Complementarity between environmental efficiency and labour productivity in a cumulative growth process
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.13133/2037-3643/13080Keywords:
environmental efficiency, labour productivity, economic growthAbstract
The aim of this paper is to analyse the potential complementarity between environmental efficiency and labour productivity in both theoretical and empirical terms. We define environmental efficiency as the ratio between income and pollutant emissions, and its growth rate may be a proxy of eco-innovations. As in the standard Post-Keynesian approach, the growth rate of labour productivity is considered here a proxy of technological innovations. The paper analyses first the theoretical elements that justify the hypothesis of a positive correlation between the two efficiencies. It then illustrates, through a Structuralist-Keynesian baseline model, how this complementarity is a necessary condition for cumulative growth that is socially and ecologically sustainable. It finally empirically investigates this complementarity through a dynamic panel analysis of the dynamics of European countries in the period 1992-2012.
JEL codes: O3, O4, Q5
References
ANAND S. and SEN A. (2000), "Human Development and Economic Sustainability", World Development, vol. 28 n. 12, pp. 2029-2049.
CIMOLI M., PRIMI A. and PUGNO M. (2006), "A Low-Growth Model: Informality as a Structural Constraint", CEPAL Review, n. 88, pp. 85-102.
COLLINS A. and HARRIS R. (2005), "The Impact of Foreign Ownership and Efficiency on Pollution Abatement Expenditures by Chemical Plants: Some UK Evidence", Scottish Journal of Political Economy, vol. 52 n. 5, pp. 747-768.
CORSI M. and RONCAGLIA A. (2002), "The Employment Issue in the European Union", Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, vol. 25 n. 1, pp. 141-159.
GILLI M., MAZZANTI M. and NICOLLI F. (2013), "Sustainability and Competitiveness in Evolutionary Perspectives: Environmental Innovations, Structural Change and Economic Dynamics in the EU", The Journal of Socio-Economics, vol. 45, pp. 204-215.
EUROPEAN COMMISSION (2010), An Integrated Industrial Policy for the Globalisation Era Putting Competitiveness and Sustainability at Centre Stage, Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the regions, COM(2010) 614 final, 28 October, Brussels.
GUARINI G. (2009), "Labour Productivity and Technological Capability: An Econometric Analysis on the Italian Regions", in Salvadori N., Commendatore P. and Tamberi M. (eds.), Geography, Structural Change and Economic Development: Theory and Empirics, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp. 280-305.
GUARINI G., GAROFALO G. and FEDERICI A. (2014), "A Virtuous Cumulative Growth Circle among Innovation, Inclusion and Sustainability? A Structuralist-Keynesian Analysis with an Application on Europe", GREDEG Working Papers, n. 2014-39, University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, Nice.
HARROD R. (1933), International Economics, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
HAMMER H. and LOFGREN A. (2010), "Explaining Adoption of End of Pipe Solutions and Clean Technologies – Determinants of Firms’ Investments for Reducing Emissions to Air in Four Sectors in Sweden", Energy Policy, vol. 38 n. 7, pp. 3644-3651.
HEIN E. and TARASSOW A. (2010), "Distribution, Aggregate Demand and Productivity Growth – Theory and Empirical Results for Six OECD Countries Based on a Post-Kaleckian Model", Cambridge Journal of Economics, vol. 34 n. 4, pp. 727-754.
JAFFE A., NEWELL R. and STAVINS R. (2003), "Technological Change and the Environment", in Maler K.G. and Vincent J.R. (eds.), Handbook of Environmental Economics, Amsterdam: Elsevier.
JOHNSTONE N., HASCIC I. and KALAMOVA M. (2010), "Environmental Policy Characteristics and Technological Innovation", Economia Politica, vol. 27 n. 2, pp. 275-299.
JOHNSTONE N., LABONNE J. and THEVENOT C. (2008), "Environmental Policy and Economies of Scope in Facility-Level Environmental Practices", Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, vol. 9 n. 3, pp. 145-166.
