Submission of paper-abstract for presentation under the topic ‘macroeconomics and the environment’ or
‘transboundary resource management’
Making use of one’s resources? Latin America’s and Southeast Asia’s place in the world economy
Nina Eisenmenger and Heinz Schandl, IFF – Social Ecology Austria
In a world economy a global division of labor is established which assigns to every country a specific function
and position. Thus, the socioeconomic structure of a nation state is influenced by the specific position in the
world economy and the resulting trade relations. With it also the interactions of the society and its natural
environment are significantly shaped. Thus, trade patterns and resulting unequal exchange can lead to
environmental pressures in a specific region without supporting regional development.
In this paper we focus on the biophysical dimension of international trade of developing countries – using
material flow accounts – in two world regions: South America (Brazil, Chile and Venezuela) and Southeast Asia
(Laos, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam). Data is compared to industrialized economies (EU-15, USA and
Japan) and related to other socioeconomic indicators. The comparative analysis draws a picture of developing
countries that represent two different patterns of biophysical and socioeconomic development. The South
American countries are portrayed by relative affluence but high environmental pressure due to intensive
agriculture and extractive industries such as copper- and oil-production. High indeptness seems to force the
countries into a development of specialization in resource extraction for the world market. The Southeast Asian
countries on the other hand experienced an economic boom until 1997 followed by a sharp crisis in the late
1990ies. The economies still include a large agricultural sector and are less integrated in world market. However,
besides the agricultural sector an increasing amount of economic production occurs in labor-intensive
industrialized production for exports.
This comparison shows on the one hand a biophysical picture of developing countries compared to industrialized
countries especially according to their trade relations. On the other hand regional patterns are observable that
describe different paths of development that offer interesting starting points for future development options.
Contact information
Nina Eisenmenger
IFF – Social Ecology
Schottenfeldgasse 29, 1070 Vienna
Fon: +43/1/5224000-408
Fax: +43/1/5224000-477
Email: nina.eisenmenger@univie.ac.at