The environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis posits an inverted U relationship between environmental pressure and per capita income. Recent research has examined this hypothesis for different pollutants in different countries. Despite certain empirical evidence shows that some environmental pressures have diminished in developed countries, the hypothesis could not be generalized to the global relationship between economy and environment at all. In this article we contribute to this debate analyzing the trends of annual emission flux of six atmospheric pollutants in Spain. The study presents evidence that there is not any correlation between higher income level and smaller emissions, except for SO 2 whose evolution might be compatible with the EKC hypothesis. The authors argue that the relationship between income level and diverse types of emissions depends on many factors. Thus it cannot be thought that economic growth, by itself, will solve environmental problems.
Abstract. Why are the rates of innovation per capita in the Spanish Marshallian industrial districts higher than in the other local production systems (including the local manufacturing production systems of large firms)? We analyse an exhaustive database of patents granted in Spain between 2001 and 2006 aggregated in a panel of 806 local labour markets classified by seven typologies of local production systems. Our analysis shows that Marshallian industrial districts generate 30% of Spanish patents and an innovative output per capita that is 47% above the national average and 31% larger than the manufacturing production systems of large firms.The econometric estimates of a fixed effects model confirm the existence of an Innovation-district effect (I-district) and its size. The I-district effect is mainly related to the presence of Marshallian localization economies.
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