Biodiversidad, crecimiento económico y distribución del ingreso en Colombia, 1995-2015: Una revisión de la hipótesis ambiental de Kuznets

Abstract

The literature that has studied the relationship between economy and the environment has tried to contrast the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis (EKC). The relationship traditionally studied is environmental damage measured through some proxy for air pollution, and economic growth measured through per capita income. This work contrasts the validity of the EKC hypothesis for Colombia in the 1995-2015. Unlike the traditional studies, biodiversity was taken as environmental variable, measured from a variable that explains the loss of the same, as is the total number of biological species in some threat category. In addition, the Gini coefficient, the Yale University Environmental Performance Index (EPI) and the Literacy Rate were included as explanatory variables. The coefficients obtained from GDP per capita, in its normal, square and cubic measure, it is evident that the EKC is not fulfilled for Colombia in the estimated period. These results cast more doubt about the EKC sustainability, since increasing per capita income could cyclically generate slope changes that increase or decrease the biodiversity loss level. It is possible to conclude that these studies are context dependent, and the EKC hypothesis cannot be considered universal