Environment, human development and economic growth

Over the last few years, environmental issues have entered into policy design, particularly development and growth policies. Natural resources are considered necessary production inputs and environmental quality is considered a welfare determinant. The integration of environmental issues into economic growth and development theories and empirics is currently widely analyzed in the literature. The effects of natural resources endowment on economic growth are mainly analyzed through the so-called Resource Curse Hypothesis (RCH) whereas the effects of economic growth on environmental quality are part of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC). Furthermore, recent contributions on RCH and EKC have shown the important role of institutions and human development dimensions in building a sustainable development path. In this paper, we attempt to analyze the causal relationships between economic growth, human development and sustainability combining the RCH and EKC models and adopting a human development perspective. Results confirm the importance of high institutional quality and investments for human capital accumulation in order to build a sustainable development path.     

Does Ecological Footprint Impede Economic Growth? An Empirical Analysis Based on the Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis

This paper examines the relationship between income and environmental quality using environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis. The hypothesised link is tested using time‐series analysis of 22 countries over the period 1961–2011. The degree of environmental impacts of economic activity is measured using ecological footprint (EF) per capita as explanatory variable, while real gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and its quadratic and cubic forms are used as predictor variables in these countries. First, the EKC hypothesis is tested through examining the relationship between EF and GDP using linear, quadratic and cubic functions. Further, the long‐run relationship between EF and GDP is investigated using a vector error correction model. It was found that there is a cointegrated relationship between the variables in almost all countries, which was statistically significant, and EKC supported in 10 countries. Additionally, almost all error correction terms are correct in sign and are significant, which implies that some percentage of disequilibria in EF in the previous year adjusts back to the long‐run equilibrium in the current year. Therefore, an efficient trade‐off between environmental protection and economic benefits should be taken, and EF should be reduced through changing consumption patterns, improving the efficiency of use of resources and cleaner technology choices.     

The cost of natural capital consumption: Accounting for a sustainable world economy

The System for integrated Environmental and Economic Accounting (SEEA) has been criticized in this journal for ignoring the benefits of ecosystem services for human well-being. This paper argues that extended national accounts should not attempt measuring economic welfare. Rather, they could and should assess the environmental sustainability of economic activity as the cost of natural capital consumption. The global application of SEEA concepts and methods demonstrates the feasibility of international green accounting. For the world economy, sustainability costs run to about 3 trillion US$ or 6% of world GDP. Large variations at national and regional levels suggest that conventional economic indicators may significantly overstate economic progress in some parts of the world. Data gaps and lack of data comparability affect these first estimates. National and international statistical services should be more aggressive in greening the national accounts. More prudent and more sustainable economic policies might be the result.     

Gross national happiness as an answer to the Easterlin Paradox?

The Easterlin Paradox refers to the fact that happiness data are typically stationary in spite of considerable increases in income. This amounts to a rejection of the hypothesis that current income is the only argument in the utility function. We find that the happiness responses of around 350,000 people living in the OECD between 1975 and 1997 are positively correlated with the level of income, the welfare state and (weakly) with life expectancy; they are negatively correlated with the average number of hours worked, environmental degradation (measured by SOx emissions), crime, openness to trade, inflation and unemployment; all controlling for country and year dummies. These effects separate across groups in a pattern that appears broadly plausible (e.g., the rich suffer environmental degradation more than the poor). Based on actual changes from 1975 to 1997, small contributions to happiness can be attributed to the increase in income in our sample. Interestingly, the actual changes in several of the ‘omitted variables’ such as life expectancy, hours worked, inflation and unemployment also contribute to happiness over this time period since life expectancy has risen and the others have, on average, fallen. Consequently the unexplained trend in happiness is even bigger than would be predicted if income was the only argument in the utility function. In other words, introducing omitted variables worsens the income-without-happiness paradox.     

Happiness Research: State and Prospects

This paper intends to provide an evaluation of where the economic research on happiness stands and in which interesting directions it might develop. First, the current state of the research on happiness in economics is briefly discussed. We emphasize the potential of happiness research in testing competing theories of individual behavior. Second, the crucial issue of causality is taken up illustrating it for a particular case, namely whether marriage makes people happy or whether happy people get married. Third, happiness research is taken up as a new approach to measuring utility in the context of cost-benefit analysis.     

The environmental Kuznets curve when the environment exhibits hysteresis

The relevance and implications of the environmental Kuznets hypothesis are examined in the presence of stock effects and non-linearities associated with pollution generation. Stock effects lead to hysteresis and irreversibilities in environmental quality that are overlooked when emphasis is placed on the flow effects of pollutants only. It is demonstrated here that an optimal growth plan in the presence of stock effects shifts the focus away from prescribing economic growth as a panacea for environmental ills. Implications for currently industrializing economies are discussed.     

