Renewable Resources and Economic Sustainability: A Dynamic Analysis with Heterogeneous Time Preferences

In recent years there has been increasing interest in the study of economic sustainability and its relationship with natural resources. This paper attempts to shed some light on the issue by taking into account the individual variations in time preferences for consumption and resource amenity. We characterize the long-run steady state, analyze its asymptotic stability, and explore the transational dynamics from any initial state. The welfare implications of the optimal path are also discussed.