Capitalism, State Economic Policy and Ecological Footprint: An International Comparative Analysis

Ş. İlgü Özler and Brian K. Obach
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Ş. İlgü Özler: Ş. İlgü Özler received her Ph.D. in Political Science from University of California, Los Angeles and is now an Assistant Professor of Political Science at State University of New York at New Paltz. Her research focuses on the relationship between civil society, social movements and political parties in Latin America-especially in Mexico and Chile-and also in Turkey. She has published articles in Turkish Studies Journal and in Mexican Studies Journal.
Brian K. Obach: Brian Obach received his Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 2000. He is now an Associate Professor of Sociology at the State University of New York at New Paltz. He conducts research on social movements, political economy and the environment. He is the author of Labor and the Environmental Movement: The Quest for Common Ground (2004). He has also published articles in scholarly journals such as Organization and Environment, Social Science Quarterly, and Society and Natural Resources, among others.

Global Environmental Politics, 2009, vol. 9, issue 1, 79-108

Abstract: This article examines the relationship between state economic policy and environmental performance. It tests the hypothesis that a greater reliance on free market policies leads to higher levels of resource use and pollution. This issue sits at the heart of much theoretical debate about the role of capitalism in environmental performance. The Economic Freedom Index is used as a measure of the degree to which states adhere to free market policies. Environmental performance is measured through the use of per capita ecological footprint, a measure that accounts for a broad range of resource use and pollution. Pooled time series analysis is used to examine economic policies and environmental performance in 110 countries from the years 1996 to 2003. The results indicate that free market policies are associated with greater ecological degradation, but that not all aspects of capitalism have this negative effect. (c) 2009 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Date: 2009
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