 Nature and the ultimate resource: Sustainability with poor input substitutionJournal of Environmental Economics and Management, 2025, vol. 133, issue C Abstract: The paper develops an endogenous growth framework to show that poor input substitution and population growth are compatible with sustainable development, once labor and knowledge are adequately taken into account. A sustainable economy with poor input substitution relies on the combination of a favorable demand effect, providing a “safe haven" for capital and knowledge, and a supply effect that is supported by the “waterbed function" of labor. Population growth promotes sustainability through innovation, but has a negative impact if it implies increased pressure on ecosystem services. Induced innovation cannot avert an economic catastrophe when the ecology is tipping. Degrowth policies protect the environment but harm welfare level and development. Knowledge is the most important economic indicator of sustainability, but measurements at sectoral and country levels must be interpreted with great care. Keywords: Poor input substitution; Population and sustainability; Sustainable development; Ecological tipping; Degrowth (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:jeeman:v:133:y:2025:i:c:s0095069625000932 DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103209 Access Statistics for this article Journal of Environmental Economics and Management is currently edited by M.A. Cole, A. Lange, D.J. Phaneuf, D. Popp, M.J. Roberts, M.D. Smith, C. Timmins, Q. Weninger and A.J. Yates More articles in Journal of Environmental Economics and Management from Elsevier |
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