The Political Economy of Green Growth: Cases from Southern Africa
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The Political Economy of Green Growth : Cases from Southern Africa. / Resnic, Danielle ; Tarp, Finn; Thurlow, James.
In: Public Administration and Development, Vol. 32, No. 3, 2012, p. 215-228.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - The Political Economy of Green Growth
T2 - Cases from Southern Africa
AU - Resnic, Danielle
AU - Tarp, Finn
AU - Thurlow, James
PY - 2012
Y1 - 2012
N2 - The concept of Green Growth implies that a wide range of developmental objectives, such as job creation, economic prosperityand poverty alleviation, can be easily reconciled with environmental sustainability. This article, however, argues that rather thanbeing win–win, Green Growth is similar to most types of policy reforms that advocate the acceptance of short-term adjustmentcosts in the expectation of long-term gains. In particular, Green Growth policies often encourage developing countries toredesign their national strategies in ways that might be inconsistent with natural comparative advantages and past investments.In turn, there are often sizeable anti-reform coalitions whose interests may conflict with a Green Growth agenda. We illustratethis argument by using case studies of Malawi, Mozambique and South Africa, which are engaged in development strategiesthat involve inorganic fertilizers, biofuel production and coal-based energy, respectively. Each of these countries is pursuingan environmentally suboptimal strategy but nonetheless addressing critical development needs, including food security, fueland electricity. We show that adopting a Green Growth approach would not only be economically costly but also generatesubstantial domestic resistance, especially among the poor.
AB - The concept of Green Growth implies that a wide range of developmental objectives, such as job creation, economic prosperityand poverty alleviation, can be easily reconciled with environmental sustainability. This article, however, argues that rather thanbeing win–win, Green Growth is similar to most types of policy reforms that advocate the acceptance of short-term adjustmentcosts in the expectation of long-term gains. In particular, Green Growth policies often encourage developing countries toredesign their national strategies in ways that might be inconsistent with natural comparative advantages and past investments.In turn, there are often sizeable anti-reform coalitions whose interests may conflict with a Green Growth agenda. We illustratethis argument by using case studies of Malawi, Mozambique and South Africa, which are engaged in development strategiesthat involve inorganic fertilizers, biofuel production and coal-based energy, respectively. Each of these countries is pursuingan environmentally suboptimal strategy but nonetheless addressing critical development needs, including food security, fueland electricity. We show that adopting a Green Growth approach would not only be economically costly but also generatesubstantial domestic resistance, especially among the poor.
KW - Faculty of Social Sciences
KW - Development policy
KW - Green Growth
KW - political economy
KW - Southern Africa
U2 - 10.1002/pad.1619
DO - 10.1002/pad.1619
M3 - Journal article
VL - 32
SP - 215
EP - 228
JO - Public Administration and Development
JF - Public Administration and Development
SN - 0271-2075
IS - 3
ER -
ID: 38306335