Desmatamento e Crescimento Econômico no Brasil: uma análise da Curva de Kuznets Ambiental para a Amazônia Legal

Over the last years,concerns about the possibility that the economic growth may cause deforestation in the Amazon region have been increasing.This work is aimed at studying the relation between income and deforestation by the hypothesis of Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) approach at municipal level in the period from2001-2006. A panel data model with spatial dependence was estimated. Some other variables mentioned in the literature as important causes of deforestation (cattle and agricultural activities, population density and others) were included. The best model specified is the one that includes a spatial error term and spatial spillovers. The relation founded is not the traditional inverted “U” shaped, but an inverted “N” shaped relation.