"This paper examines the extent to which economic integration affected levels of environmental degradation in Mexico during the period 1985 to 2000. During that time, Mexico transformed itself from one of the most closed to one of the most open economies in the world.
To answer this question, the paper draws on two theories from the economics literature: the so-called environmental kuznets curve (EKC) and the pollution haven hypothesis. During the often contentious debates over the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), proponents of free trade drew from the EKC to argue that in nations like Mexico economic integration would eventually lead to environmental improvements. Conversely, opponents of free trade evoked the pollution haven hypothesis to argue that free trade would automatically worsen environmental conditions in developing countries."
Source : U.C. Berkeley Center for Latin American Studies. CLAS Working Papers. Paper 13.
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