Testing for an Environmental Kuznets Curve in Latin-American Countries

This paper presents empirical estimates of Environmental Kuznets Curves for a panel of Latin-American countries over the period 1975-1998. It uses a new econometric technique that allows for more flexible assumptions in a panel data framework with a large time dimension. Unlike most previous studies we test for slope heterogeneity of the income coefficient in the search of a common empirical relation between carbon dioxide emissions and income. Our results point to the existence of some heterogeneity among countries, but with specific patterns for those sharing certain characteristics.