Green technical innovation, environmental expenditure, and the environmental Kuznets curve： a dynamic s model

The relationship between the emission of pollutant and economic growth has attracted a lot of attention in the environmental debate of the recent decades. Based on some theoretical and empirical research on environmental Kuznets curve （EKC）, this paper introduces the environmental technical innovation and environmental investment into Salow growth model to discuss the relationship between GDP per capital and the emission of pollutant By the dynamic simulation and parameters analysis, the results of the model indicate： （1） when ＂green＂ technical progress and environmental investment are fixed, the relationship between GDP per capital and the emission shows the linear relationship; （2） ＂green＂ technical progress can lead to the positive growth rates with a decreasing level of emission, which is compatible with an EKC; （3） the proportion of the environmental investment can lead the different growth rates and level of emission. These results can explain that developing countries are ＂too poor to be green＂.     

The environmental Kuznets curve in a world of irreversibility

This paper develops an overlapping generations model where consumption is the source of polluting emissions. Pollution stock accumulates with emissions but is partially assimilated by nature at each period. The assimilation capacity of nature is limited and vanishes beyond a critical level of pollution. We first show that multiple equilibria exist. More importantly, some exhibit irreversible pollution levels although an abatement activity is operative. Thus, the simple engagement of maintenance does not necessarily suffice to protect an economy against convergence toward a steady state having the properties of an ecological and economic poverty trap. In contrast with earlier related studies, the emergence of the environmental Kuznets curve is no longer the rule. Instead, we detect a sort of degenerated environmental Kuznets curve that corresponds to the equilibrium trajectory leading to the irreversible solution. I would like to thank Alain Venditti, Mabel Tidball, Alain Jean-Marie and Thierry Bréchet for their helpfull comments and suggestions. I am deeply grateful to an anonymous referee whose comments have greatly improved the paper.     

Economic prosperity, biodiversity conservation, and the environmental Kuznets curve

Many conservationists contend that economic growth and biodiversity conservation are incompatible goals. Some economists contest this viewpoint, arguing that wealthier countries have the luxury of investing more heavily in efforts to conserve biodiversity. Under this assumption, we expect a U-shaped relationship between per capita wealth and proportion of species conserved. We test this environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) using estimates of per capita income and deforestation rates (index of biodiversity threat) for 35 tropical countries. A prior analysis [Dietz, S., Adger, W.N., 2003. Economic growth, biodiversity loss and conservation effort. Journal of Environmental Management, 68:23-35] using conventional regression techniques failed to provide any support for the parabolic relationship predicted by the EKC hypothesis. Here, we introduce the use of quantile regression and spatial filtering to reanalyze this data, addressing issues of heteroskedasticity and spatial autocorrelation. We note that preliminary analysis using these methods provides some initial evidence for an EKC. However, a series of panel analyses with country-specific dummy variables eliminated or even reversed much of this support. A closer examination of conservation practices and environmental indicators within the countries, particularly those countries that drove our initial support, suggests that wealth is not a reliable indicator of improved conservation practice. Our findings indicate that an EKC for biodiversity is overly simplistic and further exploration is required to fully understand the mechanisms by which income affects biodiversity.     

Environmental productivity and Kuznets curve in India

As a result of India's extremely rapid economic growth, the scale and seriousness of environmental problems are no longer in doubt. Whether pollution abatement technologies are utilized more efficiently is crucial in the analysis of environmental management because it influences the cost of alternative production and pollution abatement technologies. In this study, we use state-level industry data of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and suspended particular matter over the period 1991-2003. Employing recently developed productivity measurement technique, we show that overall environmental productivities decrease over time in India. Furthermore, we analyze the determinants of environmental productivities and find environmental Kuznets curve type relationship existences between environmental productivity and income. Panel analysis results show that the scale effect dominates over the technique effect. Therefore, a combined effect of income on environmental productivity is negative.     

