L'objectif de la thèse est de montrer non seulement que le changement technologique est un déterminant de la croissance économique, mais aussi d'analyser la relation qu'il entretient avec les inégalités.Cette piste, qui est la ligne directrice de ce travail, est exploitée à partir de modèles théoriques de croissance et d'applications empiriques suivant nombreux champs d'investigation. L'intérêt est double : étudier l'impact des inégalités des revenus sur les changements technologiques ; vérifier l'hypothèse des changements technologiques biaisés en faveur des compétences et étudier l'impact des changements technologiques sur l'inégalité d'accès à l'emploi.Dans cette optique, le premier chapitre s'intéresse à la relation entre capital humain, recherche et développement, technologie et croissance. Ce changement technologique stimulant la croissance économique entraîne des inégalités de salaires.Le deuxième chapitre analyse l'impact des inégalités sur la croissance passant par les changements technologiques. Un premier courant de pensée suggère une relation positive entre l'inégalité et la croissance, un deuxième courant suggère une relation négative. La validation empirique consiste à évaluer le rôle des inégalités de revenus pour la croissance économique et par suite pour les changements technologiques. La technique utilisée est celle du Panel statique et dynamique pour un échantillon de pays en développement. Le troisième chapitre étudie l'impact du progrès technique sur les inégalités. Il s'intéresse à la notion de biais technologique et au rôle des inégalités entre travailleurs qualifiés et non qualifiés. La validation empirique se base aussi sur l'économétrie des données de panel. Le premier modèle teste l'impact du changement technologique et du capital sur l'inégalité d'accès à l'emploi. Dans un second modèle, la validité de l'hypothèse de Kuznets relative au changement technologique est testée

New questions in a changing economy demands development of both contemporary and historical national accounts. One such question concerns economic and environmental relationships. From a national accounting perspective this issue has been approached in terms of environmental accounting. The aim of this study is to investigate how proposals for integrated environmental and economic accounting can be used for an extension of the Historical National Accounts for Sweden and for examining the long-term relationship between economic growth and environmental degradation and resource depletion. This issue is approached through methodological considerations and estimates of iron ore and timber depletion and discharge of pollutants. The conclusions are that it is possible to construct environmental historical national accounts, but that the lack of historical data and theoretical difficulties cause a high level of abstraction and other problems concerning the series. The empirical investigations show that the 19th century can be considered a period of depletion intensive growth. Furthermore, there seems to be evidence of a correlation between changes in the natural resource net prices and previous periodizations of Swedish economic development. Concerning pollutants, the analyses shows an increase of the aggregated discharges until the late 1960s. However, the pollution intensity of growth has fallen throughout the period, possibly in a pattern of long trend periods. / digitalisering@umu

Made available in DSpace on 2010-04-20T20:57:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 3 RogerioCesardeSouza2005.pdf.jpg: 15182 bytes, checksum: acb4daea2ddff4162fcf71841de6e2c9 (MD5) RogerioCesardeSouza2005.pdf.txt: 242032 bytes, checksum: 9aa3ce403a02564878d8f46dfbea11fd (MD5) RogerioCesardeSouza2005.pdf: 825174 bytes, checksum: 7f222caaf7f73aba20b562073c54a997 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005-11-18T00:00:00Z / This study presents a new and alternative approach to the relation between economic growth and income distribution, from a Stochastic Frontier Analysis – SFA – perspective. First, the study analyses the effects of the evolution of total productivity of factors (TPF) and its components (technical efficiency, technological progress, scale and allocative efficiencies) on economic growth. Specifically, it assesses to what extension countries’ differences with respect to technological patterns of development influence their economic growth. Then, it compares the evolution of inequality in per capita income distribution between developed and developing countries and relates the obtained Theil’s L inequality measure to the TPF components, in order to show that there is no per capita income convergence between the two groups of countries. On the contrary, it shows that the technological gap between those two groups of countries has been enlarged along the years. Finally, it identifies the role of technological progress in the income distribution dynamics inside countries, restoring Kuznets founding idea that technological progress is the main motor of development. We conclude that the effects of the technological progress on the economies are more general than just the promotion of economic growth: it also enhances labor productivity, wages and, in consequence, reduces income inequality. / O estudo apresenta uma abordagem nova e alternativa dentro da literatura empírica que trata do crescimento econômico e da desigualdade da distribuição de renda. Ao se filiar ao arcabouço teórico e prático da Análise de Fronteira Estocástica ¿ AFS, o estudo analisa, inicialmente, os efeitos de evolução da produtividade total de fatores, PTF, e de suas componentes (eficiência técnica, progresso tecnológico, eficiência de escala e eficiência alocativa) sobre o crescimento econômico. Em específico, avalia em que medida as diferenças de padrões de desenvolvimento tecnológico dos países condicionam o crescimento. Após tratar da evolução da desigualdade da distribuição do produto por trabalhador de dois grupos de países, denominados desenvolvidos e em desenvolvimento, relaciona a medida de desigualdade L de Theil com as componentes da PTF e mostra que não há convergência das rendas per capita desses grupos de países porque o hiato tecnológico entre eles aumentou ao longo do tempo. Por fim, identifica o papel do progresso tecnológico na dinâmica da distribuição de renda dentro dos países, recuperando a idéia fundamental de Kuznets de que ele (o progresso tecnológico) é o motor do desenvolvimento, e conclui que avanços tecnológicos têm efeitos mais gerais sobre as economias: além de promover o crescimento econômico, também têm reflexos diretos sobre a produtividade do trabalho, e conseqüentemente sobre os salários, com resultados mais eqüitativos da distribuição da renda.

