Are we consuming too much?
Are we consuming too much?
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DOI：
10.1257/0895330042162377
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发表时间：
2004-06-01
影响因子：
8.4
通讯作者：
Walker, B
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Arrow, K;Dasgupta, P;Walker, B
本文阐述并应用了检验消费是否过度的框架。我们考虑了当前消费可能过度(或不足)的两个标准。一种是跨期效用最大化标准：如果实际当前消费高于使当前效用贴现价值最大化的消费路径上的当前消费水平，则被认为是过度的。另一个是可持续性标准，它要求当前的消费与不会随着时间的推移而下降的生活水平保持一致。我们扩展了以前的理论方法，提供了一个可持续标准的公式，该标准解释了人口增长和技术变化。在应用这一公式时，我们发现世界上一些贫穷地区未能达到可持续性标准：在这些地区，人均真实财富正在下降，因为对人力资本和制造资本的投资不足以抵消自然资本的消耗。
This paper articulates and applies frameworks for examining whether consumption is excessive. We consider two criteria for the possible excessiveness (or insufficiency) of current consumption. One is an intertemporal utility-maximization criterion: actual current consumption is deemed excessive if it is higher than the level of current consumption on the consumption path that maximizes the present discounted value of utility. The other is a sustainability criterion, which requires that current consumption be consistent with non-declining living standards over time. We extend previous theoretical approaches by offering a formula for the sustainability criterion that accounts for population growth and technological change. In applying this formula, we find that some poor regions of the world are failing to meet the sustainability criterion: in these regions, genuine wealth per capita is falling as investments in human and manufactured capital are not sufficient to offset the depletion of natural capital.