Chapter 19: Poverty, Population, and the Environment Flashcards
What is the agrarian transition?
Agrarian Transition:
- Universal feature of market-driven economic development
Traditional economic development challenge: productivity absorbs millions workers “free up” from agriculture
What is sustainable development?
- Solving economic development problem now requires addressing local environment concerns
- Sustainability not achieved unless poverty directly addressed
What are the four connections poverty and environment?
(1) For poor people, many environmental problems are cause poverty
(2) Poor people not afford to conserve resources
(3) Richer people “demand” more pollution control
(4) Population Growth
Connection between poverty and the environment
For poor people, environmental problems might cause poverty (1)
- Unsafe drinking water
- Inadequate sewage facilities
- Indoor and outdoor air pollution
Connection between poverty and the environment
(2) Poor people cannot afford to conserve resources
- Poor people often put unsustainable burden on natural capital in immediate environment
Note: Consumption rich countries substantially larger global impact
Connection between poverty and the environment
(3) Richer people “demand” more pollution control
Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) Hypothesis
As economic growth proceeds, certain types pollution first gets worse then gets better
Explanations EKC:
- Rising education
- Political demand for pollution control
- Shifts in industrial composition
- Relative risk consideration: is enviornmental quality a “luxury good?”
What is the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) Hypothesis?
Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) Hypothesis
As economic growth proceeds, certain types pollution first gets worse then gets better
Connection between poverty and the environment
(4) Population Growth
- Population growth slows with increased income
- Increased affluence: families almost universally fewer children
Population in persepctive and future predictions:
- Population pressure can overwhelm ability poor countries provide education, health, and sanitary services
- Rising income in poor countries lead to natural demographic transition to low population growth
Predictions for 2050 fallen more than 1 billion:
Why?
- 1985-1995: Large, unexpected fertility decline in South Central Asia and Africa
- Slowed pop growth from AIDS
Vicious cycle of population grwoth and poverty still exists
What is the economics approach to family size?
What are the benefits and costs of having children?
Economic benefits having children:
- Old age and health insurance
- Income supplement
Economics costs of having children:
- Parents children-rearing efforts
- Monetary resources
What is the economics approach to family size?
Family size strategies:
High-investment strategy:
Focus all available resource son one or two children
Low-investment strategy:
Have many children to increase chance one of them contributing family income
Why do rising income countries adopt “quality strategy?
- Lowered infant and child mortality
- Access education
- Women enter paid labor force
- Prohibition of child labor
How to reduce poverty (4)?
- Reduce Poverty
- Better social safety nets
- Education
- Family Planning
Reducing Population Growth
(1) Reduce Poverty
- Widely shared gains from economic growth based labor intensive manufacturing
- Redistributioon of wealth
- Land reform
- Debt-for-farmland swaps
Reducing Population Growth:
(2) Better Social Safety Nets:
- Reduce infant and child mortality (risk associated investing child’s health & education reduced)
- Provide public health care, insurance, and education
Reducing Population Growth:
(3) Education:
- Access education supports high-investment strategy
- Lowers cost such strategy
- Increased opportunity cost of parent’s time
- Educating woemn increases women’s power in household to make fertility decisions
