Riassunto analitico
Abstract
The environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis assumes that there is an inverted-U shape relationship between economic development and environmental degradation. The bell-shaped pattern of the EKC has been supported by several empirical studies for the majority of local pollutants, such as sulphur dioxide and suspended particulates. In the case of a global greenhouse gas, CO2, however, the evidence is at best mixed. The main aim of this thesis is to test whether the EKC holds with a more recent and updated panel database composed of 102 countries for a time frame of 20 years (1996-2015). As regressors I use most of the variables suggested by the empirical literature together with other variables of interest. My results show that, even when alternative and different parametric set ups are employed for describing the relationship between CO2 emissions and per capita GDP, the emergence of a bell-shaped environmental Kuznets curve with reasonable turning points is a possibility that cannot be discarded.
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