Openness, Economic Development, and the Environment in Post-Reform China: A Model with Empirical Analysis

Abstract

In this study, based on the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) framework, we empirically examine the effects of trade openness and the level of economic development on pollution emission across the Chinese provinces. Our regression analysis shows that increasing trade openness contributes to higher pollution emission, where the effect of the former may be realized through its impacts on total factor productivity and the industry mix. Our analysis also shows that with the continuous growth of output and per capita output, pollution emission and pollution emission intensity both first rise and then fall, which gives support to the EKC hypothesis.

Focus on economy or ecology? A three‐dimensional trade‐off based on ecological carrying capacity in southwest China

“…Currently, with continued economic growth, the condition of the environment is worsening and ecological destruction continues to grow. The rapid processes of industrialization and urbanization in all parts of the world have been overwhelmingly dependent on excessive inputs of environmental resources (Jiang, ; Shaw, ). China, the second‐largest economy in the world, has registered extraordinary economic progress, maintaining an astonishing economic growth of an average rate of 9.8% per annum over the past 30 years (Huang, ; Wang, Wei, & Guo, ).…”