Pour longtemps, les politiques de protection de l’environnement ont été accusées d’être la cause d’importantes délocalisations, entraînant le risque du « dumping environnemental » et de ce fait l’apparition du phénomène de « havre de pollution ». C’est cette théorie que nous contesterons dans cette thèse en démontrant que même si elle est exacte dans des cas exceptionnels, elle ne l’est plus dans la plupart des cas et c’est à cause de plusieurs facteurs et mécanismes qui ont rapport avec la nature des politiques environnementales, les structures du marché et la composition interne des entreprises. Nous allons étudier les facteurs encourageant les firmes multinationales à se délocaliser. Ensuite nous allons démontrer l’impact de ces facteurs sur la concentration des industries polluantes et donc sur l’apparition du phénomène de « havre de pollution » (Chapitre 1). Puis nous expliquerons l’inefficacité des interventions publiques de résoudre les problèmes environnementaux et la nécessité de la RSE (responsabilité sociale des entreprises) comme condition de réussite des politiques environnementales (Chapitre 2). Enfin, nous contesterons l’existence de « havre de pollution » et nous vérifierons que la protection de l’environnement et la concurrence économique peuvent se compléter et se converger d’une façon que l’une soit la condition de la réussite de l’autre (Chapitre 3). / For a long time, the policies of environmental protection were accused of being the cause of important relocations, entailing the risk of the « environmental dumping » and the appearance of the phenomenon of the « pollution haven ». It is this theory that we will take issue in this thesis by demonstrating that even it is exact in exceptional cases, it is not any more in most of the cases and it is because of several mechanisms which have relation with the nature of environmental policies, the structures of the market and the intern composition of companies. We are going to study factors encouraging multinationals to relocate. In addition, we are going to demonstrate the impact of these factors on the concentration of the polluting industries and consequently on the appearance of the phenomenon of « pollution haven » (Chapter 1). Then we will explain the ineffectiveness of the public interventions to resolve the environmental issues and the necessity of the social responsibility of companies as condition of success of environmental policies (Chapter 2). Finally, we will contradict the existence of « pollution haven » and we will verify that the environmental protection and the economic competition can converge in a way that the one be the condition of the success of the other (Chapter 3).

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2018 highlights the importance of short-lived greenhouse gasses to combat global warming. This study explores the relationship between Gross Domestic Product per capita and methane per capita. The relationship is explored in relation to the Environmental Kuznets Curve theory where the subjects to examination used are High Income Countries and Low Income Countries based on United Nation classifications in 2019. In total 47 countries are examined where 30 countries are High Income Countries and 17 are Low Income Countries. The relationships are examined for the time periods 1970 to 2017 through Fixed Effect Models. To improve accuracy additional control variables are added: Population in agriculture (% of total employment), balance of payments and forest areas. With the added control variables, the time frame used in Fixed Effect Models changes to 1991 to 2017. The different Fixed Effect Models provide inverted U-shaped relationships for Low Income Countries and uncertain results for High Income Countries according to the Environmental Kuznets Curve.

Halfway into its third decade, the debate surrounding the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis has stalled with political economists and socio-ecologists ascendant and modernization theorists scrambling to give their apparently moribund perspective new life. But beyond the rise and fall of the EKC, there remains a second-order question and decades of data: how do the theoretical perspectives of these contenders shape what their protagonists do and don't see? How have they mistaken episodes of "talking past each other" for genuine dialogue? Which perspective has had the biggest impact on the other’s way of thinking? A qualitative and quantitative analysis compares the top-ranking journals in economics with interdisciplinary journals of environmental economics revealing a categorical divergence in the types of critical thought deployed in the EKC debate over an almost 15 year period. The few articles appearing in the top ranking economic journals systematically fail to grasp the fundamentals of ecology which is evident in both their measurements and conclusions. I offer an abridged discussion of the critiques socio-ecology presents contemporary economics as what, in Kuhnian terminology, may well be described as a discipline in the crisis moment of a paradigm shift in no particular direction. I then conclude by siding with Habermas and Adorno against Popper's ideologically impoverished “falsifactionism”: progress in science depends as much on a theory of ideological critique as it does on the acquisition of technical knowledge. My intent has been to argue that ideological critique is empirically possible as the history of thought.

