Dematerialisation of consumption: a win-win strategy?

Kronenberg, Tobias (2010): Dematerialisation of consumption: a win-win strategy?

Abstract

A dematerialisation of the economy can provide a crucial contribution toward sustainable devel-opment. It can take place in the production sphere through technological change or in the con-sumption sphere through altered consumer behaviour. This paper focuses on the second case, a shift of expenditure from material consumption (e.g. manufactured products) to non-material consumption (e.g. services). Since all production requires material, an input-output model is used to account for indirect material use. The model features post-Keynesian macroeconomic founda-tions, which make it possible to study the effects of altered consumption patterns on total con-sumption, output, and income distribution. The empirical application for the case of Germany shows that a dematerialisation of consumption might be considered a win-win strategy from an ecological and economic viewpoint. However, its effects on the distribution of income and inter-national trade may be problematic.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Sustainable consumption, input-output model, social sustainability, income distribution
• Subjects: E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics > E1 - General Aggregative Models > E12 - Keynes ; Keynesian ; Post-Keynesian; Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics ; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q0 - General > Q01 - Sustainable Development; C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C6 - Mathematical Methods ; Programming Models ; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling > C67 - Input-Output Models; Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics ; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q4 - Energy > Q43 - Energy and the Macroeconomy; Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics ; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q5 - Environmental Economics > Q57 - Ecological Economics: Ecosystem Services ; Biodiversity Conservation ; Bioeconomics ; Industrial Ecology

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