A Cross-National Investigation of Deforestation, Debt, State Fiscal Capacity, and the Environmental Kuznets Curve

Recent international conferences and policy initiatives demonstrate a far-reaching interest in global environmental concerns. This research explores relationships among debt levels, states, and deforestation. Dependency, ecological modernization, and statist perspectives are employed. The models investigate the influence of escalating debt levels of the 1980s on deforestation from 1990 to 1995. Measures of state fiscal capacity and regime type are included to support the contention that states should be more explicitly accounted for in deforestation research. Briefly, there is evidence in support of ecological modernization and statist perspectives, and mixed results with respect to dependency perspectives. The models presented in this research suggest support for hypotheses of an environmental Kuznets curve, and that levels of debt, state fiscal capacity, and regime type influence deforestation rates.