The green transition dilemma: The impossible (?) quest for prosperity of South American economies

Autores
Valdecantos, Sebastián
Año de publicación
2025
Idioma
inglés
Tipo de recurso
artículo
Estado
versión publicada
Descripción
This paper explores the tensions that the transition toward a zero‑carbon economy entails for countries relying on natural resource exploitation as the main drivers of (net) exports, as in most South American economies. Given their relatively low diversification and high technology gaps compared to advanced economies, attaining higher prosperity levels driven by sustained economic growth has recurrently been hampered by balance of payments crises. Using a simple long-run demand-led theoretical model with balance of payments constrained growth we show that if the structural limitations in their productive structure are not overcome, the decarbonization of the economy, be it exogenously imposed by the rest of the world or sovereignly decided by each South American country, will be exposed to the dilemma of increasing growth or reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Underpinning this dilemma is the essential role of exports and their associated carbon intensity. Finally, we show that to solve this green transition dilemma, even structural change like the one proposed by the old Latin American structuralist school might not be sufficient – only through a process of green structural change will the long-lastingly desired prosperity of South American countries cease to be an impossible quest.
Fil: Valdecantos, Sebastián. Aalborg University Business School; Denmark.
Fuente
Ecological Economics, 230, Artículo 108508. ISSN 0921-8009. 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108508
Materia
Cambio Climático
Transición Energética
Medio Ambiente
Desarrollo Sustentable
Política Energética
Nivel de accesibilidad
acceso abierto
Condiciones de uso
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.es
Repositorio
Nülan (UNMDP-FCEyS)
Institución
Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Sociales
OAI Identificador
oai:nulan.mdp.edu.ar:4609
Acceder
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oai_identifier_str oai:nulan.mdp.edu.ar:4609
network_acronym_str NULAN
repository_id_str 1845
network_name_str Nülan (UNMDP-FCEyS)
spelling The green transition dilemma: The impossible (?) quest for prosperity of South American economiesValdecantos, SebastiánCambio ClimáticoTransición EnergéticaMedio AmbienteDesarrollo SustentablePolítica EnergéticaThis paper explores the tensions that the transition toward a zero‑carbon economy entails for countries relying on natural resource exploitation as the main drivers of (net) exports, as in most South American economies. Given their relatively low diversification and high technology gaps compared to advanced economies, attaining higher prosperity levels driven by sustained economic growth has recurrently been hampered by balance of payments crises. Using a simple long-run demand-led theoretical model with balance of payments constrained growth we show that if the structural limitations in their productive structure are not overcome, the decarbonization of the economy, be it exogenously imposed by the rest of the world or sovereignly decided by each South American country, will be exposed to the dilemma of increasing growth or reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Underpinning this dilemma is the essential role of exports and their associated carbon intensity. Finally, we show that to solve this green transition dilemma, even structural change like the one proposed by the old Latin American structuralist school might not be sufficient – only through a process of green structural change will the long-lastingly desired prosperity of South American countries cease to be an impossible quest.Fil: Valdecantos, Sebastián. Aalborg University Business School; Denmark.Elsevier2025info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501info:ar-repo/semantics/articuloapplication/pdfhttps://nulan.mdp.edu.ar/id/eprint/4609/https://nulan.mdp.edu.ar/id/eprint/4609/1/valdecantos-2025.pdf Ecological Economics, 230, Artículo 108508. ISSN 0921-8009. 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108508 <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108508> reponame:Nülan (UNMDP-FCEyS)instname:Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Socialesenginfo:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108508América del Surinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.es2026-10-01T10:14:47Zoai:nulan.mdp.edu.ar:4609instacron:UNMDP-FCEySInstitucionalhttp://nulan.mdp.edu.ar/Universidad públicaNo correspondehttp://nulan.mdp.edu.ar/cgi/oai2cendocu@mdp.edu.arArgentinaNo correspondeNo correspondeNo correspondeopendoar:18452026-10-01 10:14:49.372Nülan (UNMDP-FCEyS) - Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Socialesfalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv The green transition dilemma: The impossible (?) quest for prosperity of South American economies
title The green transition dilemma: The impossible (?) quest for prosperity of South American economies
spellingShingle The green transition dilemma: The impossible (?) quest for prosperity of South American economies
Valdecantos, Sebastián
Cambio Climático
