Sustainable Europe Research Institute

This project analyses the metabolic changes and developments of the Chilean socio-economic system driven by export orientation and active integration in the world markets within the last 30 years.

Material flow accounting and analysis (MFA) is internationally recognised as a key tool to assess the economy-environment relationship and the biophysical metabolism of societies and to provide indicators for environmental pressures of human activities. In this project first steps towards the compilation of material flow accounts for Chile will be undertaken. In the 1970s, Chile was the first Latin American country to initiate a process of economic transformation towards an active integration in the world market system. This transformation process was accompanied by liberalisation and deregulation of national markets and the privatisation of former state owned industries. On the one hand, economists frequently emphasised the success of this neo-liberal, export oriented model in Chile referring to high rates of economic growth and decreasing inflation. On the other hand Chile's "free-market miracle" was mainly based on the intensification of primary commodity exports and lead to increased environmental pressures and higher inequalities in income distribution. The overall objective of this project is to assess and analyse this restructuring of the Chilean economy from the perspective of overall resource use in a time series from 1973-2000.

Hinterberger, F., Luks, F. (2001): Dematerialisation, competitiveness ad employment in a globalised economy. In: Munasinghe, Sunkel, de Miguel (eds): The sustainability of long-term growth: socioeconomic and ecological perspectives. Cheltenham, Edward Elgar

Giljum, S., Hubacek, K. (2001): International trade, material flows and land use: developing a physical trade balance for the European Union. Interim Report IR-01-59. International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA). Laxenburg, Austria

Wackernagel, M., Giljum, S. (2001): Der Import von �kologischer Tragf�higkeit: Globaler Handel und die Akkumulation von �kologischen Schulden. [Importing carrying capacity: global trade and the accumulation of ecological debt]. In: Natur und Kultur 2/1, pp. 33-54

Projects: International trade and material flows - the case of the Chilean export economy (planned)
This project analyses the metabolic changes and developments of the Chilean socio-economic system driven by export orientation and active integration in the world markets within the last 30 years. Material flow accounting and analysis (MFA) is internationally recognised as a key tool to assess the economy-environment relationship and the biophysical metabolism of societies and to provide indicators for environmental pressures of human activities. In this project first steps towards the compilation of material flow accounts for Chile will be undertaken. In the 1970s, Chile was the first Latin American country to initiate a process of economic transformation towards an active integration in the world market system. This transformation process was accompanied by liberalisation and deregulation of national markets and the privatisation of former state owned industries. On the one hand, economists frequently emphasised the success of this neo-liberal, export oriented model in Chile referring to high rates of economic growth and decreasing inflation. On the other hand Chile's "free-market miracle" was mainly based on the intensification of primary commodity exports and lead to increased environmental pressures and higher inequalities in income distribution. The overall objective of this project is to assess and analyse this restructuring of the Chilean economy from the perspective of overall resource use in a time series from 1973-2000. The main objectives of this project are to Account and analyse the development of the different MFA indicators in the selected time period. Quantify the material requirements for export production and relate them to the amount of material resources available for domestic consumption. Further specify existing approaches for indicators on the "material welfare" of societies. Relate the MFA-based indicators to standard socio-economic indicators, like GDP and employment, in order to calculate resource productivities and labour intensities of resource use, with special focus on the export sector. Discuss potential contributions of MFA to the ongoing debates on "ecologically unequal exchange" and "ecological debt" as well as "free trade versus environmental protection". Investigate the likely consequences for the Chilean export economy, if importing countries (e.g. countries of the European Union) decide to implement a strategy of dematerialisation. Partner institution Centro de An�lisis de Pol�ticas P�blicas, Universidad de Chile Publications Hinterberger, F., Luks, F. (2001): Dematerialisation, competitiveness ad employment in a globalised economy. In: Munasinghe, Sunkel, de Miguel (eds): The sustainability of long-term growth: socioeconomic and ecological perspectives. Cheltenham, Edward Elgar Giljum, S., Hubacek, K. (2001): International trade, material flows and land use: developing a physical trade balance for the European Union. Interim Report IR-01-59. International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA). Laxenburg, Austria Wackernagel, M., Giljum, S. (2001): Der Import von �kologischer Tragf�higkeit: Globaler Handel und die Akkumulation von �kologischen Schulden. [Importing carrying capacity: global trade and the accumulation of ecological debt]. In: Natur und Kultur 2/1, pp. 33-54	...back Contact Stefan Giljum

Have a nice day - Your SERI-Team.	last update 16-Jan-2002