
Who are we?
Growth, Demand and Natural Resources (CREDENAT) is a research group of the Department of Economic Analysis (Faculty of Economics and Business) recognized as a Consolidated Research Group by the Government of Aragon. The group has a trajectory of more than 20 years of joint work in different areas: growth and globalization, economic dynamics, innovation and growth, social and environmental impacts of growth derived from i) carbon emissions and the ecological transition in general (regional and energy economy) ii) water resources and the territory (agricultural, water and climate change economy) and iii) innovation and technological change (structural change and evolutionary economy). Our research orientation combines the advance in theoretical and methodological issues, with the study of specific economic, social and environmental problems using the theoretical and empirical tools that best suit to study those problems. The diversity of problems we deal with explain the variety of disciplinary approaches that constitutes one of the strengths of the group. In the midst of the credibility revolution in economic science, we believe that this is the best way to make useful and relevant science.
What do we do?
We use a wide range of instruments: multisectoral and multiregional input-output models (MRIOs), social accounting matrices (MCSs), applied general equilibrium models (MEGAs), agent based and evolutionary models, game theory, and different econometric techniques. This varied set of techniques helps to fulfill a general goal: to study the economic, social and environmental sustainability of the ecological transition in which, whether we are aware or not, we have been immersed for a long time. Under that general objective, there are a number of specific issues on which we have worked or are doing so now: i) the water-energy nexus and its integration into global value chains, ii) development of agricultural and agri-food activities in a context of global warming, iv) patterns of innovation, competition and growth at different scales, iii) local, regional and international implications of regional and international climate change and global productive integration, etc. Through the indicators derived from these models, useful estimates have been obtained on water uses, virtual water products, irrigation efficiency, energy transition, and trade and resource flows between sectors, regions and countries. But to obtain these concrete empirical estimates, it is also necessary to carry out a simultaneous work of a more theoretical type that involves reviewing the assumptions and models as well as participating in the revision-elaboration of the theoretical frameworks located at the frontier of knowledge.