Economic growth, inequality, democratization, and the environment

被引:43
作者
Eriksson, C
Persson, J
机构
[1] Swedish Univ Agr Sci, Dept Econ, S-75007 Uppsala, Sweden
[2] Trade Union Inst Econ Res, S-11124 Stockholm, Sweden
关键词
economic growth and the environment; inequality; politics;
D O I
10.1023/A:1023658725021
中图分类号
F [经济];
学科分类号
02 ;
摘要
We augment the Stokey ( 1998) model by allowing agents to differ with respect to environmental quality and income in order to analyze the impact of income and environmental inequality, and of democratization on aggregate pollution. We find that the impact of a more equal income distribution depends on the degree of democracy. In a complete democracy a more equal income distribution generates, ceteris paribus, less pollution, which is consistent with indirect empirical evidence, whereas the opposite is the case if democratic rights are highly restricted. Furthermore, a democratization is argued to typically lower both the income and the environmental quality of the median voter. In this case, if, in utility terms, the fall in environmental quality is worse than the fall in consumption the median voter decides to tighten environmental legislation so that aggregate pollution decreases.
引用
收藏
页码:1 / 16
页数:16
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