Modern agricultural production typically requires large quantities of chemical pesticides, a potential source of both environmental and human harm. Previous social science research has suggested that environmental problems such as those associated with pesticide use may begin to decline at higher levels of economic development. Using fixed effects models, we examine whether this possible relationship holds within nations and over time. This study draws on data from the World Bank as well as pesticide use data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to examine the relationship between pesticide use and economic development within nations from 1990 to 2014. The findings are considered from theoretical perspectives in environmental sociology on the drivers of environmental impacts: the treadmill of production theory, structural human ecology, ecological modernization theory, and the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis. The results of this study show a positive relationship between economic development and pesticide consumption over time, with no decline in use at higher levels of economic development. Thus, they generally support the claims made by treadmill of production and structural human ecology.

中文翻译：

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农业，农药使用与经济发展：全球考试（1990–2014年）

现代农业生产通常需要大量化学农药，这是对环境和人类危害的潜在来源。先前的社会科学研究表明，与农药使用相关的环境问题可能会在较高的经济发展水平上开始下降。使用固定效应模型，我们研究了这种可能的关系在国家内部以及随着时间的推移是否成立。本研究借鉴了世界银行的数据以及联合国粮食及农业组织的农药使用数据，以研究1990年至2014年各国农药使用与经济发展之间的关系。环境社会学对环境影响的驱动力：生产理论的跑步机，结构人类生态学，生态现代化理论和环境库兹涅茨曲线假说。这项研究的结果表明，随着时间的推移，经济发展与农药消耗之间存在正相关关系，在较高的经济发展水平下使用量没有下降。因此，他们通常支持生产和人类生态结构跑步机提出的主张。