Debt, Structural Adjustment, and Biodiversity Loss: A Cross-National Analysis of Threatened Mammals and Birds

摘要

There has been increasing interest by social scientists inthe cross-national determinants of environmental problems.One area of inquiry that has received little attention is biodi-versity loss. We seek to address this gap in the literature byconducting a cross-national study of threatened mammalsand birds in 2005. In doing so, we use negative binomial re-gression models for a sample of 65 nations to evaluate hy-potheses drawn from several theoretical perspectives. Wefind substantial support for dependency theory that higherlevels of debt service, structural adjustment, and primarysector exports are associated with higher numbers of threat-ened mammals and birds. We also find support for worldpolity theory that higher levels of non-governmental organi-zations are associated with lower numbers of threatenedmammals and birds. We conclude with a discussion of thefindings, some policy implications, and possible directionsfor future research.