Environmental Kuznets curve for deforestation: evidence using GMM estimation for OECD and non-OECD regions

doi:10.3832/ifor2066-009

Environmental Kuznets curve for deforestation: evidence using GMM estimation for OECD and non-OECD regions

iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry, Volume 10, Issue 1, Pages 196-203 (2016)
doi: https://doi.org/10.3832/ifor2066-009
Published: Dec 13, 2016 - Copyright © 2016 SISEF

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The depletion of the world’s forests in both tropical and temperate regions threatens to cause considerable environmental problems and hamper future economic development. However, some research has suggested that this deforestation might slow or reverse, exhibiting an Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC). Yet previous studies investigating such an EKC have found mixed results. We therefore test for a deforestation EKC using an improved dataset from the World Development Indicators and an enhanced econometric technique Arellano-Bover/Blundell-Bond Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimator. We compare OECD countries with the non-OECD regions of Latin America, Asia, and Africa to determine how various factors like economic growth, population, trade, urbanization, agricultural land conversion, and cereal yield impact deforestation rates. The results show that the OECD countries have an N-shaped curve whereas only the African region experiences an income-based EKC pattern. Population growth tends to create more deforestation as does conversion to agricultural lands. More trade openness and greater urbanization impact the regions differently, but only the OECD countries have less deforestation due to better cereal yields.

Keywords

Environmental Kuznets Curve, Deforestation, GMM, OECD, Non-OECD

Authors’ address

(1)

Gordon State College, Department of Business and Public Service, 419 College Drive, Barnesville, GA 30204 (USA)

(2)

Gordon State College, Department of History and Political Science, 419 College Drive, Barnesville, GA 30204 (USA)

Corresponding author

Kris Beck
kbeck@gordonstate.edu

Citation

Joshi P, Beck K (2016). Environmental Kuznets curve for deforestation: evidence using GMM estimation for OECD and non-OECD regions. iForest 10: 196-203. - doi: 10.3832/ifor2066-009

Academic Editor

Agostino Ferrara

Paper history

Received: Mar 24, 2016
Accepted: Oct 06, 2016

First online: Dec 13, 2016
Publication Date: Feb 28, 2017
Publication Time: 2.27 months

Open Access

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

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