| The theory of economic growth is one that studies and explains the law of economic growth and the influencing factors.Since the emergence of economics,exploring the driving force of economic development is one of the main concerns of scholars.From natural resources,material capital,labor force originally proposed by classical economics to factors,such as technological progress,human capital and technological innovation originally proposed by neoclassical economics and development economics,all have been widely recognized,among which natural resources are the first economic development basis mentioned by economists.Although natural resources are not included in the subsequent classical economic growth theory models,natural resources are tacitly accepted as the material basis of economic growth.In the mainstream economic growth model,factors,such as capital,technology,human resources,institutions and other ones are variables that affect economic growth,while resource issues are deduced as production costs,because natural resources can be replaced by each other or other production factors,and natural resources are regarded as exogenous variables.With the expansion of the world population,the shortage of resources and energy,the deterioration of the ecological environment and the intensified social contradictions,the coordinated development of resources and environment has gradually become the consensus of the whole mankind.The relationship between natural resource constraints and economic growth has become a topic of widespread concern in recent years.Under the tide of globalization,China has achieved rapid economic development and urbanization,but the problems of resources and environment are prominent,and the contradiction between economic growth and natural resources constraints is becoming more and more serious.Therefore,the CPC Central Committee and the State Council attach great importance to the coordinated development of resources,environment and economy,and has put ecological civilization construction into the party's 18 th National Congress report.There are serious problems in the transformation of resource-based regions in China.Sufferring the influences in recent years,such as sharp reduction of resource reserves,lower international energy prices,structural reform of supply side,and the transformation of economic development model transformed from investment-driven to domestic demand-driven,resource-based regions such as Northeast China,Inner Mongolia,Shanxi,Gansu and Xinjiang are facing different degrees of development dilemma and greater difficulty in economic transformation.As a typical resource-based region in China,Inner Mongolia has 26.24% coal reserves,ranking first in the country,and is a representative resource-based area.While Inner Mongolia has achieved rapid social and economic development in mining coal resources,the problem of resources and environment is becoming more and more serious.Due to the extensive exploitation of coal resources,the waste of resources related to coal resources exploitation activities,such as water resources and land resources,is prominent.In addition,the distribution of water resources in Inner Mongolia is not uniform in region and time histories,and it is not compatible with the distribution of population and arable land,the economic growth of Inner Mongolia is constrained by natural resources to a certain extent.How to avoid the over-exploitation and utilization of natural resources and the constraints of natural resources and realize the coordinated development of resources,environment and economy is an important problem faced by resource-based regions.In view of these phenomena,clarifying the effects of natural resources in economic growth,recognizing the types of natural resources constraints,exploring the ways in which natural resources constraints affect economic growth,analyzing the relationship between natural resources and economic growth and dealing with the challenges faced by resource-based regions in China are of great practical significance to the transformation and coordinated development of resource-based regions.Inner Mongolia has the characteristics of abundant coal resources,lack of water resources and the largest area of grassland(cultivated land).Therefore,the dissertation takes Inner Mongolia,a coal resource based region,as research object,and coal resources,land resources and water resources as the main research topics.From the perspectives of natural resources constraints,the construction of comprehensive evaluation system of natural resources carrying capacity,and the analysis of natural resources carrying capacity,the dissertation demonstrates the constraints of different natural resources on economic growth,through the analysis of the mechanism that natural resource restricts economic growth,the dissertation puts forward relevant propositions.On the basis of sorting out the influence paths of different natural resource constraints on economic growth,the dissertation incorporates natural resources into the economic growth model and conducts an empirical study on the constraints of different total natural resources on economic growth.Through empirical test of relevant propositions,the dissertation dynamically analyses the impact of natural resource restraint on economic growth,explores the impact of different resource restraints on economic growth,and uses the research conclusions to seek ways to alleviate the natural resource restraint in the long-term economic growth process of resource-based areas,and puts forward corresponding policy recommendations.The dissertation mainly includes the following contents.Defines concepts related to natural resources and economic growth,sorts out the theory on the relationship between natural resources and economic growth,and provides the theoretical basis for the study(chapter two).Analyzes the natural resource constraints in Inner Mongolia's economic growth.By constructing a comprehensive evaluation index of natural resource carrying capacity and using the TOPSIS model of entropy weight,the three natural resources carrying capacity and the comprehensive carrying capacity of three natural resources are analyzed.At the same time,starting from the actual situation of land resources and water resources utilization in Inner Mongolia,screening relevant indicators,dividing warning indicator threshold value initerval of red,orange and yellow three-level detection based on international,national and local resource management guidelines,industry standards or relevant research results,conducting early warning analysis of natural resources carrying capacity in Inner Mongolia to find it's factual characteristics of natural resources constraints,which provides a realistic basis for the study of the mechanism of natural resources constraints impact economic growth(chapter Three).Studies the mechanism of natural resource constraint in economic growth.On the one hand,the impact mechanism of natural resource constraints on Inner Mongolia's economic growth is investigated by classification.Natural resources are taken as an input factor and incorporated into the economic growth model.The effects of different total natural resource constraints