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Economic growth, government efficiency, and biodiversity loss: an international trade perspective

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Abstract

In the macro context of production decentralization and trade liberalization, biodiversity conservation and academic research have focused on clarifying the factors of biodiversity loss driven by international trade. Based on the MRIO model framework, this study measures and comparatively analyzes global biodiversity loss from 2006 to 2015. This is based on the Red List of Threatened Species database. It provides a normative interpretation of the mechanisms of economic growth and government efficiency in biodiversity loss with the help of spatial econometric methods. Economic growth and regional biodiversity loss showed an “inverted U” type relationship. When the economic growth level reaches a certain threshold, increasing it reduces the intensity of the biodiversity loss. Government efficiency has a significant spatial spillover effect and can significantly reduce biodiversity loss in the surrounding areas. Accordingly, this study suggests that in the process of biodiversity conservation, countries/regions need to effectively play a positive role in reducing the risk of biodiversity loss through economic growth, promoting the coordination between economic growth and biodiversity conservation, and promoting the formation of a synergistic mechanism. This study has important policy implications for developing a practical and feasible “post-2020 global biodiversity framework” and effective biodiversity conservation program.

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The data used during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Notes

  1. In conducting the regression analysis, this study first introduced the primary, secondary, and tertiary terms of economic growth into the equation but found that the coefficient of the tertiary term was insignificant and excluded, so the final choice was to report the estimation results that included its primary and secondary terms.

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XL is in charge of the Introduction and Empirical models. SC provides the empirical results of the article, and SW makes the conclusions and submit the article.

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Correspondence to Shuhong Wang.

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Ethical approval was obtained from the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

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Li, X., Chen, S. & Wang, S. Economic growth, government efficiency, and biodiversity loss: an international trade perspective. Environ Dev Sustain (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-023-04059-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-023-04059-2

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