Gender, Environment, And Sustainable Economic Growth (Education/Gender) (Report‪)‬

Standard growth models such as those of Nelson and Phelps, Lucas, Rebelo, and others assume that production can be sustained with an insignificant amount of natural resources and environmental services if labour and capital can be improved adequately. The notion that the economy can grow sustainably for ever depends in large part on the assumption that technological improvements can trim down the number of units of natural capital necessary to produce a unit of economic output. Also, many studies, such as those by Davidson and Myers, Dankelman and Davidson have indicated that women are responsible for the environment care and play a predominant role in the management and use of natural resources. These studies emphasise that women must be involved in decision-making at all levels to foster sustainable economic development and growth. The paper develops a simultaneous equation model to highlight the notion that increase in human capital of women substitutes natural capital and hence leads to sustainable economic growth in Pakistan. Regression results show that growth in female-male enrolment (used as proxy for human capital) has positive and significant impact on economic growth. Our estimates show that the improvement in human capital substantially reduce the extraction and consumption of natural resources. We find that growth in female-male enrolments ratio is positively related with growth in forest area cover at different levels of education, confirming the notion that increase in human capital can successfully substitute natural resources at certain levels in the process of economic growth. The study confirms the arguments that women are efficient environmental managers within the development process of the economy. However, the study also finds a strong interrelationship between environment and human capital accumulation. The depletion of natural resources and environmental pollution inversely affect the human capital accumulation. The study stresses that government should ensure universal primary education, provision of safe drinking-water, electricity, and gas to protect natural resources and to empower sustainable economic growth. Keywords: Gender, Human Capital, Sustainable, Hartwick Rule