on economic growth are discussed separately.On the other hand,it comprehensively investigates the influence mechanism of natural resource constraints on Inner Mongolia's economic growth,puts forward four propositions on the basis of summarizing the relevant research literature,and dynamically analyses the attraction of rich natural resources to the elements of economic growth and different influence ways of structural constraints caused via control to economic growth,which provides theoretical basis for the following empirical analysis(chapter four).Empirical study on the impact of natural resource constraints on economic growth in Inner Mongolia.One is the classification study(chapter five).Natural resources are taken as factor input and incorporated into different economic growth models,panel data of Inner Mongolia leagues and cities over the years is used to sparately discuss the impact of three natural resources on economic growth and growth resistance caused by the limited total amount of natural resources so as to provide a basis for for exploring the countermeasures to alleviate resource constraints.The other is a comprehensive survey(chapter six).The chapter will test the 4 the propositions put forward in Chapter four,study the attraction of economic growth factors caused by natural resource endowment advantages and the different acting paths of resource structure constraints generated by control on economic growth,explain the causes of resource structure constraints,and provide the basis for solving the countermeasures of natural resource constraints.Conclusion and policy recommendations(chapter seven).The main conclusions of the dissertation are summarized,and corresponding policy recommendations are put forward to ease the constraints of natural resources in long-term economic growth and promote sustainable economic growth.The dissertation draws the following main conclusions by analyzing the mechanism of natural resource carrying capacity and natural resource constraints affecting economic growth in Inner Mongolia and empirically examining the impact of natural resource constraints on economic growth.Firstly,from the analysis of carrying capacity of natural resources,it is found that the carrying capacity of coal resources in Inner Mongolia has changed from weak to strong,the short-term restraint of total amount restriction is not obvious,and the carrying capacity of water resources is at a low level,which has become the "bottleneck" of economic growth.From the early warning analysis of water resources carrying capacity detection,it is found that the per capita water resources occupancy index is below the red warning line in most years,which indicates that the per capita water resources in Inner Mongolia are seriously lacking and water resources are scarce,which has become the "bottleneck" restricting the sustainable development of economy and society.Most of the annual data of water quality standards in water functional areas are in the red warning interval,indicating that water resources in Inner Mongolia are seriously polluted.The carrying capacity of land resources has changed from a low level to a medium level.From the early warning analysis of the carrying capacity of land resources,it is found that there is no early warning risk in per capita cultivated land area or per capita urban construction land area.Among them,the per capita urban construction land is increasing year by year,indicating that land resources investment is shifting from rural to urban.In the process of urbanization,it is necessary to allocate land resources investment between urban and rural areas rationally,and to maximize the efficiency of urban land use on the basis of meeting the needs of agricultural safety production.The area of ecological land in Inner Mongolia shows a downward trend,from the yellow warning threshold to the orange warning threshold,reflecting the gradual deterioration of the ecological environment in Inner Mongolia.The structure of coal,water and land resources affects the comprehensive carrying capacity of three natural resources.From the interaction of natural resources,although the carrying capacity of coal resources in Inner Mongolia is low in 2000-2013,the carrying capacity of water resources and land resources is relatively higher than that of coal resources,so under the comprehensive influence of the three natural resources,the carrying capacity of the three natural resources in 2000-2013 is higher than that of coal resources,that is,the carrying capacity of water resources and land resources enhances the comprehensive carrying capacity of resources.In the period of 2013-2016,although the carrying capacity of coal resources has risen sharply,the carrying capacity of water resources and land resources is lower than that of coal resources,which reduces the comprehensive carrying capacity.Although the carrying capacity of coal resources has risen from 2013 to 2016,the comprehensive carrying capacity of resources has declined.Secondly,a classification study of impact of natural resource constraints on economic growth shows that the elasticity of three kinds of natural resource inputs to output is positive,indicating that the three kinds of natural resources have played a positive role in promoting economic growth,that is,resource utilization can promote economic growth,which also explains why the rapid economic growth of resource-based areas is behind the huge consumption of resources.At the same time,the positive elasticity of natural resources input to output,that is,the positive correlation between them,illustrates that under other conditions unchanged,the reduction of natural resources,such as the absolute reduction of exhaustible resources and the relative reduction of renewable resources(the renewable capacity is less than the demand of economic growth),will lead to the corresponding reduction of output.The main reason for the negative effect of resource reduction on economic growth is that the reduction of the amount of resources(total amount)reduces the supply of factors that promote economic growth,so in the long run,the shortage of resources will ultimately restrict economic growth.From the calculation of "growth resistance" of different natural resources,it is found that the "growth resistance" of coal and water to economic growth is 0.0169 and 0.0058,respectively.These are the natural resource constraints that the economy,especially the resource-based economy,will face.However,economic growth ultimately depends on the collective effect of technological progress,resource consumption rate,regeneration rate and other factors.The progress of technology can reduce the waste of resources and environmental pollution in the process of resource exploitation,improve the efficiency of resource utilization,and alleviate the constraints of natural resources in the process of long-term economic growth.Thirdly,from the comprehensive study of the impact of natural resource constraints on economic growth,it is found that,firstly,due to the advantages of natural resources,the exploitation of rich natural resources will promote the short-term economic growth of the region.Secondly,due to the superior natural resources