The study compares FIT (Feed-in tariff) and RPS (Renewable Portfolio Standard) as the two most commonly used support schemes for renewable energy sources (RES) in the EU. It examines a relationship of an Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) and by a practical experiment for public lighting in Prague the study proposes an ecological functioning of electricity grids in the EU with CO2 emissions reduction effect. The main contribution lies in the recency and originality of the econometric analysis and practical experiment. FIT and RPS analysis demonstrates that both schemes affect demand for electricity and increase its price. The econometric model was tested for 28 EU countries for 1990-2013. The results say that the EU is currently located on the downslope of the inverted U-shaped EKC with a turning point, after which the dependence begins to grow. Nevertheless, for the most of observations the turning point is too far to be a source of concern. Practical experiment has shown that installation of energy saving devices for electricity grids in the EU can bring satisfactory results in reducing CO2 emissions independently of state aid. More efficient use of existing energy sources, however, should rather serve as a complement to conventional support, phasing out with the development of RES technologies....

In the thesis, we examine the necessity and impacts of measures adopted under the greenhouse gas emissions target in the Europe 2020 growth strategy in the EU-15 states. For testing the necessity of the measures, we use the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis for carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions as the theoretical framework, the Autoregressive distributed lag model as the econometrical technique and annual data from 1970 to 2010 (1991 to 2010 in the case of Germany). The existence of the EKC is detected in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. However, only in Denmark the EKC hypothesis is supported significantly (on ten percent level of significance). Following the main implication of the EKC hypothesis, only in Denmark is the economic development sufficient enough to safeguard environmental quality; therefore, no additional measures are needed. In the remaining states, we tested Granger causality using the Toda-Yamamoto procedure to inquire about the impacts of the measures on gross domestic product (GDP). Our results indicate that only in Austria, Germany (with caution due to a limited number of observations) and Ireland, the measures may impede economic development. In the remaining states, no causality or only a causality running from GDP...

No description available.

This thesis consists of four papers: two of them deal with the effects on the forest sector of an increase in the demand for forest fuels, and two of them concern the relation between economic growth and pollution. Paper [I] is a first, preliminary study of the potential effects on the Swedish forest sector of a continuing rise in the use of forest resources as a fuel in energy generation. Sweden has made a commitment that the energy system should be sustainable, i.e., it should be based on renewable resources. However, an increasing use of the forest resources as an energy input could have effects outside the energy sector. We consider this in a static model by estimating a system of demand and supply equations for the four main actors on the Swedish roundwood market; forestry, sawmills, pulpmills and the energy sector. We then calculate the industries' short run supply and demand elasticities. Paper [II], is a development of the former paper. In this paper, we estimate the dynamic effects on the forest sector of an increased demand for forest fuels. This is done by developing a partial adjustment model of the forest sector that enables short, intermediate, and long run price elasticities to be estimated. It is relevant to study the effects of increased demand for forest fuels as the Swedish government has committed to an energy policy that is likely to further increase the use of renewable resources in the Swedish energy system. Four subsectors are included in the model: forestry, sawmills, pulpmills and the energy industry. The results show that the short run elasticities are fairly consistent with earlier studies and that sluggish adjustment in the capital stock is important in determining the intermediate and long run responses. Simulation shows that an increase in the demand for forest fuels has a positive effect on the equilibrium price of all three types of wood, and a negative effect on the equilibrium quantities of sawtimber and pulpwood. In paper [III] a Shephard distance function approach is used to estimate time series of shadow prices for Swedish emissions of CO2, SO2, and VOC for the period 1918 - 1994. The shadow prices are in a next step regressed on GDP per capita. The objective of the study is closely linked to hypothesis of environmental Kuznets curves. We conclude that the time series of the shadow prices from this approach can not be used to explain the EKCs found for Swedish emissions. In paper [IV], we calculate time series of shadow prices for Swedish emissions of CO2, SO2, and VOC for the period 1918 - 1994. The shadow prices are in a next step related to income, to explain the EKCs previously found for Swedish data on the three emissions. Newly constructed historical emission time series enable studying a single country's emission paths through increasing levels of economic activity. A directional distance function approach is used to estimate the industry's production process in order to calculate the opportunity costs of a reduction in the emissions. The time series of the shadow prices show support for EKCs for the Swedish industry.