Evaluation of Public Policies in Brazil and Their Relation to Pollution and Poverty

The present article has the objective of analyzing the relationship between the per capita income, the industrial pollution level and the poverty level of the Brazilian states. An adaptation of the model proposed by Griliches (1977) was adopted, in which some factors to explain pollution were included. The parameters were estimated by the Generalized Method of Moments, with the use of simultaneous equations. The results indicate that poverty reduction is related to the increase of pollution. Therefore, government actions which aim to reduce the pollutant levels will have the undesirable impact of reducing the possibilities of confronting poverty situations.