Abstract
The sustainability of development is closely linked to changes intotal per capita wealth. This paper presents estimates of the wealth of nations for nearly 100 countries, broken down into produced assets, natural resources and human resources. While thelatter is the dominant form of wealth in virtually all countries,in low income natural resource exporters the share of natural resources in total wealth is equal to the share of produced assets. For low income countries in general, cropland forms thevast majority of natural wealth. The analysis suggests the process of development can be viewed as one of portfolio management: sustainable development entails saving the rents fromexhaustible resources, managing renewable resources sustainably,and investing savings in both produced assets and human resources.
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Hamilton, K., Dixon, J.A. Measuring the Wealth of Nations. Environ Monit Assess 86, 75–89 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024054602002
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024054602002