Resource Amenity Research Articles

A long-run perspective on renewable resource use and amenity benefits: the case of forestry

We examine the existence and stability properties of the long-run equilibrium in an economy using forest resources for consumption and amenity benefits. We incorporate forest resources into an overlapping generations model as a factor of production, source of amenity benefits and store of value. We characterise dynamics and stability of steady-state equilibria with a logistic resource growth function, and demonstrate with parametric and numerical examples that a unique and stable equilibrium exists under a set of parameter restrictions. We show that the productivity of timber in production of consumption and the weight given to amenities substantially affect the steady-state equilibrium stock and its stability and dynamics. Especially, the higher the productivity of timber in production, the lower the steady-state forest stock.

Second-best tax policy and natural resource management in growing economies

This paper investigates the exploitation of natural resources in a growing economy within a second-best fiscal policy framework. Agents derive utility from two types of consumption goods—one which relies on a natural resource input and one which does not—as well as from leisure and from natural resource amenity values. We connect second best policy to essential components of utility by considering the elasticity of substitution among each of the four utility arguments. The results illustrate potentially important relationships between amenity values and leisure. When amenity values are complementary with leisure, for instance when natural resources are used for recreation, optimal taxes on goods produced with natural resources generally increase over time. On the other hand, optimal taxes on goods produced from natural resources generally decrease over time when leisure and amenity values are substitutes. Under some parameterizations, complex dynamics leading to non-monotonic time paths can emerge.

Hartwick's rule and maximin paths when the exhaustible resource has an amenity value

This paper studies the maximin paths of the canonical Dasgupta–Heal–Solow model when the stock of natural capital is a direct argument of well-being, besides consumption. Hartwick's rule then appears as an efficient tool to characterize solutions in a variety of settings. We start with the case without technical progress. We obtain an explicit solution of the maximin problem in the case where production and utility are Cobb–Douglas. When the utility function is CES with a low elasticity of substitution between consumption and natural capital, we show that it is optimal to preserve forever a critical level of natural capital, determined endogeneously. We then study how technical progress affects the optimal maximin paths, in the Cobb–Douglas utility case. On the long run path of the economy capital, production and consumption grow at a common constant rate, while the resource stock decreases at a constant rate and is therefore completely depleted in the very long run. A higher amenity value of the resource stock leads to faster economic growth, but to a lower long run rate of depletion. We then develop a complete analysis of the dynamics of the maximin problem when the sole source of well-being is consumption, and provide a numerical resolution of the model with resource amenity. The economy consumes, produces and invests less in the short run if the resource has an amenity value than if it does not, whereas it is the contrary in the medium and long runs. However, and without surprise, the resource stock remains for ever higher with resource amenity than without.

Renewable Resources and Economic Sustainability: A Dynamic Analysis with Heterogeneous Time Preferences

In recent years there has been increasing interest in the study of economic sustainability and its relationship with natural resources. This paper attempts to shed some light on the issue by taking into account the individual variations in time preferences for consumption and resource amenity. We characterize the long-run steady state, analyze its asymptotic stability, and explore the transational dynamics from any initial state. The welfare implications of the optimal path are also discussed.

Evaluation of useful plants for the treatment of polluted pond water with low N and P concentrations

Eutrophication of ponds for agricultural use has begun to adversely affect rice production and the residential living environment in Japan. Cultivation of useful terrestrial and aquatic plant species in plant-bed filter ditches enables to treat domestic wastewater in addition to resource recycling and amenity functions. We evaluated the ability of several plant species, Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.), hanana (Brassica campestris L. var.), African marigold (Tages erecta L.), sorghum (Sorghum vulgare Pers.), kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.), papyrus (Cyperus papyrus L.), and reed (Phragmites communis Trin.), to remove nitrogen and phosphorus from polluted pond water whose N and P concentrations were much lower than those in domestic wastewater. Artificial pond water containing 2.5 mg L-1 of N and 0.5 mg L-1 of P was supplied to ditches at a loading rate of 1.1 g m-2 d-1 for N and 0.21 g m-2 d-1 for P. Italian ryegrass, papyrus, or kenaf in ditches removed N and P more effectively than other plants. The average removal rate of Italian ryegrass in ditches was 0.62 g m-2 d-1 for N and 0.10 g m-2 d-1 for P, that of papyrus 0.81 g m-2 d-1 for N and 0.15 g m-2 d-1 for P, and that of kenaf 0.73 g m-2 d-1 for N and 0.11 g m-2 d-1 for P. The influence of N and P concentrations on the removal rates of Italian ryegrass, papyrus, and kenaf was studied. Concentrations at a removal rate of zero were 0.2–0.3 mg L-1 for N and 0.01–0.03 mg L-l for P. At low concentrations, the plant removal rates increased sharply with the rise in the concentration. When N concentrations exceeded 0.3–0.6 mg L-1 and P concentrations 0.10–0.45 mg L-1, the removal rates were high and less affected by the concentration. It was considered that these plant species could be used most efficiently at the concentrations where removal rates are less restricted.

