Conditions of Environmental Degradation in Brazilian Countryside Areas

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the relationship between environmental degradation and economic growth in Brazil’s countryside areas and describe the situation of countryside households in relation to environmental pollution. For this, we used the microdata from the National Sample Survey (PNAD, Brazil) for the year 2015 and the econometric analysis occurred through the ordered logit model. The results allowed us to conclude that the Northeast, followed by the North and the Midwest, are the regions in which households are most inadequate; on the other hand, the South-Southeast axis presents the households with the best sustainable conditions. By analyzing the relationship between environmental degradation and economic growth for the Brazilian countryside environment, it was concluded that economic growth presented the inverted “N” format in relation to degradation for all regions, in which income and dimensions of access to education, health and information were crucial to this achievement.