Environmental resilience and economic growth: Command economy's optimization and environmental Kuznets curve

This paper constructs a two-sector environmental growth model with explicit mathematical derivation and economic intuition in a social planning economy. Through the optimal allocation of man-made capital between the production sector and the environmental sector, this paper shows that the trade-off between economic growth and environmental protection exists only when an economy deviates from its steady state. We also provide short-run transitions for both the whole economic system and individual control and state variables. In addition, technological progress in the production sector benefits economic growth rate while the improvement of technology in the environmental sector has only level effects on economic variables. This paper ends with a link between the theory and a hot empirical issue — the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis.     

中国经济增长与环境污染关系的研究——基于环境库兹涅茨曲线的实证分析

基于环境库兹涅茨曲线理论的面板数据分析模型,并考虑了人口密度、环保政策、贸易开放度、技术进步、产业结构在内的其他因素对SO2排放量的影响,选取全国30个省、自治区、直辖市2004—2011年这8年的面板数据,对我国经济增长与环境污染指标SO2排放量之间的关系进行了实证研究。研究结果表明,与倒U型的环境库兹涅茨曲线不同,我国人均GDP与人均SO2排放量存在倒N型关系。并结合控制变量对环境作用的正负效应提出了有助于降低SO2排放量、改善环境质量的针对性的政策建议。     

也说腐败发展的库兹涅茨曲线

在经济发展的过程中,腐败现象存在一种倒U型的发展轨迹。制度建设的滞后,一方面导致了有害于社会发展的腐败的盛行,另一方面也使得腐败成为了改革和发展的润滑剂。而到了经济增长成熟的阶段,随着制度建设的完善,腐败会逐渐下降。     

A consumption-based approach to environmental Kuznets curves using the ecological footprint indicator

Recent research suggests that consumption-based measures offer an insightful perspective on the debate on the relationship between economic growth and the environment. In this article we deepen the consumption-based line of inquiry by investigating the empirical evidence in support of the environmental Kuznets hypothesis using 2001 ecological footprint data for 141 countries. We perform Ordinary Least Squares and Weighted Least Squares analysis on linear, quadratic and cubic functions, in standard and logarithmic specifications, as candidate models to represent the relationship between per capita income and environmental pressure. We replicate the cross country analysis also by estimating the regression function directly, through a nonparametric regression. In our analyses, with and without weighing data by population, the results do not show evidence of de-linking.     

收入、收入类别与环境库兹涅茨曲线

利用2000-2009年我国省际面板数据,对人均收入、收入类别与六种污染指标之间的关系进行了实证检验.结果表明:环境库兹涅茨倒U型关系取决于污染指标的选择,在样本期内,部分污染指标呈现出倒U型EKC关系;在倒U型曲线的转折点处,城镇人均可支配收入的临界水平高于农村人均纯收入的临界水平.     

广州市环境库兹涅茨曲线分析

本文以广州市的经济增长和废水、工业废气排放的关系为例，选取了广州市1982～2004年经济增长与废水、废气排放等环境数据，建立了人均GDP与废水、工业废气排放量的模型，并绘制了环境库兹涅茨曲线。研究发现，广州市的经济与环境发展符合环境库兹涅茨曲线，呈倒u形，人均GDP与废水排放量曲线已位于转折点，人均GDP与工业废气排放量曲线已接近转折点，表明该市进入了经济与环境协调发展的有序时期，技术进步和产业结构的调整已产生了明显的环境效益。同时也说明了广州市目前已处于工业化发展的中期，并进入了经济与环境协调发展的有序时期。     

关于环境库兹涅茨曲线演替轨迹分析——以陕西为例

利用陕西省1985～2006年间的数据分析人均收入与环境质量之间的关系,以期探索影响陕西环境库茨涅茨曲线演替轨迹的深层次原因。分析发现：经济转轨的背景下,与陕西比较优势不相符的产业结构、所有制结构的异常变动对陕西工业“三废”的拟合曲线产生重要影响。实证检验结果的分析并不支持有别于传统EKC曲线的新型曲线是可能存在的。     