Comparison of useful terrestrial and aquatic plant species for removal of nitrogen and phosphorus from domestic wastewater

To develop a low cost and energy-saving wastewater treatment technique in combination with resource recycling and amenity functions, we constructed a plant bed filter ditch in which useful terrestrial and aquatic plants can be utilized for nitrogen and phosphorus removal from wastewater. Screening studies were conducted to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of 20 kinds of plant species which are economically important or exhibit on aesthetic value, including 13 terrestrial species, for domestic wastewater treatment. Artificial wastewater containing 20 mg L-1 of Nand 3.3 mg L-1 of P, was supplied to the ditch at the rate of about 1.41–2.08 g m-2 d-1 for N and 0.20–0.33 g m-2 d-1 for P. The experiments were performed in a glass house with windows opened from April to November. The ditches showing high Nand P removal rates were planted with plants which exhibited high biomass production rates. In the case of the papyrus ditch, Nand P removal rates exceeded 0.8 g m-2 d-1 for N and 0.15 g m-2 d-1 for P from late spring to autumn, in the case of the kenaf ditch and sorghum ditch, from summer to autumn and in the case of the Italian ryegrass ditch and barley ditch, in early spring. These findings indicated that efficient wastewater treatment can be performed consistently except in the winter season, by cultivating these plants in an appropriate combination in the ditches.

A Typology of Retirement Places: a Community Analysis

The paper delineates types of retirement communities by the features which attract retirees, the types of retirees attracted, the promotional campaigns used, the economic considerations involved and the potential problems faced by each type of community. Communities wishing to assess their potential to attract retirees may use this typology to assess what they offer and the types of retirees they are likely to attract. Five types of retirement communities are delineated: resource amenity, planned, continuing care, old home town and regional center. While existing literature concentrates on counties, this typology is also useful at the sub-county level. Perhaps because the literature concentrates on counties, several of the community types presented have not been discussed explicitly in the literature.

Use of higher plants and bed filter materials for domestic wastewater treatment in relation to resource recycling

Abstract A bench scale experiment was conducted to compare the effectiveness of three kinds of bed filters (zeolite, zeolite + shell fossils, charcoal chips) and five plant species (Chinese water spinach (Ipomea aquatica Forskal), rice (Oryza sativa L. cv. Takanari), zinnia (Zinnia elegance L.), watercress (Nasturtium officinale R. Br.), stock (Matthiona incana R. Br.)) for use as plant-bed filter systems in order to develop low cost and energy-saving devices for wastewater treatment combined with resource recycling and amenity functions. Pots (0.05 m2) filled with bed filter materials were prepared as experimental systems. The addition of higher plants to the bed filters enhanced the nitrogen and phosphorus removal from wastewater as plant species considerably affected the P and N removal efficiency. In the summer-autumn season (June-December), Chinese water spinach and rice were more effective than zinnia. In the winter-spring season (January-May), watercress was more effective than stock. Although the ...

Optimal Growth, Resource Amenities and the Preservation of Natural Environments

This paper examines the conditions for which it is optimal to permanently preserve natural environments in which a productive natural resource is found. The conditions are more restrictive than those previously indicated in the literature on the economics of natural environments. Increasing consumption and declining commodity prices are not sufficient to warrant permanent preservation. The initial capital stock can be an important determinant of the optimal level of preservation. In addition, resource amenity values will increase the initial resource price and decrease the rate of growth of the resource price.