Eco-Efficiency and Convergence in OECD Countries

This paper assesses the convergence in eco-efficiency of a group of 22 OECD countries over the period 1980–2008. In doing so, three air pollutants representing the impact on the environment of economic activities are considered, namely, carbon dioxide ( CO2 ), nitrogen oxides ( NOX ) and sulphur oxi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental and Resource Economics
Main Authors: Camarero, Mariam, Castillo, Juana, Picazo-Tadeo, Andrés J, Tamarit, Cecilio
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Springer Verlag 2013
Subjects:
OECD
Convergence clubs
Data Envelopment Analysis
Eco-efficiency
Air pollutants
Canada
Norway
Iceland
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10234/63870
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10640-012-9616-9
Description
Summary:This paper assesses the convergence in eco-efficiency of a group of 22 OECD countries over the period 1980–2008. In doing so, three air pollutants representing the impact on the environment of economic activities are considered, namely, carbon dioxide ( CO2 ), nitrogen oxides ( NOX ) and sulphur oxides ( SOX ); furthermore, eco-efficiency scores at both country and air-pollutant-specific level are computed using Data Envelopment Analysis techniques. Then, convergence is evaluated using the recent approach by Phillips and Sul Econometrica 75:1771–1855 (2007), which tests for the existence of convergence groups. First, we find that eco-efficiency has improved over the period, with the exception of NOX emissions. Second, Switzerland is the most eco-efficient country, followed by some Scandinavian economies, such as Sweden, Iceland, Norway and Denmark. In contrast, Southern European countries such as Portugal, Spain and Greece, in addition to Hungary, Turkey, Canada and the United States, are among the worst performers. Finally, we find that both the most eco-efficient countries and the worst tend to form clubs of convergence.

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