Economic reforms and sustainability: a conceptual analysis and framework

Abstract

Both economic reforms and sustainability havecometothefore atthesametimein recent years. In fact, they are contradictory to each other as also their underlying principles conflict with each other. For instance, economic reforms advocate faster rates of growth while sustainability pleads for slower rates fearing that the resource-base may be depleted faster and thereby, jeopardizing the interests of future generations. This is indeed a puzzling situation which the policy making system constantly faces. An attemptis made in this working paper to resolve this conflicting situation with a view to make sustainability compatible with the economic reforms.