Abstract
This thesis examines the relationship between an animal welfare measurement (per capita hunting license sales) and economic growth in the framework of an Animal Welfare Kuznets Curve (AWKC). The data covers all 50 states over the period 1963-2009 yielding 2,350 observations for each variable. Following previous studies for an Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC), the dependent variable is regressed on income in a linear, quadratic, and cubic fashion to allow for non-linearity of the Kuznets curve. Using panel data techniques, results with state fixed effects show that state differences matter and thus motivate the estimation of a state-specific model. This model allows for curves to vary across states and results show that some states display an inverted-U while others display a U-curve or are monotonically increasing. Thus, a model that allows for differences between states is the best approach.