Working Paper: NBER ID: w8001
Authors: David F. Bradford; Rebecca Schlieckert; Stephen H. Shore
Abstract: Using a new specification, we reanalyze the data on worldwide environmental quality investigated by Gene Grossman and Alan Krueger in a well-known paper on the environmental Kuznets curve (which postulates an inverse U shaped relationship between income level and pollution). The new specification enables us to draw conclusions from fixed effects estimation. In general, we find support for the environmental Kuznets curve for some pollutants and for its rejection in other cases. The fresh specification offers some promise for analysis of such phenomena.
Keywords: Environmental Kuznets Curve; pollution; income levels; economic development
JEL Codes: Q53; O44
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| income levels (J31) | pollution (Q53) |
| pollution (Q53) | income levels (J31) |
| income increases (D31) | demand for environmental quality (Q53) |
| demand for environmental quality (Q53) | pollution (Q53) |
| intermediate income levels (D31) | industrial production (L69) |
| industrial production (L69) | pollution (Q53) |