The end of the Carbon Kuznets Curve? A semiparametric analysis for Latin America and the Caribbean

// ABSTRACT IN ENGLISH: The Carbon Kuznets Curve has been a widely explored and controversial topic in empiric environmental economics, mainly due to its straightforward implications to designing climate policy strategies. This paper is aimed to explore the relationship between carbon dioxide emissi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Trimestre económico 2014-01, Vol.81 (1), p.241-270
Main Authors: Zilio, Mariana, Caraballo, M Ángeles
Format: Article
Language:Spanish
Subjects:
Carbon emissions
Carbon Kuznets Curve
Caribbean
Climate change
Economic analysis
Empirical research
Environmental economics
Environmental policy
Hypothesis
Latin America
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Summary:// ABSTRACT IN ENGLISH: The Carbon Kuznets Curve has been a widely explored and controversial topic in empiric environmental economics, mainly due to its straightforward implications to designing climate policy strategies. This paper is aimed to explore the relationship between carbon dioxide emissions and product for a set of Latin American and Caribbean countries using a semiparametric approach. Our results confirm that Carbon Kuznets Curve hypothesis does not hold in the region and offer some evidence in favor of a reallocation process of carbon emissions, verifying the haven pollution hypothesis on lower income countries. In this context, "wait and grow" is a totally unfeasible solution for environmental problems on Latin America and the Caribbean. Instead of this, an active climate policy is urgently needed in order to adapt and mitigate climate change effects on the region. // ABSTRACT IN SPANISH: La curva de Kuznets de carbono ha sido un tema ampliamente estudiado por la economía ambiental empírica y altamente controversial debido sobre todo a sus consecuencias para la elaboración política contra el cambio climático. Este trabajo está dirigido a analizar la relación entre emisiones de dióxido de carbono y producto para un conjunto de países de la América Latina y el Caribe utilizando un enfoque semiparamétrico. Los resultados confirman la inexistencia de una curva de Kuznets de carbono en la región y ofrecen pruebas en favor de un proceso de relocalización de emisiones, verificando la hipótesis del paraíso de contaminadores en los países de menores ingresos. En este contexto, "esperar y crecer" es una solución totalmente inviable para la situación ambiental en la América Latina y el Caribe. En su lugar, surge con urgencia la necesidad de crear una política climática dirigida a adaptar y mitigar los efectos del cambio climático en la región.
ISSN:0041-3011