Is there a Kuznets curve for cropland use? The evidence from international panel data

The environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis assumes the nonlinear relationship between production and its environmental effects, suggesting that the negative effect of production on the natural environment is reversed at higher levels of development. In contrast to the majority of the studies, this paper considers the possibility of non-linear effects of per capita output on agricultural land use (cropland), as one of the natural resource stocks, and additionally examines the influence of demographic and productivity variables on the agricultural land use. The study draws on panel data from 143 economies over the 1990-2019 period and employs a series of panel econometrics techniques (including panel unit root and cointegration tests, panel ordinary least squares, generalized method of moments, and panel quantile models). The results unequivocally indicate the inverted U-shaped relationship between the GDP per capita and cropland use, as per EKC hypothesis. The results are robust with respect to employing different techniques, the identified turning points correspond to low and low-middle-income levels, and the effects of agricultural productivity and population density on land use are respectively negative and positive.