The Environmental Effects of Economic Globalization in Rich Countries: 1970-2010

• In Event: 254 - Section on Environment and Technology Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 15. Globalization

Abstract

A prolific body of studies have detailed the effects of economic globalization on poorer countries, but comparatively fewer have analyzed the effects of globalization on wealthy states. How globalization affects environmental outcomes in wealthy countries has strong implications for the treadmill of production theory and emergent theories of ecological modernization. A fixed effects GLS regression of 40 wealthy countries suggests that the treadmill of production theory is consistent with economic growth and emissions trends in these states. These findings further suggest that drastic reform of the global economy is necessary for meaningful environmental reform to occur.

Author

• John Kenyon McCollum, University of California-Irvine