Transición Energética
Medio Ambiente
Desarrollo Sustentable
Política Energética
title_short The green transition dilemma: The impossible (?) quest for prosperity of South American economies
title_full The green transition dilemma: The impossible (?) quest for prosperity of South American economies
title_fullStr The green transition dilemma: The impossible (?) quest for prosperity of South American economies
title_full_unstemmed The green transition dilemma: The impossible (?) quest for prosperity of South American economies
title_sort The green transition dilemma: The impossible (?) quest for prosperity of South American economies
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Valdecantos, Sebastián
author Valdecantos, Sebastián
author_facet Valdecantos, Sebastián
author_role author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Cambio Climático
Transición Energética
Medio Ambiente
Desarrollo Sustentable
Política Energética
topic Cambio Climático
Transición Energética
Medio Ambiente
Desarrollo Sustentable
Política Energética
dc.description.none.fl_txt_mv This paper explores the tensions that the transition toward a zero‑carbon economy entails for countries relying on natural resource exploitation as the main drivers of (net) exports, as in most South American economies. Given their relatively low diversification and high technology gaps compared to advanced economies, attaining higher prosperity levels driven by sustained economic growth has recurrently been hampered by balance of payments crises. Using a simple long-run demand-led theoretical model with balance of payments constrained growth we show that if the structural limitations in their productive structure are not overcome, the decarbonization of the economy, be it exogenously imposed by the rest of the world or sovereignly decided by each South American country, will be exposed to the dilemma of increasing growth or reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Underpinning this dilemma is the essential role of exports and their associated carbon intensity. Finally, we show that to solve this green transition dilemma, even structural change like the one proposed by the old Latin American structuralist school might not be sufficient – only through a process of green structural change will the long-lastingly desired prosperity of South American countries cease to be an impossible quest.
Fil: Valdecantos, Sebastián. Aalborg University Business School; Denmark.
description This paper explores the tensions that the transition toward a zero‑carbon economy entails for countries relying on natural resource exploitation as the main drivers of (net) exports, as in most South American economies. Given their relatively low diversification and high technology gaps compared to advanced economies, attaining higher prosperity levels driven by sustained economic growth has recurrently been hampered by balance of payments crises. Using a simple long-run demand-led theoretical model with balance of payments constrained growth we show that if the structural limitations in their productive structure are not overcome, the decarbonization of the economy, be it exogenously imposed by the rest of the world or sovereignly decided by each South American country, will be exposed to the dilemma of increasing growth or reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Underpinning this dilemma is the essential role of exports and their associated carbon intensity. Finally, we show that to solve this green transition dilemma, even structural change like the one proposed by the old Latin American structuralist school might not be sufficient – only through a process of green structural change will the long-lastingly desired prosperity of South American countries cease to be an impossible quest.
publishDate 2025
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2025
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
info:ar-repo/semantics/articulo
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv https://nulan.mdp.edu.ar/id/eprint/4609/
https://nulan.mdp.edu.ar/id/eprint/4609/1/valdecantos-2025.pdf
url https://nulan.mdp.edu.ar/id/eprint/4609/
https://nulan.mdp.edu.ar/id/eprint/4609/1/valdecantos-2025.pdf
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv eng
language eng
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108508
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.es
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.es
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.coverage.none.fl_str_mv América del Sur
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv Ecological Economics, 230, Artículo 108508. ISSN 0921-8009. 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108508 <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108508>
reponame:Nülan (UNMDP-FCEyS)
instname:Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Sociales
reponame_str Nülan (UNMDP-FCEyS)
collection Nülan (UNMDP-FCEyS)
instname_str Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Sociales
repository.name.fl_str_mv Nülan (UNMDP-FCEyS) - Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Sociales
repository.mail.fl_str_mv cendocu@mdp.edu.ar
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score 13.365483

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