the recovery of irreversible investments. The method derived herein relaxes some restrictive assumptions that are common in capital theory. There can be multiple forms of comprehensive capital. Accounting for all forms of capital, including tangible and intangible capital, is symmetrical. The analytical focus becomes one of fixities and frictions and not optimality. Rentals obey inequalities as opposed to marginal conditions. If discounted profit is positive, rentals, depreciation, and capital value are not unique.

AbstractThe theoretical definitions of sustainability proposed inEDE's recent symposium,Sustainability and the Measurement of Wealth, are useful for measuring national wealth but not for measuring sustainability. Moreover, because they are based on market prices and extensions to them, the empirical estimates are not indicators of sustainability. Sustainable development is defined and a theoretic indicator is proposed using maximin theory.

Especially in developing countries, natural resources and the environment are not optimally managed. Even so, it is possible for green accounts based on current prices to measure the realized contributions of the environment to net product. The prices for use in the green accounts, however, are not necessarily shadow prices as would be recommended by cost–benefit analysis: in practice, green or comprehensive NNP is an approximation of an index of welfare. The fact that a linearization of generalized national income is used implies that disaggregated, partial-equilibrium models of resources are useful.

Distinguishing between national income and expenditure helps to shed light on some issues in green national accounting, including capital gains. Although their total is the same, different types of depreciation should be defined differently in the income and expenditure accounts. For example, there are two ways to define the depletion of non‐renewable resources. If depletion is defined as the resource rent, the unit value of the resource stock exceeds the current rent. If resource rent is viewed in terms of the resource's contribution to national income, the stock can be valued at the current rent but depletion is less than resource rent. JEL classification: E20, Q30 Revenus et dépenses nationaux verts. Le fait de distinguer le revenu national et la dépense nationale aide àéclairer certains problèmes dans la comptabilité nationale verte, y compris en ce qui a trait aux gains de capitaux. Même si leur total est le même, différents types d'amortissement devraient être utilisés dans les comptes de revenus et de dépenses. Par exemple, il y a deux manières de définir l'épuisement des ressources non‐renouvelables. Si l'épuisement est défini par la rente sur la ressource, alors la valeur unitaire du stock de ressource est plus grande que la rente courante. Si la rente de la ressource est considérée comme la contribution de la ressource au revenu national, le stock peut être évalué au niveau de la rente courante, mais alors l'épuisement est moins que la rente de la ressource.

Theoretical issues arising in maximin and utilitarian programs are considered in order to shed light on the merits of various concepts of income and types of environmental accounting as guides for environmental policy. The accounting prices for sustaining an economy obey Hartwick's rule but are inconsistent with the principles of national accounting. Moreover, they would be formidably difficult to calculate. Green net national product is an approximate index of welfare in a utilitarian economy which maximises future discounted utility flows. These conclusions hold even if underlying conditions are non-autonomous.JEL Codes: Q3, E2

Focus on federal and provincial government interests in the development, management, and trade of energy resources.

A RECURRING CHALLENGE OF RESOURCE POLICY IN CANADA HAS BEEN TO BALANCE INTERRELATED POWER WHEN THERE IS DIVERGENCE IN THE GOALS OF PROVINCIAL AND FEDERAL GOVERNMENTS. CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDEMENTS IN 1982 AND FEDERAL-PROVINCIAL NEGOTIATIONS IN THE 1970S AND THE 1980S CONFIRMED THE NEED FOR ACCOMMODATION. THE RESULT WAS TO STRENGTHEN THE DECENTRALIZATION OF MANAGEMENT, YET TO RECOGNIZE THE LEGITIMACY OF THE INTERESTS OF BOTH ORDERS OF GOVERNMENT. ESPECIALLY WITH THE EMERGENCE OF NEW TYPES OF INTERESTS IN THE RESOURCE SECTOR, OCCASIONAL FRICTIONS MAY BE ANTICIPATED BECAUSE OF THE INTERRELATEDNESS OF POWERS.