KALDOR N. (1975), "Economic Growth and the Verdoorn Law – A Comment on Mr. Rowthorn’s Article", The Economic Journal, vol. 85 n. 340, pp. 891-896.
KEMP R. and PONTOGLIO S. (2011), "The Innovation Effects of Environmental Policy Instruments – A Typical Case of the Blind Men and the Elephant?", Ecological Economics, vol. 72, pp. 28-36.
MARIN G. and MAZZANTI M. (2013), "The Evolution of Environmental and Labor Productivity Dynamics", Journal of Evolutionary Economics, vol. 23 n. 2, pp. 357-399.
MAZZANTI M. and ZOBOLI R. (2008), "Complementarities, Firm Strategies and Environmental Innovations: Empirical Evidence for a District Based Manufacturing System", Environmental Sciences, vol. 5 n. 1, pp. 17-40.
MAZZANTI M. and ZOBOLI R. (2009), "Environmental Efficiency and Labour Productivity: Trade-Off or Joint Dynamics? A Theoretical Investigation and Empirical Evidence from Italy Using NAMEA", Ecological Economics, vol. 68 n. 4, pp. 1182-1194.
MILGROM P. and ROBERTS J. (1990), "The Economics of Modern Manufacturing: Technology, Strategy and Organization", The American Economic Review, vol. 80 n. 3, pp. 511-528.
MILGROM P. and ROBERTS J. (1995), "Complementarities and Fit Strategy, Structure, and Organizational Change in Manufacturing", Journal of Accounting and Economics, vol. 19 n. 2-3, pp. 179-208.
MOHNEN P. and ROLLER L.H. (2005), "Complementarities in Innovation Policy", European Economic Review, vol. 49 n. 6, pp. 1431-1450.
OCAMPO J. (2005), Beyond Reforms: Structural Dynamics and Macroeconomic Vulnerability, Palo Alto (CA): Stanford University Press.
OLTRA V. (2008), "Environmental Innovation and Industrial Dynamics: The Contributions of Evolutionary Economics", Cahiers du GREThA, n. 2008-28, University of Bordeaux.
PORTER M. and VAN DER LINDE C. (1995), "Toward a New Conception of the Environment-Competitiveness Relationship", Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol. 9 n. 4, pp. 97-118.
RENNINGS K. (2000), "Redefining Innovation – Eco-Innovation Research and the Contribution from Ecological Economics", Ecological Economics, vol. 32 n. 2, pp. 319-332.
RONCAGLIA A. (2003), "Energy and Market Power: An Alternative Approach to the Economics of Oil", Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, vol. 25 n. 4, pp. 641-659.
ROODMAN D. (2006), "How to Do xtabond2: An Introduction to ‘Difference’ and ‘System’ GMM in Stata", Working Paper, n. 103, Center for Global Development, Washington (DC).
SCHEFOLD B. (1985), "Ecological Problems as a Challenge to Classical and Keynesian Economics", Metroeconomica, vol. 37 n. 1, pp. 21-61.
SYLOS-LABINI P. (1984), The Forces of Economic Growth and Decline, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
THIRLWALL A.P. (1979), "The Balance of Payments Constraint as an Explanation of International Growth Rate Differences", Banca Nazionale del Lavoro Quarterly Review, vol. 32 n. 128, pp. 45-53.
THIRLWALL A.P. (1983), "Foreign Trade Elasticities in Centre-Periphery Models of Growth and Development", Banca Nazionale del Lavoro Quarterly Review, vol. 36 n. 146, pp. 249-261.
THIRLWALL A.P. (2011), "Balance of Payments Constrained Growth Models: History and Overview", PSL Quarterly Review, vol. 64 n. 259, pp. 307-351.
WORLD BANK (2012), Inclusive Green Growth: The Pathway to Sustainable Development, Washington (DC): The World Bank
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
