The channels of the effect of government expenditure on the environment: evidence using dynamic panel data

This paper explores the relationship between government spending and environmental quality using panel data for 94 countries for the period 1970–2008. We identify and estimate three distinct channels that comprise the total direct effect of government expenditure on air pollution, namely a marginal effect, an effect conditional on economic growth and an effect conditional on institutional quality. Since adjustment rate of emissions to their equilibrium level is slow due to technological and institutional reasons, we explicitly take into account dynamics by applying appropriate econometric methods. The results demonstrate that there is a significant alleviating direct effect of government expenditure on SO₂ and NO_x emissions, which increases with the level of economic growth and democracy. However, there is no evidence of a significant effect on pollutants with more global impact on the environment and human health, like N₂O and CO₂, implying that the adoption of international environmental treaties is required in this case.     

Sustainable Development in an N-Rich/N-Poor World

Sustainable development requires that per capita inclusive wealth—produced, human, and natural capital—does not decline over time. We investigate the impact of changes in nitrogen on inclusive wealth. There are two sides to the nitrogen problem. Excess use of nitrogen in some places gives rise to N-pollution, which can cause environmental damage. Insufficient replacement of nitrogen in other places gives rise to N-depletion, or loss of nutrient stocks. Neither is explicitly accounted for in current wealth measures, but both affect wealth. We calculate an index of net N-replacement, and investigate its relationship to wealth. In countries with low levels of relative N-loss, we find that the uncompensated loss of soil nitrogen in poorer countries is associated with declining rates of growth of inclusive per capita wealth. What is less intuitive is that increasing fertilizer application in both rich and poor countries can increase per capita inclusive wealth.     

Spatial environmental efficiency indicators in regional waste generation: a nonparametric approach

This paper computes and analyses, for the first time, environmental efficiencies in waste generation of 116 European regions in NUTS 2 level in five European countries over the period of 2008–2010. For this reason, different data envelopment analysis (DEA) model formulations are used for modeling the pollutant in the form of waste generation as a regular output and as a regular input. In the latter case, we also use the notion of eco-efficiency. The empirical findings reveal environmental inefficiencies among the regions, indicating the lack of a uniform regional environmental policy among the European countries. This finding is observed not only for regions between different countries but also among the regions within countries, implying the need for implementation of unified appropriate municipal environmental policies in waste management.     

Evaluating 22 EU member states’ ‘waste culture’ using Hofstede’s and Schwartz’s cultural dimensions

The issue of municipal solid waste (MSW) arisings has received great attention recently since it is not only a by-product of economic activity but also serves as an input to the economy through material or energy recovery. The main focus of this study is cultural formation and especially the current picture of waste culture and public perception across European Union (EU) member states. Thus, this study will first evaluate environmental efficiency with data envelopment analysis (DEA) based on five parameters: waste, gross domestic product (GDP), labour, capital, and population density for 22 EU Member States and for the years 2005, 2010 and 2015 in order to evaluate which Member States are more efficient. Then the efficiency results are contrasted to Hofstede’s and Schwartz’s cultural dimensions on STATA with the use of regression modelling. Results show that for year 2005 no significant relationship is noticed for both cultural models, whereas for years 2010 and 2015 there appears to be a significant connection. The above-mentioned findings can be associated with the financial crisis that has hit Europe after 2008 making people more sceptical, while EU legislations have laid out some important directives in the field of waste management. Finally, along with the factors above, EU has faced severe environmental challenges due to waste arisings, as well as accidents and injuries for people working in this sector, which in turn have widely modified EU’s waste culture as supported by this study’s results.     

Uncertainty in optimal pollution levels: modelling and evaluating the benefit area

This paper identifies the optimal pollution level under the assumptions of linear, quadratic and exponential damage and abatement cost functions and investigates analytically the certain restrictions that the existence of this optimal level requires. The evaluation of the benefit area is discussed and the mathematical formulation provides the appropriate methods for that to be calculated. The positive, at least from a theoretical point of view, is that both the quadratic and the exponential case obey the same form for evaluating the benefit area. These benefit area estimations can be used as indexes between different rival policies, and depending on the environmental problem, the policy that produces the maximum area will be the beneficial policy.     

Environmental technology development and diffusion: panel data evidence from 56 countries

Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - This study analyzes environmental technology development and diffusion patterns in 56 countries and for the time period 2005–2014 to provide an...     

Revisiting ISO 14001 diffusion among national terrains: panel data evidence from OECD countries and the BRIICS

Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - Being one of the primary soft-voluntary environmental policy instruments, ISO 14001 has been studied from a number of diverse perspectives and...