This thesis analysed the effect of female labor force participation rate (FLFPR) on economicgrowth and included changes in male labor force participation rate (MLFPR) to help improve thepower of the model. Here, three robust regressions were used on the sample of 16 Latin Countries(Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala,Honduras, Venezuela, RB, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, El Salvador) for theperiod of 1995-2015 in order to identify the effect of each key variable when tested separately andwhen tested together. According to the results, the coefficients of FLFPR and MLFPR are differentand also the addition of MLFPR to the model that has an explanatory variable FLFPR anddependent variable economic growth clearly improves the predicting power of the model and helpsobtain better coefficients. It was also identified that FLFPR has a strong positive relationship witheconomic growth, while MLFPR has a negative effect on the latter. Finally, the existence of u-shape relationship between FLFPR and economic growth was reaffirmed in this thesis, while itwas also shown that MLFPR does not have a u-shape relationship with the economic growth.

The middle-income trap (MIT) theory has gained popularity amongst policy makers looking to avoid the trap since it first arose in 2005. Multiple studies discuss the possible existence of the trap, what it is caused by and what possible solutions it might have. We use the empirical definition of the trap presented by Aiyar et al. (2018) to test for the middle-income trap in order to analyze the effect that international trade, defined by import and export, may have on the MIT. The Arellano-Bond estimator and random-effects probit model are used on data from the Penn World Data Table 9.1 to carry out this investigation. Based on our dataset we generate results slowdowns that give evidence to the MIT and find that import has a negative effect on a country’s risk of landing in an MIT whereas export has a positive effect on the risk.

This paper uses data for 255 NUTS-2 European regions over the period 1995-2003 to test the relative explanatory performance of two important rival theories seeking to explain variations in the level of economic development across regions, namely the neoclassical model originating from the work of Solow (1956) and the so-called Wage Equation, which is one of a set of simultaneous equations consistent with the short-run equilibrium of new economic geography (NEG) theory, as described by Fujita, Krugman and Venables (1999). The rivals are non-nested, so that testing is accomplished both by fitting the reduced form models individually and by simply combining the two rivals to create a composite model in an attempt to identify the dominant theory. We use different estimators for the resulting panel data model to account variously for interregional heterogeneity, endogeneity, and temporal and spatial dependence, including maximum likelihood with and without fixed effects, two stage least squares and feasible generalised spatial two stage least squares plus GMM; also most of these models embody a spatial autoregressive error process. These show that the estimated NEG model parameters correspond to theoretical expectation, whereas the parameter estimates derived from the neoclassical model reduced form are sometimes insignificant or take on counterintuitive signs. This casts doubt on the appropriateness of neoclassical theory as a basis for explaining cross-regional variation in economic development in Europe, whereas NEG theory seems to hold in the face of competition from its rival. (authors' abstract)

A relação entre economia e meio ambiente tem sido cada vez mais explorada, dado que o crescimento econômico pode ter efeitos prejudiciais sobre a natureza, contudo existe a possibilidade de conciliar crescimento com preservação do meio ambiente. A coleta e divulgação de indicadores ambientais permitiram relacioná-los com a renda per capita, o que motivou a investigação de uma hipótese conhecida como Curva Ambiental de Kuznets. O trabalho tem por finalidade estimar, através de dados em painel não estacionário, a relação entre o indicador de pressão ambiental e crescimento de renda per capita e, através da análise de dados em painel estático e dinâmico, a convergência da pegada ecológica entre os países como resultado da evidência direta e indireta, respectivamente, da existência de uma Curva Ambiental de Kuznets. A vantagem da análise está na abrangência da pegada ecológica como indicador ambiental em relação às emissões de poluentes, possuindo um caráter original por não ter sido empreendida anteriormente. Os fundamentos teóricos da análise de convergência estão no Modelo de Solow verde desenvolvido por Brock and Taylor (2010). / The relationship between economy and environment has more and more been explored, and given the potential harm that economic growth might have on nature there is a possibility to conciliate growth and environment preservation. The gathering and publishing of environmental measures allowed to establish their relationship with per capita income in an investigation of the hypothesis known as the Environmental Kuznets Curve. This work estimates the relation of environmental pressure and income per capita and also the convergence of the ecological footprint among countries, as a direct and indirect, respectively, result of the existence of a Environmental Kuznets Curve, by using static, dynamic and non-stationary panel data techniques. The advantage of this analysis is that the ecological footprint is a broader environmental index than pollution indexes. The theoretic foundation of the convergence analysis is the Green Solow model, presented by Brock and Taylor (2010).

A relação entre economia e meio ambiente tem sido cada vez mais explorada, dado que o crescimento econômico pode ter efeitos prejudiciais sobre a natureza, contudo existe a possibilidade de conciliar crescimento com preservação do meio ambiente. A coleta e divulgação de indicadores ambientais permitiram relacioná-los com a renda per capita, o que motivou a investigação de uma hipótese conhecida como Curva Ambiental de Kuznets. O trabalho tem por finalidade estimar, através de dados em painel não estacionário, a relação entre o indicador de pressão ambiental e crescimento de renda per capita e, através da análise de dados em painel estático e dinâmico, a convergência da pegada ecológica entre os países como resultado da evidência direta e indireta, respectivamente, da existência de uma Curva Ambiental de Kuznets. A vantagem da análise está na abrangência da pegada ecológica como indicador ambiental em relação às emissões de poluentes, possuindo um caráter original por não ter sido empreendida anteriormente. Os fundamentos teóricos da análise de convergência estão no Modelo de Solow verde desenvolvido por Brock and Taylor (2010). / The relationship between economy and environment has more and more been explored, and given the potential harm that economic growth might have on nature there is a possibility to conciliate growth and environment preservation. The gathering and publishing of environmental measures allowed to establish their relationship with per capita income in an investigation of the hypothesis known as the Environmental Kuznets Curve. This work estimates the relation of environmental pressure and income per capita and also the convergence of the ecological footprint among countries, as a direct and indirect, respectively, result of the existence of a Environmental Kuznets Curve, by using static, dynamic and non-stationary panel data techniques. The advantage of this analysis is that the ecological footprint is a broader environmental index than pollution indexes. The theoretic foundation of the convergence analysis is the Green Solow model, presented by Brock and Taylor (2010).