This thesis addresses the subject of environmental Kuznets curve (EKC). EKC is a model expressing the relationship of economic development and environmental damage. The chosen topic is relevant in connection with ongoing discussions relating to global warming and the impact of human activity on this phenomenon. The concept would give us many clues to the future development of pollution not only in developing countries. The paper examines whether research into the relationship of economic development the country and harming the environment makes sense. The paper also seeks to contribute to confirm or refute the concept of the EKC for specific situations. Specifically, the EKC model validation for selected indicators of environmental pollution in the Czech Republic. The main methods of work are research of literature and empirical analysis. Searches of papers and other publications relating to the concept of EKC is shown in the first part. The second part is devoted to empirical testing EKC for various pollutants in the Example of the Czech Republic. Main result of a literature research is that empirical validation of EKC model makes sense. The work with results of those researches has to be very careful. Main output of own research is verifying the validity of EKC model for selected air pollutants in Czech Republic.

O objetivo desta dissertação foi estudar os determinantes do desflorestamento e verificar empiricamente se a Expansão da Fronteira Agrícola no estado de Mato Grosso segue uma trajetória ao encontro da Curva Ambiental de Kuznets. O método utilizado para testar essa hipótese foi o de dados em painel econométrico. Este estudo se justifica devido à temática ambiental e ao caráter multidimensional do tema, como o abordado pelas ciências sociais. Os principais resultados apontam que inicialmente o uso e a ocupação da área causam desflorestamento, mas sem que ocorra crescimento do PIB per capita, em um segundo estágio, caracterizado pela instalação de atividades econômicas rentáveis, crescem tanto o desflorestamento como o PIB per capita e somente em um terceiro momento a degradação ambiental diminuirá. Esta última fase, quando verificada apenas pelo resultado econométrico induziria a um erro de interpretação, desfeito pela complementação da espacialização do processo da Expansão da Fronteira Agrícola. / The aim of this thesis was tostudy the determinants of deforestation and verify empirically if the expansion of the agricultural boundary in the State of Mato Grosso follows a trajectory to meet the environmental Kuznets Curve. The method used to test this hypothesis was the econometric panel data. This study is justified due to the environmental subject and the multidimensional character of the theme, as discussed by social sciences. The main results show that using and as well performing occupation of the area cause deforestation, nevertheless without per capita GDP increasing, in a second stage, characterized by the installation of profitable economic activities, increasing both the deforestation as the GDP per capita and only in a third environmental degradation will decrease. This last phase, when checked only by the econometric results, leads to an wrong interpretation, undone by complementing the definition of the agricultural boundary process expansion.

<p>Using 1991-2003 yearly statistical data from 66 counties in China’s Fujian province, we examine the relationship between GDP/capita levels and the rural-urban income gap, to see whether there exists any statistical relationship between these variables, and if such a relationship bears resemblance with the Kuznets’ “inverted U” hypothesis, predicting inequality to first rise, and then fall, as economic development proceeds. Our results point in the opposite direction; the income gap falls at the early stage of economic growth, but rises again as growth proceeds. This is the opposite of a Kuznets curve. In addition, the income gap is smaller in counties with access to coast, rivers, and highways and a higher proportion of illiterate. Moreover, the income gap is larger in counties with rugged terrain and a higher proportion of ethnic minorities.</p>

The first essay constitutes a theory which lends truth to the Kuznets hypothesis. The attention is centered on the role of financial markets in defining the process of knowledge accumulation, and ultimately the distribution of income earning capabilities in a population of ex ante heterogeneous individuals. The provision of credit is hindered by one-sided lack of commitment embedded in the area of educational investment. Adaptation in the legislative system to accommodate a punishment scheme conditional on default is the critical requirement for the economy to be carried on a dynamic growth path, albeit one of higher and worsening inequality. Owing to the accumulation of human capital and the associated externality on future generations’ knowledge productivity, the economy ultimately makes its transition to a state of lower income differentials. The second essay is an enquiry on the role of monetary policy in determining the growth dynamics of a small open economy. We postulate that the possibility of intermediated credit does not exist, the intention of the assumption being to uncover the role of inflation as tax on private spending. The analysis brings a valid argument of the superneutrality of money. Inflation when operating as consumption tax has no impact on the growth rate of output. This is established irrespective of the labor supply be held fixed, or incorporated as endogenous decision. When imitating the role of capital taxation, inflationary policy has a negative effect on capital accumulation in a framework of fixed labor supply. However, the validity of the superneutrality result is once again reestablished in an environment accommodating the endogeneity of labor supply. The third essay is a theoretical investigation of the long-run effects of tax and expenditure policies in an open economy framework. The aim is to establish an analytic basis for the factual evidence associated with the non-monotonic response of the current account to fiscal shocks. To this endeavor we sought two sources of time non-separability in the preference structure, habit-forming consumption in consumer durable goods. Optimal private choices induce non-monotonic dynamics on consumption behavior that are exactly consistent with the evidence on the current account.

