Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Economic Growth by Waste Generation: the Dynamics of a Vicious Circle

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Emergent Results of Artificial Economics

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Economics and Mathematical Systems ((LNE,volume 652))

Abstract

The aim of this article is to explain the overall shape of the waste stream of durable goods in the US economy. For this purpose we construct an agent-based model of economic growth and waste generation and compare this latter variable to the amount of waste of durables generated in the USA between 1960 and 2008. The model highlights a particularly vicious circle in which waste generation becomes a positive factor of economic growth.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. William J. Baumol. Macroeconomics of unbalanced growth: the anatomy of urban crisis. The American Economic Review, 57:415426, 1967.

    Google Scholar 

  2. William J. Baumol, Sue Anne Batey Blackman, and Edward N.Wolf. Productivity and American leadership: the long view. The MIT PRess, 1994.

    Google Scholar 

  3. M. A. Cole, A. J. Rayner, and J. M. Bates. The environmental kuznets curve: an empirical analysis. Environment and Development Economics, 2:401416, 1997.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Jean Gadrey. L’´economie des services. La D´ecouverte, 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Gene M. Grossman and Alan B. Krueger. Economic growth and the environment. The Quaterly Journal of Economics, 110:353377, 1995.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Donella H. Meadows, Dennis L. Meadows, Jorgen Randers, andWilliamW. Behrens. Rapport sur les limites la croissance. In Halte la croissance ? Fayard, 1972.

    Google Scholar 

  7. William D. Nordhaus. Managing the global commons. The economics of climate change. The MIT PRess, 1994.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Vance Packard. The waste makers. Penguin Books, 1960.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Theodore Panayotou. Demystifying the environmental kuznets curve: turning a black box into a policy tool. Environment and Development Economics, 2:465484, 1997.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Theodore Panayotou. Economic growth and the environment. Economic Survey of Europe, 2:4572, 2003.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Pier Paolo Saviotti and Andreas Pyka. Economic development by the creation of new sectors. Journal of evolutionary economics, 14:135, 2004.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Nemat Shafik and Sushenjit Bandyopadhyay. Economic growth and environmental quality. time series and cross-country evidence.World Bank Policy ResearchWorking Paper WPS904, june 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Magnus Sjo¨stro¨m and Go¨ran O¨ stblom. Decoupling waste generation from economic growth - a cge analysis of the swedish case. Ecological Economics, 69:15451552, 2010.

    Google Scholar 

  14. James Gustave Speth. The Bridge at the Edge of the World. Yale University Press, 2008.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Nigel Whiteley. Toward a throw-away culture. Consumerism, ’style obsolescence’ and cultural theory in the 1950s and 1960s. Oxford Art Journal, 10:327, 1987.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Ulrich Witt. Learning to consume-a theory of wants and the growth of demand. Journal of Evolutionary Economics, 11:2336, 2001.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lille 1 University, 59655, Villeneuve d’Ascq Cedex, France

    Benoît Desmarchelier, Faridah Djellal & Faïz Gallouj

Authors
  1. Benoît Desmarchelier
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Faridah Djellal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Faïz Gallouj
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Benoît Desmarchelier .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Department LDI/bode 143, Wageningen University, Hollandseweg 1, Wageningen, 6706KN, Netherlands

    Sjoukje Osinga

  2. , Department LDI/bode 143, Wageningen University, Hollandseweg 1, Wageningen, 6706KN, Netherlands

    Gert Jan Hofstede

  3. LEI, Wageningen UR, Alexanderveld 5, Den Haag, 2585DB, Netherlands

    Tim Verwaart

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2011 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Desmarchelier, B., Djellal, F., Gallouj, F. (2011). Economic Growth by Waste Generation: the Dynamics of a Vicious Circle. In: Osinga, S., Hofstede, G., Verwaart, T. (eds) Emergent Results of Artificial Economics. Lecture Notes in Economics and Mathematical Systems, vol 652. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-21108-9_11

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-21108-9_11

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-21107-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-21108-9

  • eBook Packages: Business and EconomicsEconomics and Finance (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation