Complementarity, impatience, and the resilience of natural-dependent economies

Arbeitspapier

We study how human preferences affect the resilience of economies that depend on more than one type of natural resources. In particular, we analyze whether the degree of substitutability of natural resources in consumer needs may give rise to multiple steady states and path dependence even when resources are managed optimally. This is a major shift in the interpretation and analysis of resilience, from viewing (limited) resilience as an objective property of the economy-environment system to acknowledging its partially subjective, preference-based character. We find that society tends to be less willing to buffer exogenous shocks if resource goods are complements in consumption than if they are substitutes. Hence, the stronger the complementarity between the various types of resource goods, the less resilient the economy is.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: Working Paper Series in Economics ; No. 220

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Existence and Stability Conditions of Equilibrium ; Economic Development: Agriculture; Natural Resources; Energy; Environment; Other Primary Products ; Sustainable Development ; Renewable Resources and Conservation: General
• Subject: resilience ; substitutes and complements ; discounting ; multiple steady states ; natural resources ; path dependence ; regime shifts ; tipping points ; Steady-State-Wachstum ; Nachhaltigkeit ; Natürliche Ressourcen ; Import ; Produktsubstitution ; Komplementärgut ; Zeitpräferenz ; Theorie

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Quaas, Martin F. ; van Soest, Daan ; Baumgärtner, Stefan
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre
• (where): Lüneburg
• (when): 2011

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/57164
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:42 AM CET