2020 Articles

Environmental Sustainability and Human Capital Development

Porreca, Zachary Joseph

This study utilizes a multiple log regression model to examine how markers of environmental wellbeing are able to explain disparities in human capital globally. This paper utilizes data from The World Bank to examine relationships between emissions, air pollution, land and water conservation, renewable energy reliance, development status, and human capital levels. The results find that carbon emissions and particulate matter air pollution are the largest environmental predictors of human capital index scores, and that the positive relationship between carbon emissions and human capital level all but disappears amongst developed nations. This study fills a gap in the literature, providing a non-geographically isolated examination of particularly relevant explanatory variables, as opposed to solely utilizing index scores.