2000/08/01 by Jon D. Erickson, John M. Gowdy · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies #Sustainability #Resource (disambiguation) #Business #Environmental resource management #Natural resource economics #Geography #Economics #Ecology #Computer science #Biology
paper · doi:10.2307/3147033
openalex publication_date 2000/08/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/11
This paper examines two Pacific Island cultures, Easter Island and Tikopia, and the relationship between natural resource systems, human-made capital, population growth, and institutional change. Easter Island followed a preindustrial society pattern of overshoot-and collapse. However, Tikopia evolved cultural practices leading to zero-population growth and sustainable resource use. Using a modified Lotka- Volterra, predator-prey model, we find (1) investment in human-made capital does not necessarily eliminate the boom- and bust-cycles of economic activity and population observed in many past societies; and (2) institutional adaptation and resource conservation can be critical in achieving population stability.