Reliability of recall in agricultural data

Despite the importance of agriculture to economic development, and a vast accompanying literature on the subject, little research has been done on data quality. Due to survey logistics, agricultural data are usually collected by asking respondents to recall the details of events occurring during past agricultural seasons, potentially leading to recall bias. The problem is further complicated when interviews are conducted over the course of several months, thus leading to recall of variable length. To test for recall bias, the length of time between harvest and interview is examined for three African countries with respect to several common agricultural input and harvest measures. The analysis shows little evidence of large recall bias impacting data quality. There is some indication that more salient events are less subject to recall decay. Overall, the results allay some concerns about the quality of some types of agricultural data collected through recall over lengthy periods.     

我国经济增长与环境质量关系的再检验

建立了经济增长与环境质量的关系理论模型,利用1985—2008年全国时间序列数据,通过相关分析、协整分析分别建立了工业三废与经济增长之间的回归模型,对经济增长与环境质量之间的关系进行了实证分析。结果表明:我国环境质量与经济增长之间并不存在EKC"倒U"关系;经济增长、产业结构、技术要素和污染治理都是影响环境质量的重要因素。     

Heterogeneous technology and panel data: The case of the agricultural production function

Economic growth involves reallocating resources from traditional to new techniques of production, creating new relationships between particular resources and productivity. The paper analyzes the implications of this process on the estimation of agricultural production functions using a panel of countries. The data includes a measure of capital in agriculture absent from most studies. We employ a heterogeneous technology framework where implemented technology is chosen jointly with inputs to interpret information obtained in the empirical analysis of panel data. In this framework, estimates depend upon the economic environment, which is represented by state variables. It turns out that the old problem of identifying the production function cannot be resolved through the use of instrumental variables, but can be resolved using the allocation error. The paper discusses the scope for replacing country and time effects by observed state variables. The empirical results differ from those reported in the literature for cross-country studies, largely in augmenting the elasticities of capital and land and reducing those of fertilizer and labor. The evaluation of the marginal value productivity accounts for the flow of capital and fertilizer to agriculture and the flow of labor to other sectors, thereby contributing to overall economic growth.     

East‐Asian Happiness Gap

Despite spectacular economic growth, most East‐Asian countries (especially those with the Confucian cultures) score very low in happiness surveys. The present paper speculates on the reasons for this East‐Asian happiness gap, including environmental disruption, excessive competitiveness, repressive education, excessive conformity, negative attitudes towards enjoyment, and the emphasis on outward appearance. The desired direction of future growth, especially regarding the relative importance of public spending on the environment and research, and the non‐material aspects of life, are also briefly touched on.     

Can religion insure against aggregate shocks to happiness? The case of transition countries

This paper examines the effects of reforms and religion on happiness in transition economies. Earlier literature suggests that religiosity insures happiness against various individual stressful life events. This phenomenon is well-explored in developed countries but rarely studied in post-communist countries, where religion was officially suppressed for a long period. These countries have undergone considerable economic transformations over the past two decades. Using cross-sectional Life in Transition Survey data and historical data on religions, I examine if religion insures against economic reforms. The endogeneity of religion is taken into account. The findings suggest that economic reforms may have both positive and negative effects on happiness. Religiosity indeed insures happiness and perceptions of economic and political situations against economic reforms.     

Children’s environmental health,education, and economic development

Abstract This article aims at investigating the interplay between environmental quality, health, and economic development in a unified OLG framework. Human capital accumulation depends on the environment through its impact on children’s health and workers’ productivity. In turn, environmental quality dynamics rely upon human capital that determines maintenance efforts. This two‐way relationship generates a co‐evolution of human capital and environmental quality in the long run. Along the transition path, the dynamic interactions between economic and environmental spheres allow for replicating two different trajectories: some economies experiment an Environmental Kuznets Curve while some others are caught into the environmental poverty trap.     

Natural capital, subjective well-being, and the new welfare economics of sustainability: Some evidence from cross-country regressions

The measurement of natural capital and its management during the economic development process are important aspects of the capital approach to sustainable development. However, the assessment of social welfare in terms of genuine savings (or changes in total wealth per capita) is arguably too limited. This paper tries to make a case for the incorporation of subjective well-being measures in debates about sustainable development by exploring the macro-level relationship between subjective well-being and natural capital in a cross-country setting. It is tested whether natural capital per capita is correlated with subjective well-being in a sample of fifty-eight developed and developing countries, using natural capital data from the World Bank's Millennium Capital Assessment. Bivariate regressions indicate that it is. When multiple regression models are estimated that include (a) major country-level determinants of subjective well-being (GNI per capita, social capital, income distribution, unemployment, inflation), and (b) regional dummy variables for ex-Soviet Union and Latin American countries, the positive correlation remains. The role of data outliers is carefully explored, and the sensitivity of the results to the use of alternative subjective well-being measures (i.e. life satisfaction, happiness, and a combined life satisfaction and happiness index) is investigated. This does not change the nature of the results. The findings arguably strengthen the case for a ‘new welfare economics of sustainability’ that takes subjective well-being measures into account.     

