National culture and eco-efficiency: An application of conditional partial nonparametric frontiers

Abstract

Given that norms govern individual behaviour, which in turn are related to the environmental behaviour, this study provides empirical evidence of the link between human behaviour and the environment. Firstly with the use of robust frontiers the eco-efficiency ratios of 72 countries are constructed. Then, by applying probabilistic approaches, countries' eco-efficiencies conditioned on their cultural values are estimated. In a second-stage nonparametric regression analysis, the effect of countries' cultural values on their eco-efficiency levels is captured. The empirical results reveal that distinct cultural characteristics explain countries eco-efficiency variations. © 2013 Springer Japan.