 Extractivism, ecologically unequal exchange and environmental impact in South America: A study using Material Flow Analysis (1990–2017)Pablo Alonso-Fernández and Rosa María Regueiro-Ferreira Ecological Economics, 2022, vol. 194, issue C Abstract: With the economic and trade liberalisation policies of the late 20th century, the extraction of natural resources for export, known as extractivism, became the central axis of South American economies. This development model has a significant environmental impact and has generated imbalances in the South American productive structure that lead to chronically unfavourable terms of trade for the region. The different price dynamics of exports and imports trap South America in a vicious circle that leads to a progressive need to increase the volume of resources it extracts. Consequently, South America maintains a situation of ecologically unequal exchange that implies the absorption of an ever-increasing environmental impact from the rest of the world. All this calls into question the benefits of free trade, especially in ecological terms, as well as the compatibility between economic growth and the reduction of environmental impact. Keywords: Ecologically Unequal Exchange; Terms of Trade; Extractivism; South America; Material Flow Analysis; Environmental Impact (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:194:y:2022:i:c:s0921800922000131 DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2022.107351 Access Statistics for this article Ecological Economics is currently edited by C. J. Cleveland More articles in Ecological Economics from Elsevier |
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