BRIEFING Discover how development decelerates deforestation, why traditional degree programmes are failing graduates and the pros and cons of laughter in the workplace in this round-up of news and research from BGA schools. By Tim Banerjee Dhoul , Ellen Buchan and Colette Doyle THE LATEST NEWS FROM ACROSS BGA’S NETWORK Business
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT UPROOTS DEFORESTATION IN 30-YEAR STUDY
an alleviation in deforestation. The statistics were then used to estimate the level of development needed to halt the loss of forest areas worldwide. “Although it is not a direct measure, economic development and increasing per capita income is something that will help conserve forests in the long term,” López explained. The results stemmed from putting figures on land use and per capita income from the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations into econometric models. Seven regions considered by the World Bank in the period 1990-2020 were analysed, showing variations between locations. Latin America and Africa, where rates of deforestation remain high, pose the principal concern. López
indicated that the current state of affairs means that economic policy and environmental policy must both promote development. Elsewhere, deforestation was found to be slowing in regions at an advanced state of development, in line with the projection of the environmental Kuznets curve. The Kuznets hypothesis suggests that economic development initially causes deterioration in the environment, before further growth yields an improved relationship with the natural world. However, not all estimates adhered to the Kuznets curve and its associated phases of forest transition, leading to calls for further in-depth investigation.
SCHOOL School of Business and Economics, Universidad de las Américas Puebla COUNTRY MEXICO
he link between economic development and a slowdown in deforestation is detailed in
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a study led by Universidad de las Américas Puebla (UDLAP) economics professor Martín Alfonso López Ramírez. Pouring over 30 years of data, the study demonstrated that increases in development are associated with
The study was published in the magazine Entorno UDLAP . TBD
6 Business Impact • ISSUE 2 • 2025
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