The Environmental Kuznets Curve: A Literature Survey

Abstract

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. SUMMARY In the last few years, several studies have found an inverted-U relationship between per capita income and environmental degradation. This relationship, known as the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC), suggests that environmental degradation increases in the early stages of growth, but it eventually decreases as income exceeds a threshold level. The present paper reviews both early and recent contributions on this subject, discussing whether and to what extent such a curve can be empirically observed, and the policy implications that derive from the empirical evidence.

Regional Issues in Environmental Management

“…The reality is that it is only after the Kyoto Protocol was approved in 1997 that regulatory frameworks on Greenhouse Gas have come to be set about domestically and internationally. The contrasting outcomes on the shape of the EK trajectories in this study appear to be consistent with those of previous works, which Nahman & Antrobus (2005) summarize by stating that the levels of the pollutants with local impacts fall with per capita income whilst the levels of easily externalized pollutants continue to rise with per capita income. The second contrast -downward shift of the latecomer's trajectories on the ODS and BOD versus upward shift on the CDE -can be explained by the degree of maturity in the knowhow and technology to abate those emissions in East Asia.…”

Sustainability: Living within One’s Own Ecological Means

“…Raymon believed that the EKC idea is an inadequate guide for environmental policy makers around the globe [78]. Nahman and Antrobus pointed out that there is enough evidence to suggest that the EKC development path may not be available to today's developing countries [79]. Dasgupta et al found that the atmospheric impact of fine particulate emissions on large cities worldwide does not support the view that air quality deteriorates during the first phase of economic growth [76].…”

On a clear day you might see an environmental Kuznets curve

“…Society's production possibilities are given by a concave production function g( p, t), which has pollution and 1 See e.g. Andreoni and Levinson (2001); Copeland and Taylor (2004);Stern (2004) and Nahman and Antrobus (2005) for useful surveys of the literature. 2 An example of the standard approach is Perman and Stern (2003); a panel dataset of sulfur emissions and GDP data for 74 countries covering 31 years is used to study the EKC.…”