34
J. Swart and L. Brinkmann
with income, we find a non-linear relationship between economic development and
waste generation and deforestation.
Being the first study to investigate the environment-complexity nexus for Brazil,
it leaves scope for improvement and extension. The quality and quantity of Brazilian
data as well as the access to it should be enhanced and facilitated. Moreover, our
study can possibly be extended by time series analyses on individual municipalities or states. Notwithstanding these considerations, our study sheds first light on
the compelling relevance of economic complexity as a potential additional driver
of environmental degradation. To that extent, our paper is also novel since such a
relationship has not been analysed in other academic papers. By looking at economic
complexity we pay specific attention to the structure of the economy. Nonetheless, the
impact of economic complexity and technological progress on environmental quality
cannot easily be separated from environmental policies. As Jaffe et al. (2003) argue,
well-designed environmental policies can contribute to technological innovation and
dissemination and can help maintain (or create) a high standard of living. There is a
strong need for Brazil to develop and conciliate specific national and local industrial
and environmental policies to increase the economic complexity of its industries and
create growth in a sustainable way by protecting the environment.
Appendix
Data Sources
Table 8 contains the sources of all the data employed in our study. This includes both
data of variables included in the regressions, and data of variables used to construct
or transform variables that could not be found in the necessary disaggregation level.
The variables are listed in alphabetical order.
Descriptive Statistics
Tables 9, 10, 11 and 12 provide descriptive statistics for our five panels. Since we
find robust evidence for inverted U-shaped relationships between income per capita
and solid waste generation, deforestation and forest fires in Sect. 4, the statistics on
income per capita are needed to determine whether the turning points of the EKCs
lie within the range.
J. Swart and L. Brinkmann
with income, we find a non-linear relationship between economic development and
waste generation and deforestation.
Being the first study to investigate the environment-complexity nexus for Brazil,
it leaves scope for improvement and extension. The quality and quantity of Brazilian
data as well as the access to it should be enhanced and facilitated. Moreover, our
study can possibly be extended by time series analyses on individual municipalities or states. Notwithstanding these considerations, our study sheds first light on
the compelling relevance of economic complexity as a potential additional driver
of environmental degradation. To that extent, our paper is also novel since such a
relationship has not been analysed in other academic papers. By looking at economic
complexity we pay specific attention to the structure of the economy. Nonetheless, the
impact of economic complexity and technological progress on environmental quality
cannot easily be separated from environmental policies. As Jaffe et al. (2003) argue,
well-designed environmental policies can contribute to technological innovation and
dissemination and can help maintain (or create) a high standard of living. There is a
strong need for Brazil to develop and conciliate specific national and local industrial
and environmental policies to increase the economic complexity of its industries and
create growth in a sustainable way by protecting the environment.
Appendix
Data Sources
Table 8 contains the sources of all the data employed in our study. This includes both
data of variables included in the regressions, and data of variables used to construct
or transform variables that could not be found in the necessary disaggregation level.
The variables are listed in alphabetical order.
Descriptive Statistics
Tables 9, 10, 11 and 12 provide descriptive statistics for our five panels. Since we
find robust evidence for inverted U-shaped relationships between income per capita
and solid waste generation, deforestation and forest fires in Sect. 4, the statistics on
income per capita are needed to determine whether the turning points of the EKCs
lie within the range.