We analyze the spatio-temporal dynamics of capital and pollution in an economic growth model with purposive environmental protection activities. The production process of a unique homogeneous good generates pollution, thus the increases in output associated with economic growth tend to rise the stock of pollution. Pollution is a negative production externality which thus feeds back on the economy lowering the level of output; in order to compensate for such a negative effect associated with economic development, pollution is reduced by publicly funded abatement activities. We firstly consider a Solow-type framework in which economic and environmental policies are completely exogenous, and then we move to a Ramsey-type context in which they are endogenously determined. We analyze the spatio-temporal dynamics of the model economy through numerical simulations, and we consider two different specifications of the production function (a globally concave and a convex-concave technology) in order to stress the role that eventual poverty traps might play on both economic and environmental outcomes. We show that in the convexconcave technology framework, whenever rich regions are substantially rich diffusion can help poor regions to escape their poverty traps; if however they are not rich enough diffusion might condemn also rich regions to collapse. However, even if rich regions are particularly rich whenever the pollution externality is strong, the whole spatial economy might be doomed to collapse. Forthcoming in Mathematical Social Sciences AbstractWe analyze the spatio-temporal dynamics of capital and pollution in an economic growth model with purposive environmental protection activities. The production process of a unique homogeneous good generates pollution, thus the increases in output associated with economic growth tend to rise the stock of pollution. Pollution is a negative production externality which thus feeds back on the economy lowering the level of output; in order to compensate for such a negative effect associated with economic development, pollution is reduced by publicly funded abatement activities. We firstly consider a Solow-type framework in which economic and environmental policies are completely exogenous, and then we move to a Ramseytype context in which they are endogenously determined. We analyze the spatio-temporal dynamics of the model economy through numerical simulations, and we consider two different specifications of the production function (a globally concave and a convex-concave technology) in order to stress the role that eventual poverty traps might play on both economic and environmental outcomes. We show that in the convex-concave technology framework, whenever rich regions are substantially rich diffusion can help poor regions to escape their poverty traps; if however they are not rich enough diffusion might condemn also rich regions to collapse. However, even if rich regions are particularly rich whenever the pollution externality is strong, the whole spatial economy mi...

The author analyses the implications of tourism activities on economic growth and environmental assets, focusing especially on small island countries. She develops a stylized dynamic economic model in which tourism is the trigger of the incentive mechanism leading to abatement activities and economic growth. The basic idea is that tourists choose the location to visit according to a number of factors (including environmental quality) which are affected by residents' choices. If residents engage in environmental protection activities, it then may be possible for environmentally-based tourism economies to reach a smooth development process. The author shows that the (sustainable) balanced growth path is the only viable equilibrium, and along such a path consumption grows while environmental quality rises. Tourists' preferences crucially affect the long-run outcome, since economic and environmental growth rates increase with the green preference and decrease with the grey preference and crowding aversion parameters. Thus, if tourism specialization is to be the pathway to development, green tourism will need to be promoted.

Tourism specialization on the one hand may be a successful tool to achieve fast economic growth, and, on the other hand, may be detrimental for natural resources. Finding the right balance between economic benefits and environmental costs is essential to reach sustainable development, ensuring that tourist numbers do not exceed the carrying capacity of the tourism destination. In this context, the author analyses the determination of the optimal number of visitors in a tourism-based economy and shows that if the tourist number is optimally determined long-run sustainable growth will be possible. He also shows that the optimal number of tourists is strictly smaller than the carrying capacity of the tourism destination, and that such a condition is vital to achieve long-run growth.

We analyze the impact of financial development on economic growth. Differently from previous studies that focus mainly on balanced growth path outcomes, we also analyze the transitional dynamics of our model economy by using a finance‐extended Uzawa–Lucas framework where financial intermediation affects both human and physical capital accumulation. We show that, under certain rather general conditions, economic growth may turn out to be non‐monotonically related to financial development (as suggested by the most recent empirical evidence) and that too much finance may be detrimental to growth. We also show that the degree of financial development may affect the speed of convergence, which suggests that finance may play a crucial role in determining the length of the recovery process associated with exogenous shocks. Moreover, in a special case of the model, we observe that, under a realistic set of parameters, social welfare decreases with financial development, meaning that even when finance positively affects economic growth the short‐term costs associated with financial activities more than compensate their long‐run benefits.