This study analyzes the relationship between financial development and income inequality by using panel data of 60 developing and developed countries for the period 2000-2010. We find evidence for the linear negative relationship between financial development and income inequality which asserts that financial development reduces income inequality. We also find evidence supporting Kuznets inverted u-shaped hypothesis on development-income inequality link, except that for the developed countries where we find evidence for u-shaped hypothesis. It is also concluded that the panel is stationary without unit root, indicating that shocks on income inequality is not persistent.

The purpose of this dissertation would be to find the relationship between CO2 emission and GDP. We found that in case of the majority of countries the CO2 emission is related to national income and follows an inverted-U shaped curve. In our analysis we used the regression technique on 139 countries within the time period 1985-2004 to model and analyze the mentioned relationship and define the variables, that describe it. As it will be proved, Environmental Kuznets Curve validate the model and our hypothesis confirm other researches, therefore the inverse-u relationship proves to be correct.

Using 1991-2003 yearly statistical data from 66 counties in China’s Fujian province, we examine the relationship between GDP/capita levels and the rural-urban income gap, to see whether there exists any statistical relationship between these variables, and if such a relationship bears resemblance with the Kuznets’ “inverted U” hypothesis, predicting inequality to first rise, and then fall, as economic development proceeds. Our results point in the opposite direction; the income gap falls at the early stage of economic growth, but rises again as growth proceeds. This is the opposite of a Kuznets curve. In addition, the income gap is smaller in counties with access to coast, rivers, and highways and a higher proportion of illiterate. Moreover, the income gap is larger in counties with rugged terrain and a higher proportion of ethnic minorities.

According to the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC), economic growth will eventually cause carbon dioxide emissions to decrease. Is this the case in Sweden? A time series covering the period 1800-1995 is used to analyze the relation between carbon dioxide emissions and income per capita in Sweden. The empirical results indicate that an EKC for carbon dioxide is highly likely to exist in Sweden for the examined period. To take the analysis further, a cross-section data set is employed to examine the relationship between carbon dioxide emissions, income per capita and 4 other potentially influential variables in 75 countries. Only carbon intensity of energy is significant for carbon dioxide emissions. This implies that the utilized energy source is of importance, and it is crucial to separate energy consumption from carbon dioxide emissions. Emissions is a matter of structural aspects such as the type of industry and production a country comprise, and what type of energy that is consumed; not merely the quantity of energy. Sweden has experienced a shift in production techniques and in energy supply, and the energy-efficiency has improved during the past 100 years. It is consequently plausible to believe that it is not a critical income per capita which decreases CO 2  emissions – it is the “right” energy sources, energy efficiency and improved technology.

The Kyoto Protocol is one of the most important international climate change treaties aimed at fighting global warming. On January 1st 2005, the protocol was enforced with its first commitment period 2008-2012. However, the effectiveness of reducing CO2 emission has long been debated. The purpose of this thesis is to empirically as-sess the impact of the Kyoto Protocol on carbon dioxide reduction across countries, whether the protocol led significant difference after entering force in 2005. The data used in this thesis cover 37 Annex B countries and 148 non-annex B countries from 1990 to 2007. The models are constructed on the basis of the various contributing fac-tors to CO2 emissions and the Environmental Kuznets Curve model. The main find-ing is contrary against the result expected. The insignificant dummy variable cannot indicate that there is a “structural break” of CO2 emissions reduction after the Kyoto Protocol was implemented. The conclusion is that political agreements such as Kyoto Protocol cannot show critical effects on reducing carbon dioxide. The underlying main driving factors of CO2 emission are energy use, electricity from coal source, fossil fuel burning, in other words, industrialization. And the technology develop-ments cannot keep in pace with finding a new energy source and effectively control-ling CO2 emissions in the short run.

The world experiences large-scale ecosystems degradation in an every part of the planet - in rich as well as in and poor parts. Unstable economic conditions together with weak law enforcements make low income countries face more severe forms of natural destruction. This draws the attention on the need to design economic policies that are environmentally sound and while at the same time ensuring the well-being of their inhabitants in economic, social and natural settings. A number of countries in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia have experienced a unique historical period of transition from communist regimes to free democratic societies. This has been followed by numerous effects on their financial situations as economic hardships caused by the collapse of economies injected by the assistance from the Soviet and committees of socialist countries mutually aiding each other, opening up of opportunities as private ownership and market liberations. Not all countries succeeded in liberalizing their economic structures and reforming economic and political environments. Simultaneously, the natural environment underwent various effects, both positive and negative, after the Iron Curtain fell and exposed destructing effects of command and control economy. Mongolia has experienced all the hard aspects of the transition and started to climb up on the income ladder from the low income to the lower middle-income list of the World Bank, but also seen many negative price aspects of development. Water resources have been severely degraded in recent years due to anthropogenic impact. However, there are reforms taking place in water sector institutions that have recently attracted wide attention nationwide.This thesis will give detailed picture on current state of water resources in the country and the system that coordinates them. The Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) is used as an approach to highlight the relationship between water resource quality and income per capita in Mongolia. This is followed by a detailed discussion on water institutions development and the coordinating mechanisms badly needed among sectors involved. The research suggests that collaborative actions are important if sustainable water management is to be reached. More generally, I recommend further research issues on the generated topic as my thesis is one of the first discussions coupling the EKC and institutional theory aspects together.