Growth on a Finite Planet: Resources, Technology, and Population in the Long Run

We study the interactions between technological change, resource scarcity and population dynamics in a Schumpeterian model with endogenous fertility. We find a pseudo-Malthusian equilibrium in which population is constant and determined by resource scarcity while income grows exponentially. If labor and resources are substitutes in production, income and fertility dynamics are self-balancing and the pseudo-Malthusian equilibrium is the global attractor of the system. If labor and resources are complements, income and fertility dynamics are self-reinforcing and drive the economy towards either demographic explosion or collapse. Introducing a minimum resource requirement per capita, we obtain constant population even under complementarity.

"Growth on a Finite Planet: Resources, Technology, and Population in the Long Run" 
Economic Research Initiatives at Duke (ERID) Working Paper No. 147

PIETRO F. PERETTO, Duke University - Department of Economics
Email: PERETTO@ECON.DUKE.EDU
SIMONE VALENTE, NTNU
Email: simone.valente@svt.ntnu.no

Book: pp. 130-137.

Starring Earth Economics