Revisiting the environmental rewards of economic freedom
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17811/ebl.4.1.2015.36-50Abstract
Previous research has detailed the positive link between economic freedom and environmental and public health outcomes. However, advances in the interim in our knowledge of how economic freedom affects various economic outcomes, as well as in the quantification of various economic institutions, calls for a re-examination of the results. Compiling a new panel data set that picks up where the prior analysis left off, we utilize FE-GLS methods to find that economic freedom writ large lead to a cleaner and healthier environment. Additionally, economic freedom as manifested in contracting institutions also correlates with positive health and environmental outcomes, even in the presence of differing control sets.
References
Acs, Z. J., Audretsch, D. B., Braunerhjelm, P., and Carlsson, B. (2012). Growth and Entrepreneurship. Small Business Economics, 39(2), pp. 289-300.
Auberger, A. (2005). Forecasts of the 2004 French European election. Swiss Political Science Review, 11(3), pp. 61-78.
Barrett, S., and Graddy, K. (2000). Freedom, growth, and the environment. Environment and development economics, 5(4), pp. 433-456.
Barro, R. J. (1991). Economic Growth in a Cross Section of Countries. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 106(2), pp. 407-443.
Bashir, M. F., and Xu, C. (2014). Impact of Political Freedom, Economic Freedom and Political Stability on Economic Growth. Journal of Economics and Sustainable Development, 5(22), pp. 59-67.
Bernardini, O., and Galli, R. (1993). Dematerialization: long-term trends in the intensity of use of materials and energy. Futures, 25(4), pp. 431-448.
Carson, R. T. (2010). The environmental Kuznets curve: seeking empirical regularity and theoretical structure. Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, 4(1), pp. 3-23.
Clague, C., Keefer, P., Knack, S., and Olson, M. (1997). ‘Institutions and Economic Performance: Property Rights and Contract Enforcement,’ in Clague, C. (ed.), Institutions and Economic Development. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press.
Cole, M.A., and Elliott, R.J.R. (2003). Determining the trade-environment composition effect: the role of capital, labor and environmental regulations. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 46 (3), pp. 363-383.
Congleton, R. D. (1992). Political institutions and pollution control. Review of Economics and Statistics, 74(3), pp. 412-421.
Coursey, D.L, and Hartwell, C.A. (2000). Environmental Outcomes and Openness: A Historical and International Comparison, Working Paper No. 0010, Harris School of Public Policy Studies, University of Chicago.
Dasgupta, S., Laplante, B., Wang, H., & Wheeler, D. (2002). Confronting the Environmental Kuznets Curve. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 16(1), pp. 147-168.
De Haan, J., and Sturm, J. E. (2000). On the relationship between economic freedom and economic growth. European Journal of Political Economy, 16(2), pp. 215-241.
Doucouliagos, C., and Ulubasoglu, M. A. (2006). Economic freedom and economic growth: Does specification make a difference? European Journal of Political Economy, 22(1), pp. 60-81.
Fischer, S. (1993). The role of macroeconomic factors in growth. Journal of Monetary Economics, 32(3), pp. 485-512.
Fuchs, D. A. (2003). An Institutional Basis for Environmental Stewardship. Amsterdam: Springer Netherlands.
Gassebner, M., Lamla, M.J., and Sturm, J-E. (2010). Determinants of Pollution: What Do We Really Know? Oxford Economics Papers, 63(3), pp. 568-595.
Gwartney, J., Lawson, R., and Samida, D. (2010). Economic Freedom in the World: 2010 Annual Report. Vancouver: Fraser Institute.
Hardin, G. (1968). The tragedy of the commons. Science, 162(3859), pp. 1243-1248.
Hartwell, C.A. (2013). Institutional Barriers in the Transition to Market: Explaining Performance and Divergence in Transition Economies. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Jalas, M. (2002). A time use perspective on the materials intensity of consumption. Ecological Economics, 41(1), pp. 109-123.
Lamla, M. J. (2009). Long-run determinants of pollution: A robustness analysis. Ecological Economics, 69(1), pp. 135-144.
Levine, R., and Renelt, D. (1992). A sensitivity analysis of cross-country growth regressions. American Economic Review, 82(4), pp. 942-963.
Levinson, D. J. (2010). Parchment and politics: the positive puzzle of constitutional commitment. Harvard Law Review, 124(3), pp. 657-746.
Malenbaum, W. (1978). World Demand for Raw Materials in 1985 and 2000. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Martins, M. C. H., Fatigati, F. L., Vespoli, T. C., Martins, L. C., Pereira, L. A. A., Martins, M. A., and Braga, A. L. F. (2004). Influence of socioeconomic conditions on air pollution adverse health effects in elderly people: an analysis of six regions in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 58(1), pp. 41-46.
McMullen, J. S., Bagby, D., and Palich, L. E. (2008). Economic freedom and the motivation to engage in entrepreneurial action. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 32(5), pp. 875-895.
Ostrom, E. (1990). Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Peša, A. R., and Festić, M. (2014). Panel regression of stock market indices dynamics in south-eastern European economies. Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja, 27(1), pp. 673-688.
Selden, Thomas M. and Song, Daqing (1994). Environmental Quality and Development: Is There a Kuznets Curve for Air Pollution? Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 27(2), pp. 147-62.
Shirley, M. M. (2013). Measuring institutions: how to be precise though vague. Journal of Institutional Economics, 9(1), pp. 31-33.
Voigt, S. (2013). How (not) to Measure Institutions. Journal of Institutional Economics, 9(1), pp. 1-26.
Weingast, B. R. (1995). The economic role of political institutions: market-preserving federalism and economic development. Journal of Law, Economics, & Organization, 11(1), pp. 1-31.
West, J., Schandl, H., Krausmann, F., Kovanda, J., and Hak, T. (2014). Patterns of change in material use and material efficiency in the successor states of the former Soviet Union. Ecological Economics, 105, pp. 211-219.
Williamson, C. R., and Mathers, R. L. (2011). Economic freedom, culture, and growth. Public Choice, 148(3-4), pp. 313-335.
Yakovlev, P. (2007). Arms trade, military spending, and economic growth. Defence and Peace Economics, 18(4), pp. 317-338.
Yandle B, Vijayaraghavan M, Bhattarai M (2000). "The Environmental Kuznets Curve: A Primer," The Property and Environment Research Center, available on-line at: http://www.perc.org/articles/article688.php.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
The works published in this journal are subject to the following terms:
1. Oviedo University Press (the publisher) retains the property rights (copyright) of published works, and encourages and enables the reuse of the same under the license specified in paragraph 2.
© Ediuno. Ediciones de la Universidad de Oviedo / Oviedo University Press
2. The works are published in the online edition of the journal under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-Non Derives 3.0 Spain (legal text). You can copy, use, distribute, transmit and publicly display, provided that: i) you cite the author and the original source of publication (journal, publisher and URL of the work), ii) they are not used for commercial purposes, iii) mentions the existence and specifications of this license.
3. Conditions of self-archiving. The author can archive the post-print version of the article (publisher’s version) on the author’s personal website and/or on the web of the institution where he belong, including a link to the page of the journal and putting the way of citation of the work. Economics and Business Letters and its URL https://reunido.uniovi.es/index.php/EBL/index are the only authorized source for correctly giving the reference of the publisher’s version in every mention of the article.
