ENVIRONMENTAL KUZNETS CURVE: A MACROECONOMIC ANALYSIS BETWEEN ECONOMIC GROWTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF 2005 TO 2010

Abstract

This study aims to analyze, through a structure of panel data, the Environmental Kuznets Curve for 51 countries with different levels of development and culture in the period 2005-2010, with the dependent variable CO2 emissions per capita and as explanatory variables GDP per capita, life expectancy and the percentage of manufacturing in GDP. It was noted in the survey, that the relationship between GDP per capita and CO2 emissions per capita presents an Environmental Kuznets Curve in the form of N. The results demonstrated the importance of Latin America to reduce CO2 emissions in the world, besides demonstrating that GDP per capita is the explanatory variable with less impact on the CO2 emissions per capita, and that the environmental impact grows with the development of economies.