Energy consumption,economic growth and environmental degradation in OECD countries

The interdependence among energy consumption, economic growth and environmental degradation has become an important public policy priority among OECD countries. Yet, the related literature provides conflicting results when describing the dynamic nature of such a relationship and the way it affects countries' development path. Using a sample of 35 OECD countries over the period 2000–2014, we find that economic growth and energy consumption patterns contribute to the enhancement of countries' environmental performance levels. In contrast to a large stream of empirical research, our findings highlight that countries' economic development path and their energy consumption patterns have started to align with their environmental policies. The results are robust since we utilize different aspects of countries' environmental degradation such as carbon dioxide emissions, ecological footprints and countries' environmental performance levels. Finally, the analysis of the dynamic interrelations among countries' energy consumption, economic growth and environmental degradation levels, reveals the necessity to promote sustainable development through a coexistence rather than through a trade-off mechanism.     

基于环境库兹涅茨曲线分析经济发展与环境问题的再思考

环境库兹涅茨曲线（EKC）是西方经济学的一种假说,是用于研究经济发展（收入）与环境关系而设计的一种模型和方法。本文以江苏为例,分析经济发展与环境污染之间的关系,进而寻找突破EKC拐点的发展路径。影响经济与环境的原因比较复杂,与当地经济发展水平和发展模式、产业结构、技术水平、环境政策、环境法律和国民素质等因素有关。在运用EKC进行实证分析的基础上,应借鉴发达国家的经验,加快产业转型,积极主动地治理环境。大力调整产业结构,优化经济发展,从源头上减少环境污染。加大环保资金投入,加快环保项目的研究和转化,从技术上突破环境治理的难题。建立一套科学的环境政策机制和监管制度,从机制、制度上保障环境质量的显著提高。     

环境不平等降低了居民幸福感吗？——基于中国综合社会调查（CGSS）微观数据的实证研究

本文通过将省级、城市数据与中国综合社会调查（Chinese General Social Survey,CGSS）微观数据相匹配,在测度环境基尼系数基础上,采用Probit和中介效应模型研究了环境不平等对居民幸福感的影响路径。结果表明：工业废水测度下的环境不平等显著降低了居民幸福感,而工业二氧化硫和工业烟粉尘测度下的环境不平等却显著提高了居民幸福感。环境不平等对居民幸福感的影响存在区域和城乡异质性,环境不平等对东部地区居民幸福感的影响大于中西部地区;工业废水测度下的环境不平等对城镇居民的影响比农村居民大,工业废气则相反。在环境不平等影响幸福感的路径中,经济增长和健康状况是重要的作用机制,经济增长发挥了显著的正向调节作用和中介作用,健康状况只发挥中介作用。因此,加强环境治理,统筹区域和城乡协调发展,坚持经济建设与改善居民健康状况,对新时代中国政府提高居民幸福感,走出“伊斯特林悖论”有重要意义。     

The Economic Problem of Happiness: Keynes on Happiness and Economics

By stressing the substantial continuity of vision between John Maynard Keynes’s early unpublished essays and his more mature writings, the paper discusses Keynes’s ethics and focuses on his thoughts about happiness. In particular, we emphasize the anti-utilitarianism of Keynes’s vision and his belief that material wealth is but a precondition to enjoy the possibilities of a good life, and direct attention to problems of incommensurability raised by the multidimensional nature of happiness as considered by Keynes. We then argue that the rediscovery of Keynes’s legacy in this respect may be a precious counterweight to the most controversial aspects of today’s happiness research.     

An investigation into the reliability of intended visitation behavior

A test-retest analysis indicates reliability of responses regarding intention to visit, annual number of trips, and length of stay for three different lake levels. Comparison of actual length of stay and intended length of stay at the same lake level indicates validity of this type of intended visitation behavior. In addition, all three types of intended visitation behavior was statistically different across the three lake levels. Thus intended visitation behavior appears to be a viable approach to estimate changes in recreation use in response to changes in environmental quality for both economic efficiency and regional economic impact analysis.Funding for the data collection in this paper was provided by the Public Service Research and Dissemination Program. Support for the data entry and analysis provided by Agricultural Experiment Station Regional Research Project W-133. Brian Roach, University of California-Davis provided numerous suggestions for improving the clarity of the exposition. lastly two referees aided in the focusing of the paper and its relationship to existing research in marketing.     

北京市人口、经济和环境关系的协调度评价

人口、经济和环境的协调发展是实现首都可持续发展的关键所在,目前学术界对首都这一领域的研究甚少。采用主成分法对北京市人口、经济和环境系统进行综合评价,通过建立变异系数协调度模型对北京市1996-2010年协调度进行定量分析。这些年北京市的协调度在不断提高,但协调水平仍然不高。未来仍需注重提高劳动者素质,提升人口发展水平,继续转变经济增长方式和巩固环境治理效果。