Resource Use, Institutions, and Sustainability: A Tale of Two Pacific Island Cultures

Jon D. Erickson and John Gowdy

Land Economics, 2000, vol. 76, issue 3, 345-354

Abstract: This paper examines two Pacific Island cultures, Easter Island and Tikopia, and the relationship between natural resource systems, human-made capital, population growth, and institutional change. Easter Island followed a preindustrial society pattern of overshoot-and collapse. However, Tikopia evolved cultural practices leading to zero-population growth and sustainable resource use. Using a modified Lotka- Volterra, predator-prey model, we find (1) investment in human-made capital does not necessarily eliminate the boom- and bust-cycles of economic activity and population observed in many past societies; and (2) institutional adaptation and resource conservation can be critical in achieving population stability.

JEL-codes: Q20 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2000
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (25)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:uwp:landec:v:76:y:2000:i:3:p:345-354

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