Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/127217 
Year of Publication: 
2004
Series/Report no.: 
Discussion Paper Series No. 400
Publisher: 
University of Heidelberg, Department of Economics, Heidelberg
Abstract: 
Population growth is often viewed as a most oppressive global problem with respect to environmental deterioration. In this paper, we investigate the optimal development of a coupled system comprising population, economy, and the natural environment as subsystems. In our formal dynamic model these are interrelated by the society’s economic decisions on consumption, birthrate, and emissions. Considering Hicks neutral technical progress, we find a steady state with growing population and declining per capita emissions, all other variables remaining constant over time. We investigate the comparative static properties of the steady state, and the dynamic behavior of the system. In numerical simulations we show that simple variations in the dynamics of the subsystems lead to complex and sometimes qualitatively different behavior of the coupled system. This is a challenge for policy advice based on such inter-temporal optimization models.
Subjects: 
Sustainability
Economic Development
Endogenous Fertility
JEL: 
J19
O13
Q25
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
398.9 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.