Equality, freedom and democracy: how important are they for environmental performance?

The complexity of the relationship between society and the environment is recognized by researchers and practitioners as a major challenge. This article examines how the type of political regime, the degree of political freedom and civil rights, and the level of income concentration relates to envir...

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Main Authors: Camila Horst Toigo, Ely José de Mattos
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universidade Federal do Paraná 2021-09-01
Series:Desenvolvimento e Meio Ambiente
Subjects:
Online Access:https://revistas.ufpr.br/made/article/view/73189
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author Camila Horst Toigo
Ely José de Mattos
author_facet Camila Horst Toigo
Ely José de Mattos
author_sort Camila Horst Toigo
collection DOAJ
description The complexity of the relationship between society and the environment is recognized by researchers and practitioners as a major challenge. This article examines how the type of political regime, the degree of political freedom and civil rights, and the level of income concentration relates to environmental performance as measured by the Environmental Performance Index (EPI). The analysis is based on a sample of 161 countries and covers the period 2007-2016, using a fixed effects panel data model. Our findings suggest that democracy as a political regime does not necessarily induce greater commitment to environmental issues. Lower income inequality offers the same results. However, a positive association was found between the expansion of rights and freedoms and the EPI, suggesting that freer countries tend to have better   environmental performance. Given the multiplicity of profiles in terms of the nature and depth of democracy and inequality, our study suggest parsimony with more generalist analyses.
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spelling doaj.art-18565d63e93f425ca9214694cf5075122023-01-19T22:41:51ZengUniversidade Federal do ParanáDesenvolvimento e Meio Ambiente1518-952X2176-91092021-09-0158010.5380/dma.v58i0.7318936577Equality, freedom and democracy: how important are they for environmental performance?Camila Horst Toigo0Ely José de Mattos1Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS)Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS)The complexity of the relationship between society and the environment is recognized by researchers and practitioners as a major challenge. This article examines how the type of political regime, the degree of political freedom and civil rights, and the level of income concentration relates to environmental performance as measured by the Environmental Performance Index (EPI). The analysis is based on a sample of 161 countries and covers the period 2007-2016, using a fixed effects panel data model. Our findings suggest that democracy as a political regime does not necessarily induce greater commitment to environmental issues. Lower income inequality offers the same results. However, a positive association was found between the expansion of rights and freedoms and the EPI, suggesting that freer countries tend to have better   environmental performance. Given the multiplicity of profiles in terms of the nature and depth of democracy and inequality, our study suggest parsimony with more generalist analyses.https://revistas.ufpr.br/made/article/view/73189democracyfreedomcivil rightsinequalityenvironmental performance
spellingShingle Camila Horst Toigo
Ely José de Mattos
Equality, freedom and democracy: how important are they for environmental performance?
Desenvolvimento e Meio Ambiente
democracy
freedom
civil rights
inequality
environmental performance
title Equality, freedom and democracy: how important are they for environmental performance?
title_full Equality, freedom and democracy: how important are they for environmental performance?
title_fullStr Equality, freedom and democracy: how important are they for environmental performance?
title_full_unstemmed Equality, freedom and democracy: how important are they for environmental performance?
title_short Equality, freedom and democracy: how important are they for environmental performance?
title_sort equality freedom and democracy how important are they for environmental performance
topic democracy
freedom
civil rights
inequality
environmental performance
url https://revistas.ufpr.br/made/article/view/73189
work_keys_str_mv AT camilahorsttoigo equalityfreedomanddemocracyhowimportantaretheyforenvironmentalperformance
AT elyjosedemattos equalityfreedomanddemocracyhowimportantaretheyforenvironmentalperformance