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Tracing Sustainability In The Long Run: Genuine Savings Estimates 1850 – 2018

Abstract: We introduce a new database of historical Genuine Savings (GS), an indicator of sustainable development promoted by the World Bank and widely used in contemporary economic research. GS derives from the theoretical work on wealth accounting, and addresses shortcomings in conventional metrics of economic development by incorporating broader measures of saving and investment, including human capital (education), and natural resource depletion. Its value as an indicator is determined by its ability to be used to predict future well-being. This article provides consistent historical estimates of GS since 1850 for 25 countries to enhance, complement, and contextualise the work of the World Bank and others.

JEL Classification: N10, N50, Q01, Q32, Q56

Cite this paper:
Eoin McLaughlin, Cristián Ducoing, Les Oxley, ‘Tracing Sustainability In The Long Run: Genuine Savings Estimates 1850 – 2018’, National Bureau Of Economic Research Working Paper Series, April 2023.