Abstract: The value of the elasticity of substitution of capital for resources is a crucial element in the debate over whether continual growth is possible. It is generally held that the elasticity has to be at least one to permit continual growth and that there is no way of estimating this...

Abstract. It is the size of the elasticity of substitution that has been the central issue in the long debate over the possibility of continuous growth in the presence of exhaustible resources. This paper reviews the debate and comes to the surprising conclusion that , unnoticed by the...