endowment and short-term dividend of natural resources,the development of rich natural resources industry will attract and control the elements of economic growth,resulting in the uneven distribution structure of resources among different industries,resource structure constraints,industrial structure deformities and resource industry dependence.Thirdly,the dependence of natural resources industry has a "crowding-out effect" on education investment,science and technology investment,manufacturing industry and water resources dependence industry,which weakens the propelling effect of the above indicators on economic growth and is not conducive to long-term economic growth.While strengthening the government's intervention in the economy,the dependence on natural resources will increase the investment in material capital and achieve economic growth through the investment in material capital.This extensive economic growth mode is not conducive to long-term economic development.At the same time,through the study,it is found that the coal resource industry dependence in Inner Mongolia,which is rich in coal resources,has a significant negative impact on water resources,water resources environment and land resources,and has increased the negative impact of water resources shortage on land resources,thus having a negative impact on economic growth.Finally,the natural resource industry depends on the transmission path mentioned above,which ultimately has a negative impact on long-term economic growth.In the process of exploring different paths of resource constraints affecting economic growth in resource-based areas,this paper focuses on the impact of government behavior on different paths.The analysis shows that excessive government intervention in the economy will have a negative impact on education investment,science and technology investment,manufacturing development,water resources abundance and land resources.The disertation introduces the multiplier of government intervention index and natural resource dependence index in empirical analysis,and finds that under the appropriate government intervention,the appropriate dependence on natural resources is conducive to education investment,science and technology investment,manufacturing industry development,water resources and land resources abundance.This also reflects the need for resource-based regions to shift resource-based income to other productive capital under the appropriate intervention of the government,give full play to the advantages of natural resources,benefit from natural resources,successfully avoid the curse of natural resources,and achieve long-term and stable economic and social development.Based on the above research results,the disertation puts forward five suggestions for alleviating the constraints of natural resources in the process of long-term economic growth and realizing the coordinated development of natural resources and economy.(1)scientifically and rationally use and develop resources.(2)Improve the ability of technological innovation and the efficiency of resource utilization.(3)Implement diversified development of industries to avoid dependence on natural resources industry and break through the constraints of natural resources.(4)Innovate institutions and rationally distribute “resources bonus”.(5)Appropriate Government Intervention in Economy.The research on the relationship between natural resources and economic growth is an important topic in the field of international economics.Scholars have made rich discussions in this field.On the basis of fully absorbing and drawing lessons from the existing research results,the author has done a lot of research and expansion.The possible innovations in the dissertation are mainly embodied in the following three aspects.Firstly,on the basis of reviewing the existing research on carrying capacity of natural resources,a comprehensive evaluation index system considering four dimensions of natural resources,ecological environment,socio-economic and population development is constructed to analyze the carrying capacity of natural resources in Inner Mongolia.Secondly,based on the actual situation of Inner Mongolia,when analyzing the impact of land resources on economic growth,the assumption of land resources invariance in Romer(2001)model is extended,and the resistance of land resources constraints to the growth of urban and rural economy in Inner Mongolia is calculated respectively.Thirdly,most of the existing studies have analyzed the path of natural resources' influence on economic growth from one aspect,such as the crowding-out effect of exhaustible resources exploitation on manufacturing,education,investment and savings,thus affecting long-term economic growth,ignoring the comprehensive impact of natural resources exploitation activities and other natural resources on economic growth.Based on the actual situation of Inner Mongolia,the dissertation considers that the exploitation and utilization of rich natural resources will attract and control the elements of economic growth,resulting in unbalanced resource structure and crowding-out effect on related activities promoting economic growth.Therefore,based on the existing research literature and the logic of "crowding out effect",the dissertation puts forward a hypothesis proposition and explores the path of natural resource constraints affecting economic growth from a dynamic point of view.The main shortcomings of this study are as follows.Firstly,when calculating the resistance of different natural resource constraints to economic growth,the Romer(2001)model is extended based on the "growth resistance" calculation method proposed by Nordhaus(1992).The total resource constraints are analyzed by Cobb-Douglas production function.Among them,there is a gap between the assumptions of constant scale reward and the reality.At present,most of the relevant studies use this method to analyze the resistance of natural resources growth,relax the assumptions,and build a theoretical model more in line with the reality is worth exploring.Secondly,in Chapter six,when multivariable linear regression model is constructed to analyze the impact of natural resource constraints on economic growth,there may be some missing factors.Because there are many factors influencing economic growth,the dissertation mainly considers the factors such as technological innovation ability,material capital investment,coal resources,water resources,land resources,resource dependence,manufacturing investment,infrastructure construction level,government intervention degree,etc.,it does not consider the policy and institutional factors,which is also the direction of further research in the dissertation.Thirdly,the dissertation regards resource constraints as the main variable affecting economic growth in resource-based regions,focuses on the impact of natural resources on economic growth,without considering the evolution process of regional economic growth when technological innovation,scientific and technological progress,system,market and other factors interact in an all-round way,which is also one of the further problems to be solved in the dissertation. |
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