Journal of Emerging Trends in Economics and Management Sciences: Home

Abstract:
Measuring sustainability is a permanent theoretical and empirical argument in the environment economics literature. The controversy in interpreting sustainable development has allowed alternative methods for measuring sustainability. In general, the current paper reviews the neoclassical approach in measuring sustainability; it presents an in-depth analysis of the main available measurements, their shortcomings and their contributions to the literature... In specific, the paper introduces a comprehensive review of the World Bank concept for measuring sustainability based on genuine savings concept. Furthermore, the paper provides a per capita analysis of the World Bank concept in selected sets of developing economies. The calculation of the per capita measure allows a further contribution in the analysis as well as enriches the policy implications for developing economies. Although both the Pearce & Atkinson concept and the World Bank concept follow the neoclassical assumptions in measuring sustainability, yet it is important to highlight the main difference between the two concepts. Thus, the paper highlights the limitations in the World Bank concept and suggests recommendations to overcome these shortcomings. However, it is of a great importance to take the proposition of capital transfer with much concern and carefully recognize its limitations.

Keywords: sustainability, sustainable development, genuine savings, human capital, man- made capital,

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