Die Discussion Papers dienen einer möglichst schnellen Verbreitung von neueren Forschungsarbeiten des ZEW. Die Beiträge liegen in alleiniger Verantwortung der Autoren und stellen nicht notwendigerweise die Meinung des ZEW dar.Discussion Papers are intended to make results of ZEW research promptly available to other economists in order to encourage discussion and suggestions for revisions. The authors are solely responsible for the contents which do not necessarily represent the opinion of the ZEW.Download this ZEW Discussion Paper from our ftp server:ftp://ftp.zew.de/pub/zew-docs/dp/dp0556.pdf Non technical summaryThe relationship between economic development and environmental quality has been extensively explored in recent years. The shape of this relationship has implications for the definition of an appropriate joint economic and environmental policy. In the literature, this animated debate revolves around the existence of an Environmental Kuznets Curve, which implies that, starting from low levels of income per capita, environmental degradation increases, but after a certain level of income (turning point) it diminishes.This study investigates the question of the existence of an EKC using a nonparametric approach. In this framework, no a priori parametric functional form is assumed for modelling the relationship between carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions and GDP per capita. The main reason for studying CO 2 emissions is that they play a focal role in the current debate on environmental protection and sustainable development. CO 2 has been recognized by most scientists as a major source of global warming through its greenhouse effects. Another reason is that CO 2 emissions are directly related to the use of energy, which is an essential factor in the world economy, both for production and consumption. Therefore, the relationship between CO 2 emissions and economic growth has important implications for environmental and economic policies.To estimate this relationship, we use information drawn from several data sets. CO 2 emissions measured in metric tons are obtained from the data base of the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Real GDP per capita series, measured in thousand constant dollars at 1985 prices, are drawn from the Penn World Table 5.6. The resulting data set, a balanced panel of 100 countries, covers the period 1960-1996.We first consider the issue of structural stability of the relationship between CO 2 emissions and GDP per capita, and we find evidence of structural stability of the relationship over the period . Based on this result, the panel nature of the data allows us to specify a nonparametric model that accounts for heterogeneity across countries. We find that the relationship between CO 2 emissions and GDP per capita is upward sloping, and that the usually adopted polynomial functional form which leads to the environmental Kuznets curve in several studies is rejected against our nonparametric model. Moreover, by comparing different estimation methods ...
Die Discussion Papers dienen einer möglichst schnellen Verbreitung von neueren Forschungsarbeiten des ZEW. Die Beiträge liegen in alleiniger Verantwortung der Autoren und stellen nicht notwendigerweise die Meinung des ZEW dar.Discussion Papers are intended to make results of ZEW research promptly available to other economists in order to encourage discussion and suggestions for revisions. The authors are solely responsible for the contents which do not necessarily represent the opinion of the ZEW.Download this ZEW Discussion Paper from our ftp server:ftp://ftp.zew.de/pub/zew-docs/dp/dp0556.pdf Non technical summaryThe relationship between economic development and environmental quality has been extensively explored in recent years. The shape of this relationship has implications for the definition of an appropriate joint economic and environmental policy. In the literature, this animated debate revolves around the existence of an Environmental Kuznets Curve, which implies that, starting from low levels of income per capita, environmental degradation increases, but after a certain level of income (turning point) it diminishes.This study investigates the question of the existence of an EKC using a nonparametric approach. In this framework, no a priori parametric functional form is assumed for modelling the relationship between carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions and GDP per capita. The main reason for studying CO 2 emissions is that they play a focal role in the current debate on environmental protection and sustainable development. CO 2 has been recognized by most scientists as a major source of global warming through its greenhouse effects. Another reason is that CO 2 emissions are directly related to the use of energy, which is an essential factor in the world economy, both for production and consumption. Therefore, the relationship between CO 2 emissions and economic growth has important implications for environmental and economic policies.To estimate this relationship, we use information drawn from several data sets. CO 2 emissions measured in metric tons are obtained from the data base of the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Real GDP per capita series, measured in thousand constant dollars at 1985 prices, are drawn from the Penn World Table 5.6. The resulting data set, a balanced panel of 100 countries, covers the period 1960-1996.We first consider the issue of structural stability of the relationship between CO 2 emissions and GDP per capita, and we find evidence of structural stability of the relationship over the period . Based on this result, the panel nature of the data allows us to specify a nonparametric model that accounts for heterogeneity across countries. We find that the relationship between CO 2 emissions and GDP per capita is upward sloping, and that the usually adopted polynomial functional form which leads to the environmental Kuznets curve in several studies is rejected against our nonparametric model. Moreover, by comparing different estimation methods ...
We develop a method for estimation of price reactions using unit value data which exploits the implicit links between quantity and unit value choices. This allows us to combine appealing Engel curve specifications with a model of unit value determination in a way which is consistent with demand theory, unlike methods hitherto prominent in the literature. The method is applied to Czech data. Executive SummaryOne of the main difficulties in the estimation of demand systems using household data concerns the precise estimation of price reactions. The reason is that, whereas data on households normally exhibit considerable variation in expenditures, this is not typically the case for prices. Very often information about geographical variation in prices or variation over time within the period covered by one cross-section is lacking, so that prices are assumed uniform over all households of the same cross-section.Data sets which contain information, not only on expenditures, but also on quantities consumed for a set of goods, offer interesting possibilities: this allows the computation of individual unit values for the spending of each household on any of these goods. It might be thought possible to model demand for these goods treating these unit values as prices. These would appear much more attractive for estimation purposes than aggregate prices, which are just averages that no household actually pays. Yet, since the goods are invariably subject to some degree of aggregation, it is undoubtedly true that much of the variation in unit values will actually result from household choice regarding the nature of the goods purchased.We develop a method for estimation of price reactions using unit value data which exploits the implicit links between quantity and unit value choices and which builds on methods previously proposed in the demand literature. This allows us to combine appealing Engel curve specifications with a model of unit value determination in a way which is consistent with demand theory, unlike methods hitherto prominent in the literature.We illustrate the technique with an application to Czech Family Budget Survey data.2
Die Discussion Papers dienen einer möglichst schnellen Verbreitung von neueren Forschungsarbeiten des ZEW. Die Beiträge liegen in alleiniger Verantwortung der Autoren und stellen nicht notwendigerweise die Meinung des ZEW dar.Discussion Papers are intended to make results of ZEW research promptly available to other economists in order to encourage discussion and suggestions for revisions. The authors are solely responsible for the contents which do not necessarily represent the opinion of the ZEW.Download this ZEW Discussion Papers from our ftp server:ftp://ftp.zew.de/pub/zew-docs/dp/dp0070.pdf Abstract. We present a new method for imposing and testing concavity of a cost function using asymptotic least squares, which can easily be implemented even for cost functions which are nonlinear in parameters. We provide an illustration on the basis of a (generalized) Box-Cox cost function with six inputs: capital, labor disaggregated in three skill levels, energy, and intermediate materials. A parametric test of the concavity of the cost function in prices is presented, and price elasticities are compared when curvature conditions are imposed and when they are not. The results show that, although concavity is statistically rejected, the estimates are not very sensitive to its imposition. We find that substitution is stronger between the different types of labor than between any other pair of inputs.
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