Economic Growth, Carrying Capacity, and the Environment
Arrow K, Bolin B, Costanza R, Dasgupta P, Folke C, Holling CS, Jansson B, Levin S, Maler K, Perrings C, Pimentel D. 1995. Economic Growth, Carrying Capacity, and the Environment. Science. 268(5210):520-521
This article discusses the relation between economic growth and environmental quality, and the link between economic activity and the carrying capacity and resilience of the environment. National and international economic policy has usually ignored the environment. The solution to environmental degradation lies in such institutional reforms as would compel private users of environmental resources to take account of the social costs of their actions. The environmental resource base upon which all economic activity ultimately depends is finite. There are limits to the carrying capacity of the planet. A useful index of environmental sustainability is ecosystem resilience. Economic institutions within which human activities are conducted need to be designed so that they provide the right incentives for protecting the resilience of ecological systems.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Arrow, Kenneth; Bolin, Bert; Costanza, Robert; Dasgupta, Partha; Folke, Carl; Holling, C; Jansson, Bengt-Owe; Levin, Simon; Maler, Karl-Goran; Perrings, Charles; Pimentel, David
- Units
- VOYA
- Keywords
- Carrying Capacity, Ecology, economic growth, Ecosystems, Environment, Management, Natural Resources Management, Policies, Pollution