Research trends in resource and environmental management: a review of the literature

Environmental and resource management have often been at odds with industrialisation and rapid economic growth and this is apparent when reviewing the cases of growing economies of China and India. This article reviews the literature and concludes that not only promoting effective natural resource management contributes to price stability, availability of products and long-term employment, but also that it is socially desirable in terms of poverty reduction and reducing the burden on public health systems. The article further proposes that a key step in alleviating the clash between the national desire to grow and its potential adverse effects on the environment and natural resources is the enhancement of academic research on sustainable resource and environmental management among the intellectual community. Accordingly, we have investigated the current research trends to assess whether the academic institutions are on the right research track.