Title: Capital accumulation, technological progress and environment

Authors: Giovanni Scarano

Addresses: Faculty of Economics, Department of Economics, University of Roma Tre, Via Silvio D'Amico 77, 00145 Rome, Italy

Abstract: The paper deals with the problem of the relation between capital accumulation and the carrying capacity of the ecosphere for humankind. The approach is that of ecological economics, which utilises laws and models of ecological sciences to model some aspects of economic systems and their interaction with |other| ecological systems. Being the analysis of this relation a very hard task, the article addresses the question in the framework of a simplified economic model, which is obtained by introducing some simplifying ecological assumptions in the neoclassical growth model.

Keywords: capital accumulation; carrying capacity; economic growth; endogenous growth; environment; growth rate; limits to growth; natural resources; population growth; technological progress; ecological economics.

DOI: 10.1504/IJGENVI.2008.019369

International Journal of Global Environmental Issues, 2008 Vol.8 No.4, pp.355 - 364

Published online: 09 Jul 2008 *

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