Fueling growth when oil peaks: Directed technological change and the limits to efficiency

B-Tier
Journal: European Economic Review
Year: 2014
Volume: 69
Issue: C
Pages: 18-39

Score contribution per author:

1.005 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 1.0x B-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

While fossil energy dependency has declined and energy supply has grown in the postwar world economy, future resource scarcity could cast its shadow on world economic growth soon if energy markets are forward looking. We develop an endogenous growth model that reconciles the current aggregate trends in energy use and productivity growth with the intertemporal dynamics of forward looking resource markets. Combining scarcity-rent driven energy supply (in the spirit of Hotelling) with profit-driven Directed Technical Change (in the spirit of Romer/Acemoglu), we generate transitional dynamics that can be qualitatively calibrated to current trends. The long-run properties of the model are studied to examine whether current trends are sustainable. We highlight the role of extraction costs in mining.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:eee:eecrev:v:69:y:2014:i:c:p:18-39
Journal Field
General
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-24