Goal programming (GP) is an important class of multi-criteria decision models widely used to analyze and solve applied problems involving conflicting objectives. Originally introduced in the 1950s by Charnes et al. (Manag Sci 2:138-151, 1955) the popularity and applications of GP has increased immensely due to the mathematical simplicity and modeling elegance. Over the recent decades algorithmic developments and computational improvements have greatly contributed to the diverse applications and several variants of GP models. In this paper we present a state of the art literature review on GP applications in three selected (prominent and popular) areas, namely engineering, management and social sciences. Forthcoming in Annals of Operations ResearchAbstract Goal programming (GP) is an important class of multi-criteria decision models widely used to analyze and solve applied problems involving conflicting objectives. Originally introduced in the 1950s by Charnes et al. (1955) the popularity and applications of GP has increased immensely due to the mathematical simplicity and modeling elegance. Over the recent decades algorithmic developments and computational improvements have greatly contributed to the diverse applications and several variants of GP models. In this paper we present a state of the art literature review on GP applications in three selected (prominent and popular) areas, namely engineering, management and social sciences.

We provide a very simple macroeconomic investigation of the role that structural changes might play in generating inverted U-shaped income-pollution relationships. Differently from previous research which mainly focuses on empirical, static or general equilibrium models, we develop a standard balanced growth path (BGP) analysis. We show that along the BGP equilibrium an inverted U-shaped income-pollution relationship may occur as a response to structural changes, but whether this is the case or not it will crucially depend upon the magnitude of a production externality parameter. Moreover, we show that the negative relationship between income and pollution can only be a transitory phenomenon, and in the long run pollution will increase as income rises, generating overall an N-shaped pattern. Abstract We provide a very simple macroeconomic investigation of the role that structural changes might play in generating inverted U-shaped income-pollution relationships. Differently from previous research which mainly focuses on empirical, static or general equilibrium models, we develop a standard balanced growth path (BGP) analysis. We show that along the BGP equilibrium an inverted U-shaped income-pollution relationship may occur as a response to structural changes, but whether this is the case or not it will crucially depend upon the magnitude of a production externality parameter. Moreover, we show that the negative relationship between income and pollution can only be a transitory phenomenon, and in the long run pollution will increase as income rises, generating overall an N-shaped pattern.Keywords Environmental Kuznets curve · Economic growth · Structural changeWe are grateful to Baran Doda and Andrew John for insightful discussions. We also wish to thank the participants to the WCERE 2014 (Istanbul, Turkey), WAMS 2014 (Melbourne, Australia) and JCU seminar for helpful comments and suggestions. We are indebted to two anonymous referees for their constructive comments helping us to substantially improve our paper.

We analyze the optimal control of disease prevention and treatment in a basic SIS model. We develop a simple macroeconomic setup in which the social planner determines how to optimally intervene, through income taxation, in order to minimize the social cost, inclusive of infection and economic costs, of the spread of an epidemic disease. The disease lowers economic production and thus income by reducing the size of the labor force employed in productive activities, tightening thus the economy's overall resources constraint. We consider a framework in which the planner uses the collected tax revenue to intervene in either prevention (aimed at reducing the rate of infection) or treatment (aimed at increasing the speed of recovery). Both optimal prevention and treatment policies allow the economy to achieve a disease-free equilibrium in the long run but their associated costs are substantially different along the transitional dynamic path. By quantifying the social costs associated with prevention and treatment we determine which policy is most cost-effective under different circumstances, showing that prevention (treatment) is desirable whenever the infectivity rate is low (high).

We analyze the determination of the optimal intensity and duration of social distancing policy aiming to control the spread of an infectious disease in a simple macroeconomic–epidemiological model. In our setting the social planner wishes to minimize the social costs associated with the levels of disease prevalence and output lost due to social distancing, both during and at the end of epidemic management program. Indeed, by limiting individuals’ ability to freely move or interact with others (since requiring to wear face mask or to maintain physical distance from others, or even forcing some businesses to remain closed), social distancing has on the one hand the effect to reduce the disease incidence and on the other hand to reduce the economy’s productive capacity. We analyze both the early and the advanced epidemic stage intervention strategies highlighting their implications for short and long run health and macroeconomic outcomes. We show that both the intensity and the duration of the optimal social distancing policy may largely vary according to the epidemiological characteristics of specific diseases, and that the balancing of the health benefits and economic costs associated with social distancing may require to accept the disease to reach an endemic state. Focusing in particular on COVID-19 we present a calibration based on Italian data showing how the optimal social distancing policy may vary if implemented at national or at regional level.