Economic Growth, inequality and environment quality: An empirical analysis applied to developing and transition countries

Matthieu Clément and André Meunié

Cahiers du GREThA (2007-2019) from Groupe de Recherche en Economie Théorique et Appliquée (GREThA)

Abstract: This article aims at examining the relationship between social inequalities and pollution. On the one hand, it proposes a survey which shows that from a theoretical point of view, a decrease in inequality has an undetermined effect on environment. On the other hand, on the basis of these theoretical considerations, we propose an econometric analysis based on panel data for developing and transition countries during the period 1988-2003. More precisely, we examine the effect of income inequalities on the degree of local pollution (sulphur dioxide emissions and organic water pollution) by integrating Gini index in the formulation of environmental Kuznets curve. Then, two effects may be tested: (i) a direct effect of inequalities on pollution; (ii) an indirect effect by which the degree of inequality influence pollution by his negative impact on political freedoms.

Keywords: pollution; inequality; environmental Kuznets curve; panel data (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C23 Q01 Q53 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-env and nep-tra
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Working Paper: Economic Growth, inequality and environment quality: An empirical analysis applied to developing and transition countries (2008)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:grt:wpegrt:2008-13

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