Questioning the empirical basis of the environmental Kuznets curve for CO2: New evidence from a panel stationarity test robust to multiple breaks and cross-dependence

This paper investigates the time series properties of per capita CO₂ emissions and per capita GDP levels for a sample of 86 countries over the period 1960-2000. For that purpose, we employ a state-of-the-art panel stationarity test which incorporates multiple shifts in level and slope, thereby controlling for cross-sectional dependence through bootstrap methods. Our analysis renders clear-cut evidence that per capita GDP levels are nonstationary for the world as a whole while per capita CO₂ is found to be regime-wise trend stationary. The analysis of country-groups shows that for Africa and Asia, per capita CO₂ is best described as nonstationary, while per capita GDP appears stationary around a broken trend. In addition, we find evidence of regime-wise trend stationarity in both variables for the country-groups consisting of America, Europe and Oceania. The results of our analysis carry important implications for the statistical modelling of the Environmental Kuznets curve for CO₂, since the differing order of integration in both variables for the world as a whole and for Africa and Asia calls into question the validity of panel cointegration techniques which assume that both variables are nonstationary and cointegrated with one another. Cointegration techniques would not be appropriate either for the case of America, Europe and Oceania which are characterised by per capita GDP and CO₂ emissions being stationary around a broken trend. Similar conclusions are reached when we analyse country-groups based on levels of development. Failure to properly characterise the time series properties of the data by not controlling for an unknown number of structural breaks and for cross-sectional dependence could be responsible for the fragility and lack of robustness surrounding the estimation of environmental Kuznets curves.     

我国环境库兹涅茨曲线解析

经验数据显示：我国环境污染总水平随经济发展不断加剧，且经济越发达地区的入均污染程度越重。通过计算环境污染及其经济影响因子之间的灰色关联度，本文定量剖析了我国环境库兹涅茨曲线的成因，结果表明：产出结构和GDP、收入分配和贸易结构分别是直接影响因素和所有影响因素中与我国环境污染关系最密切的因素。     

湖州市环境库兹涅茨曲线转折点分析

湖州市位于我国经济发达的太湖流域,近年经济发展迅速,同时又是我国的环保模范城市。分析该地区的经济增长与环境质量之间的关系,对于其他地区具有十分重要的借鉴意义。选择工业化学耗氧排放量、工业SO2排放量以及工业固体废弃物产生量表征环境污染的综合水平,以人均国内生产总值表征经济发展水平,对湖州市的环境库兹涅茨曲线进行分析,从工业污染物排放、三次产业结构变化以及环境保护政策和投资力度等方面分析。结果表明,1998～2008年湖州市环境库兹涅茨曲线大体呈现倒U型的变化特征,环境库兹涅茨曲线在2006年达到转折点,人均国内生产总值为29 088元,工业化学耗氧量、SO2、固体废弃物环境库兹涅茨曲线分别在1999年、2005年、2007年达到转折点,对应的人均国内生产总值分别是12 634.9元、25 030.0元、32 521.4元。     

The Environmental Kuznets Curve Under a New Framework: The Role of Social Capital in Water Pollution

We advance a case for including social capital in an environmental Kuznets curve analysis using highly disaggregated data of water pollution in Louisiana. We create a social capital index and employ parametric and spatial panel regression models to explain water pollution dynamics.      

Testing the role of urban development in the conventional Environmental Kuznets Curve: evidence from Turkey

We tested the role of urbanization in the conventional Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) of Turkey’s developing economy and rapid urbanization. The effects of an increase in carbon dioxide emissions were due to the usage of fuel oil and other traditional energy consumption patterns related to urban development. Based on our findings, we suggest that the EKC of Turkey is not an inverted U-shape. Thus, adapting of alternative and clean energy systems is necessary and unavoidable in Turkey, and Turkish authorities should consider renewable and alternative uses of energy to sustain a stable EKC.     

