摘要: Resource and land frontiers have always been a significant focus of geography but become overlooked in economics economic history. Yet critical driving force behind global development has the response human society to natural resource scarcity, not just through conserving scarce resources also by obtaining developing more them. A handful theories how such classic frontier expansion shaped formulated, these are discussed reviewed. Evidence from history is cited illustrate effects, implications for resource-based Contemporary Era (1950 present) discussed. Unlike previous eras, pattern dualistic. This led less economy-wide benefits frontier-based Era.