Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/36256 
Year of Publication: 
2009
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 4564
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
We present an OLG model in which life expectancy and environmental quality dynamics are jointly determined. Agents may invest in environmental care, depending on how much they expect to live. In turn, environmental conditions affect life expectancy. As a result, our model produces a positive correlation between longevity and environmental quality, both in the long-run and along the transition path. Eventually, multiple equilibria may also arise: some countries might be caught in a low-life-expectancy / low-environmental-quality trap. This outcome is consistent with stylized facts relating life expectancy and environmental performance measures. We also discuss the welfare and policy implications of the intergenerational externalities generated by individual choices. Finally, we show that our results are robust to the introduction of growth dynamics based on physical or human capital accumulation.
Subjects: 
Environmental quality
life expectancy
poverty traps
human capital
JEL: 
J24
O11
O40
Q56
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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