On the possibility of sustainable development with less economic growth: a research note

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2016

Authors

Angelo Barroso (Author) FEP; Cristina Chaves (Author) FEP; Francisco Vitorino Martins (Author) FEP; Manuel Castelo Branco (Author) FEP

Journal

Title: Environment, Development and Sustainability

Vol. 18, No. 5,

Pages: 1399-1414

ISSN: 1387-585X

Publisher: Springer Nature

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 4 Citations

Scopus - 6 Citations

Scientific classification

CORDIS: Social sciences

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-00K-EZR

DOI: 10.1007/s10668-016-9802-y

Abstract (EN): The main purpose of this paper is to discuss whether it is possible to achieve human development without or with less economic growth. For this to happen, it is important that developed countries can maintain high levels of human development while reducing the scale of production and consumption so that developing countries can achieve greater economic growth. Using panel data from 118 countries aggregated in ten blocks of countries, we assess the influence of “growth� on “development�, as proxied by a transformed variable “Social Human Development Index� (SHDI), controlling for the influence of geo-economic factors. In particular, we analyse whether developed countries present a weaker statistical relation between GDP and the social dimension of HDI than their less developed counterparts. Results reveal that the GDP elasticity of SHDI is higher in blocks of countries where the concentration of developing countries occurs than in blocks dominated by the presence of developed countries. Thus, it is possible to envisage that a slowdown in economic activity in developed countries may occur without great sacrifice of human development, at least when it is measured by health and education components. We interpret the findings as meaning that at an aggregate level there are conditions for development to occur without or with less growth. © 2016 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific