Sustainability: Behavior, Property Rights and Economic Growth

Jha, Raghbendra; Murthy, K. V. Bhanu

doi:10.2139/ssrn.235608

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Sustainability: Behavior, Property Rights and Economic Growth

MacArthur Foundation Project on World Environmental Organization Working Paper No. 03

25 Pages Posted: 15 Aug 2000

See all articles by Raghbendra Jha

Raghbendra Jha

Australian National University (ANU) - Australia South Asia Research Centre (ASARC); Crawford School of Public Policy

K. V. Bhanu Murthy

University of Delhi - School of Economics - Commerce Department; Delhi Technological University

Date Written: September 1999

Abstract

This paper argues that the notion of sustainability as used in the extant literature is incomplete because of two reasons: (i) a neglect of the spatial dimensions of sustainability and (ii) the absence of a link between sustainability on the one hand and change in behavior on the other. This paper tries to address the second issue and argues that the task of attaining sustainability essentially involves a paradigm shift in which environmental goods are first treated as merit goods in order to effect behavioral changes and ultimately as common resources. The outline of a simple fiscal policy that would attain this is also discussed.

Keywords: Sustainability, Fiscal Policy

JEL Classification: Q29, P35

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Jha, Raghbendra and Murthy, K. V. Bhanu, Sustainability: Behavior, Property Rights and Economic Growth (September 1999). MacArthur Foundation Project on World Environmental Organization Working Paper No. 03, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=235608 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.235608