Geography, environmental efficiency and Italian economic growth: a spatially-adapted Environmental Kuznets Curve

Ciriaci, Daria and Palma, Daniela (2010): Geography, environmental efficiency and Italian economic growth: a spatially-adapted Environmental Kuznets Curve.

Abstract

The present paper tests the hypothesis that environmental degradation and per capita income follow an inverted-U-shaped relationship (the so-called Environmental Kuznets Curve) at the Italian Nut3 level over the period 1990-2005. We adopt a spatial econometric approach to account for the localised nature of environmental damage. In this spatially-adapted EKC, we explicitly introduced the role of energy intensive sectors to control for local industrial structure. The experiment brought to light the existence of significant heterogeneity at the Italian Nut3 level and highlighted major differences between geographical clusters from the point of view of “ecological efficiency”.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Environmental Kuznets curves; Spatial econometrics; global and local pollutants; Geographically Weighted Regression Model.
• Subjects: Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics ; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q5 - Environmental Economics > Q56 - Environment and Development ; Environment and Trade ; Sustainability ; Environmental Accounts and Accounting ; Environmental Equity ; Population Growth; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O13 - Agriculture ; Natural Resources ; Energy ; Environment ; Other Primary Products; Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics ; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q5 - Environmental Economics > Q53 - Air Pollution ; Water Pollution ; Noise ; Hazardous Waste ; Solid Waste ; Recycling; C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C2 - Single Equation Models ; Single Variables > C21 - Cross-Sectional Models ; Spatial Models ; Treatment Effect Models ; Quantile Regressions

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