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Testing the long-term sustainable development of a Central American country: The Genuine Savings of Costa Rica between 1890 and 2015

Pollak, Aurélie LU (2021) In Master's thesis EKHS35 20211
Department of Economic History
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to test the sustainable development of Costa Rica between 1890 and 2015 based on Genuine Savings. The Genuine Savings estimations are composed of indicators on fixed capital, natural capital, and human capital. Indicators for this study were built with data from several sources including local and international projects, as well as governmental data. The data was then adapted and assembled to obtain all the components of Genuine Savings. The results suggest that the Genuine Savings of Costa Rica have increased over the whole period. During the first part of the 20th century, the savings were highly volatile due to irregular fixed capital investments and natural resources exploitation. However, the data supports... (More)
The purpose of this study is to test the sustainable development of Costa Rica between 1890 and 2015 based on Genuine Savings. The Genuine Savings estimations are composed of indicators on fixed capital, natural capital, and human capital. Indicators for this study were built with data from several sources including local and international projects, as well as governmental data. The data was then adapted and assembled to obtain all the components of Genuine Savings. The results suggest that the Genuine Savings of Costa Rica have increased over the whole period. During the first part of the 20th century, the savings were highly volatile due to irregular fixed capital investments and natural resources exploitation. However, the data supports the view that Costa Rica has been on a sustainable development path since 1950 according to the weak sustainability paradigm, and that capital accumulation was mostly led by fixed capital investments. The results also show that Costa Rica’s savings, similarly to other Latin American countries, have significantly fallen during the debt crisis of the 1980s. This study finds that intangible capital such as education and technological change also participated in the increase of the Costa Rican Genuine Savings. Natural capital was expected to show a clear positive contribution to the savings based on the unusual and innovative conservation policies implemented in the country. Yet, in the 21st century, the reforestation benefits are outweighed by the social cost of the increasing CO2 emissions. Overall, this study provides a new long-term analysis of weak sustainable development in Costa Rica and enables a better understanding of the country’s development path. It is also the first Genuine Savings estimation for Costa Rica that covers a one hundred twenty-five year period. (Less)
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author
Pollak, Aurélie LU
supervisor
organization
course
EKHS35 20211
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Genuine Savings, Weak Sustainability, Natural Capital, Development, Costa Rica
publication/series
Master's thesis
language
English
id
9057431
date added to LUP
2021-06-24 13:09:58
date last changed
2021-06-24 13:09:58
@misc{9057431,
  abstract     = {{The purpose of this study is to test the sustainable development of Costa Rica between 1890 and 2015 based on Genuine Savings. The Genuine Savings estimations are composed of indicators on fixed capital, natural capital, and human capital. Indicators for this study were built with data from several sources including local and international projects, as well as governmental data. The data was then adapted and assembled to obtain all the components of Genuine Savings. The results suggest that the Genuine Savings of Costa Rica have increased over the whole period. During the first part of the 20th century, the savings were highly volatile due to irregular fixed capital investments and natural resources exploitation. However, the data supports the view that Costa Rica has been on a sustainable development path since 1950 according to the weak sustainability paradigm, and that capital accumulation was mostly led by fixed capital investments. The results also show that Costa Rica’s savings, similarly to other Latin American countries, have significantly fallen during the debt crisis of the 1980s. This study finds that intangible capital such as education and technological change also participated in the increase of the Costa Rican Genuine Savings. Natural capital was expected to show a clear positive contribution to the savings based on the unusual and innovative conservation policies implemented in the country. Yet, in the 21st century, the reforestation benefits are outweighed by the social cost of the increasing CO2 emissions. Overall, this study provides a new long-term analysis of weak sustainable development in Costa Rica and enables a better understanding of the country’s development path. It is also the first Genuine Savings estimation for Costa Rica that covers a one hundred twenty-five year period.}},
  author       = {{Pollak, Aurélie}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  series       = {{Master's thesis}},
  title        = {{Testing the long-term sustainable development of a Central American country: The Genuine Savings of Costa Rica between 1890 and 2015}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}