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 -