Environmental Kuznets curve and the water footprint: an empirical analysis

Water is an essential element for life, playing an important role in economic devel-opment, although it is threatened by negative externalities that do not make itavailable for everyone. The main purpose of this article is to offer insightful empiri-cal evidence of the nexus between economic growth and water usage. In this arti-cle we investigate the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis using acountry’s water footprint as an indicator of water impact. Using linear and nonlin-ear models we estimate, through the ordinary least square, the relationshipbetween water impact and gross national income (GNI) per capita for 94 Countries.Our study shows an N-shape curve, which does not confirm the EKC hypothesis,both for the relationship between Water Footprint per capita and GNI per capitaand Grey Water Footprint per capita and GNI per capita. From this results, a num-ber of recommendations can be provided to strengthen the water resources poli-cies and management.