Special Issue Journal of Sustainability Science and Studies

Special Issue 2, December 2018

Article Number: 01

Download [PDF]

Polluting Emissions and GDP: Decoupling Evidence from Brazilian States

Jalles, J.T. 

Pages 462-475

Abstract—We provide a comprehensive analysis of the relationship between greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and GDP in Brazil using both aggregate and state-level data. The trend or Kuznets elasticity is about 0.8 for Brazil, higher than that in advanced countries but below that of major emerging markets. The elasticity is somewhat higher for consumption-based emissions than for production-based emissions, providing evidence against the “pollution haven” hypothesis. Additional evidence comes from state-level data analysis where one can observe a great deal of heterogeneity but also some hope as far as decoupling is concerned. In addition to the trend relationship, we find that there does not seem to exist a cyclical relation holding in Brazil at the aggregate level (despite having become more procyclical over time), but it does exist in a few states. 

Keywords—greenhouse gas, cycle, environmental Kuznets curve, Brazil, regional analysis, detrending, filtering