Resources, Scarcities and Rents: Technological Interdependence and the Dynamics of Socio-Economic Structures

The aim of this paper is to draw together the manifold lines of investigations pursued in the volume 'Resources, Production and Structural Dynamics' , to discuss their common core, and to suggest further lines of research. Three principal fields of inquiry are central in the investigative strategy of the volume: 1 The first is the economic theory of structural scarcities. Structural scarcities may derive from different sources. There are structural scarcities associated with natural resources of different types, and those deriving from the use oftechniques and technologies (combinations of interdependent techniques) that constrain the processes of capital accumulation along specific trajectories. Structural scarcities have important consequences on income distribution and emphasize the fundamental role of rents and non-proportional dynamics. 2 The second is the analysis of macroeconomic distribution and growth when social and institutional factors introduce conditions external to the production sphere and influence resource utilization at the aggregate level. Economic systems may switch from one dynamic trajectory to another depending on the initial configuration of those conditions and its transformation over time. 3 The third is the historical evolution of resource utilization patterns. Economic and technological history shows a great variety of resource types and modes of resource utilization, and often structural change is associated with the switch from one resource base to another. The stylized history of resource utilization emphasizes the mutual influence of scarcities and producibility as economic systems move from one configuration to another in the growth process. The relationship between scarcities and producibility calls attention to the relationship between resources and socio-economic structures, as alternative configurations of interests in society may lead to different patterns of resource utilization and different dynamic trajectories. In this way, the structural analysis of resources leads to the political economy of resources and structural change.