Natural (natural resource) capital: development and essential content of the concept

Abstract

The capital-forming function of natural resources is currently not questioned within the frame-work of various directions of economic thought. However, the process of realizing their role and place in the reproductive process has a rather long history. In this context, the article presents the author's view on the genesis and development of the concept of natural capital from the first attempts to identify the participation of natural resources in the process of value formation to modern approaches to postulating the essential content of this capital’s form and identifying its constituent elements.