Sustainability, economic growth and employment

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to present a simplified non-conventional macroeconomic model which relates effective demand and the sustainable use of natural resources. It supposes a small non-developed economy based on the exports of a natural resource and with a heavy income concentration. 'Optimal growth' is understood as maintaining labour full-employed and sustainability is defined as maintaining a non-decreasing capital stock level. The model is based on a modified Kaleckian equation of income determination (Kalecki, 1991b) where exports of natural resource substitute for the role of investment as an autonomous expenditure. Therefore, employment is a direct function of resource depletion and is negatively related to sustainability.