Freedom from Pollution? The State, The People, and the Environmental Kuznets Curve

Craig A. Bond and Y. Hossein Farzin ()

No 190904, Working Papers from University of California, Davis, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics

Abstract: We develop and estimate an econometric model of the relationship between several local and global air and water pollutants and economic development while allowing for critical aspects of the socio-politicaleconomic regime of a State. We obtain empirical support for our hypothesis that democracy and its associated freedoms provide the conduit through which agents can exercise their preferences for environmental quality more effectively than under an autocratic regime, thus leading to decreased concentrations or emissions of pollution. However, additional factors such as income inequality, age distribution, and urbanization may mitigate or exacerbate the net effect of the type of political regime on pollution, depending on the underlying societal preferences and the weights assigned to those preferences by the State.

Keywords: Political Economy; Resource/Energy Economics and Policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 33
Date: 2004-05
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:ucdavw:190904

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.190904

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