The Mobilization of Human Resources as an Effect of the Depletion of Environmental and Social Assets

In this paper, the growth process is not fed by the accumulation of productive assets (physical and/or human capital, knowledge etc.), but by the depletion of environmental or social resources, which induces individuals to increase their labor supply in order to consume more of the market goods that substitute for the depleted resources. Hence, production is expanded, thus eroding the resources' ability to regenerate, which decreases with aggregate production. Within this context, the "green" net national product is derived and it is shown how a regulatory authority should manage the resources for achieving Pareto-optimality.