ESTIMATING ENVIRONMENTAL KUZNETS CURVE: THE IMPACT OF ENVIRONMENTAL TAXES AND ENERGY CONSUMPTION IN CO2 EMISSIONS OF OECD COUNTRIES

The objective of the paper is to estimate the relationship between CO2 emissions per capita, GDP per capita, energy consumption and environmental taxes for OECD countries in the period 1994-2014. To perform the above, we estimated a static and dynamic panel data models. The results show that the Environmental Kuznets Curve is verified for OECD countries, and environmental taxes have a negative impact on CO2 emissions (static model). On the other hand, the consumption of energy from fossil fuels has a positive impact on CO2 emissions. We conclude that while the Environmental Kuznets Curve is met, government plays an important role in improving the environment, because environmental taxes have a negative impact on CO2 emissions