Factors Behind the Environmental Kuznets Curve. A Decomposition of the Changes in Air Pollution

The environmental Kuznets curve theory suggeststhat economic growth in the long run may reduceenvironmental problems. In this article, we usea decomposition analysis to isolate eightdifferent factors, in order to investigate theorigins of changes in emissions to air over theperiod from 1980 to 1996. Among these factorsare economic growth, changes in the relativesize of production sectors and changes in theuse of energy. Given constant emissions perproduced unit, economic growth alone would havecontributed to a significant increase in theemissions. This potential degradation of theenvironment has been counteracted by first ofall more efficient use of energy and abatementtechnologies. In addition, the substitution ofcleaner for polluting energy types and othertechnological progressions and politicalactions have reduced the growth in emissions.Consequently, the growth in all emissions hasbeen significantly lower than economic growth,and negative for some pollutants.The results indicate that policymakers mayreduce emissions considerably through creatingincentives for lower energy use andsubstitutions of environmental friendly forenvironmental damaging energy types, inaddition to support environmental friendlyresearch or to conduct direct emission reducingactions, such as abatement requirements orbanning of environmental damaging products.This is particularly relevant to countries andsectors with relatively high energy intensitiesand low pollution abatement.     

On Impatience, Economic Growth and the Environmental Kuznets Curve: A Dynamic Analysis of Resource Management

The paper presents a dynamic analysis of natural resource management and investigates some key factors that affect optimal management and resource conservation.Using a recursive specification of time preferences, we show how endogenous discounting and impatience can affect the motivation for both capital investments and environmental preservation. We examine the relationships between economic growth and environmental quality. Endogenous discounting provides new insights in the economic dynamics underlying the environmental Kuznets curve. By treating growth as endogenous, we examine how externalities and economic growth interact with each other. We investigate how economic development can contribute to an increased demand for environmental preservation. As an important new result, we also show how poverty can contribute to environmental degradation.     

地方经济增长与环境质量——以山东省域为例的库兹涅茨曲线分析

对于不同地区、不同污染物而言,经济增长与环境质量之间的关系不尽相同,表现为环境库兹涅茨曲线呈现地域性和时间性差异。本文在回顾相关研究成果的基础上,采用山东省17个城市1995～2008年的面板数据,建立涵盖污染物排放指标和环境监测指标两大类、11种环境指标与人均GDP之间的计量经济模型,对环境质量变化与山东省经济增长的关系进行实证检验,比较污染排放指标与环境监测指标的检验结果,进而评估人口规模、产业结构、对外开放以及环境政策等控制变量对污染物排放和环境质量的影响。结果显示,尽管部分环境指标处于下行通道,但山东省环境目前整体状况和未来趋势不容乐观,应进一步加大节能减排力度,完善污染治理的体制机制,改善治理效果。     

The income–pollution relationship and the role of income distribution: An analysis of Swedish household data

The main purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship between pollution and income at household level. The study is motivated by the recent literature emphasizing the importance of income distribution for the aggregate relation between pollution and income. The main findings from previous studies are that if the individual pollution–income relationship is non-linear, then aggregate pollution for, say, a whole country, will depend not only on average income, but also on how income is distributed. To achieve our objective we formulate a model for determining the choice of consumption of goods in different types of household. Furthermore we link the demand model to emission functions for various goods. The theoretical analysis shows that without imposing very restrictive assumptions on preferences and the emission functions, it is not possible to determine a priori the slope or the curvature of the pollution–income relation. The empirical analysis shows that, given the model used, the pollution–income relation has a positive slope in Sweden and is strictly concave for all three pollutants under study (CO₂, SO₂, NO_x), at least in the neighbourhood of the observed income for an average household. We also show that altering the prevailing income distribution, holding average income constant, will affect aggregate emissions in the sense that an equalization of incomes will give rise to an increase in emissions. One implication is then that the development of aggregate pollution due to growth depends not only on the income level, but also on how growth is distributed.