Genuine Savings Rates in Developing Countries |
| |
Authors: | Hamilton, Kirk Clemens, Michael |
| |
Affiliation: | Kirk Hamilton is with theEnvironment Department at the World Bank, and Michael Clemens is with the Department of Economics at Harvard University. The authors gratefully acknowledge the comments of Danny McCoy, David Pearce, and three reviewers. |
| |
Abstract: | Augmented measures of savings and wealth in the national accountsare critical to conceptualizing and achieving sustainable development.After developing the theory of genuine savingstraditionalnet savings less the value of resource depletion and environmentaldegradation plus the value of investment in human capitalthisarticle presents empirical estimates for developing countries.These calculations account for resource depletion and carbondioxide emissions, using consistent time series data for 197093.The empirical evidence shows that levels of genuine savingsare negative in a wide range of countries, particularly in Sub-SaharanAfrica, and that these countries are being progressively impoverished.Increasing the coverage of natural resources and pollutantsin our calculations would reduce the estimated levels of genuinesavings overall. The use of genuine savings measures suggestsa series of policy questions that are key to sustaining development.These are also explored, specifically the extent to which monetaryand fiscal policies, exports of exhaustible resources, strongerresource policies, and pollution abatement measures boost genuinesavings rates. For policymakers, linking sustainable developmentto genuine savings rates means that there are many possibleinterventions to increase sustainability, from the macroeconomicto the purely environmental. |
| |
Keywords: | |
本文献已被 Oxford 等数据库收录! |
|