دانلود رایگان مقاله قیمت سایه ای و ناکارآمدی تولید منابع معدنی

abstract

With the Millennium Development Goal focusing on the eradication of poverty in developing countries expiring in 2015, the international focus is shifting toward sustainable development. The sustainability of the natural resources that are used as energy sources and in the production of goods is a global issue that is not specific to developing nations. We contribute to the need for quantitative targets for natural resources by calculating the shadow prices and production inefficiency levels of 32 mineral resources by using a stochastic frontier analysis and panel data from 1980 to 2010 in 162 countries. In addition, we provide estimated shadow prices and production inefficiency levels up to 2020 with various levels of production restrictions. The results show the following: (1) The shadow prices and production inefficiency levels of major metals are generally higher in Asian countries than in non-Asian countries; (2) there is an upward trend in the inefficiency levels in Asian countries, whereas the inefficiency levels remain rather stable in non-Asian countries; (3) production restrictions do not guarantee an increase in shadow prices, but the magnitude of the impact of such restrictions seems to be larger in Asian countries compared to non-Asian countries; (4) production restrictions do not seem to affect production inefficiency; thus, they may not be effective in reducing gaps in production inefficiency between Asian and non-Asian countries.

5. Conclusion

In this paper, we provided shadow price estimates from 1980 to 2010 and explored the impact of production restrictions on shadow prices and production inefficiency for 32 mineral resources. We used panel data for 162 countries that combine available data on mineral production, CO2 emissions, GDP and other production inputs, such as the labor population and physical capital. We provide estimates of shadow prices and production inefficiency levels for the period between 1980 and 2010 and future estimates up to 2020 with production restrictions for each mineral resource. We observe a general downward trend in shadow prices for mineral resources, particularly mineral resources with large markets. When we consider the exponential increase in the demand for mineral resources, technological improvements in the production 10 T. Tamaki et al. / Economic Analysis and Policy ( ) – process and the increased efforts to recycle and reuse over the past few decades, this downward trend seems to be relatively mild.

Because the SDGs endeavor to establish quantitative goals for the sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources while ensuring sustainable consumption and production, the shadow price is a useful quantitative tool, as it also reflects variations in consumption and production patterns, which are crucial for discussing sustainability and resource markets. The results indicate that shadow prices are disproportionally higher in Asian countries compared to non-Asian countries. In addition, the relative prices have remained consistently higher in Asian countries throughout the past three decades. The results may reflect the impact of the large-scale urbanization process that is occurring in many heavily populated developing countries in the Asian region, such as China and India. Given that the transition from agrarian economies to industrial, mineral-based economies in developing countries is in only the early to middle stages, we expect to continue to see consistent disparities between Asian and non-Asian countries (Schandl and West, 2010).