Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis'

In order to combat global warming and climate change issues and facilitate economic prosperity in the same time, it is important to understand the possible tradeoffs between economic growth and environmental degradation. In this thesis, we evaluate the hypothesis of an N-shaped environmental Kuznets curve (EKC). Using panel data analysis, we investigate the relationship between CO2 emissions, GDP per capita, renewable energy consumption, technological development, trade, and institutional quality for 74 countries over the period of 1994 to 2012. We find (i) evidence for the Nshaped EKC when using pooled OLS regressions for all income groups but upper-middleincome countries; (ii) heterogeneous results regarding the N-shaped EKC across income groups and quantiles when using quantile regressions; and (iii) a clear and consistent negative relationship between renewable energy and CO2 emissions, indicating the importance of promoting greener energy to combat climate change.
För att bekämpa klimatförändringar och samtidigt möjliggöra ekonomiskt välstånd är det viktigt att förstå de möjliga avvägningarna mellan ekonomisk tillväxt och miljöförstöring. I denna uppsats utvärderar vi hypotesen om en N-formad miljökuznetskurva (EKC). Med hjälp av paneldataanalys undersöker vi förhållandet mellan koldioxidutsläpp, BNP per capita, förnybar energi, teknologisk utveckling, internationell handel och institutionell kvalitet för 74 länder under perioden 1994 till 2012. Vi finner (i) bevis för en N-formad EKC för alla inkomstgrupper förutom övre medelinkomstländer när poolad OLS används som skattningsmetod; (ii) heterogena resultat gällande en N-formad EKC, både mellan och inom de olika inkomstgrupperna, när vi använder oss av kvantilregressioner; och (iii) ett tydligt och konsekvent negativt förhållande mellan förnybar energi och koldioxidutsläpp, vilket pekar på vikten av att främja grönare energi för att kunna bekämpa klimatförändringar.

This thesis examines the impact of entrepreneurship, technology, and innovation on the Environmental Kuznets Curve, using data from 2006-2016. Most studies either focus on the relationship between economic growth and CO2 emissions or the relationship between business activities and economic growth. We aim to expand research by connecting the two streams and proposing a way to make economic activities more sustainable. By applying quantile regression to our panel data and grouping countries in peer groups, we can see how the impact of the independent variables vary across the CO2 emissions distribution. We found evidence for an N-shaped EKC relationship in developed countries, whilst an inverted N-shape in developing countries. Our results confirmed that renewable energy consumption has a negative effect on environmental degradation. We also found evidence that entrepreneurship increases CO2 emissions in developed countries, suggesting that policies should incentivise a greener business model. On the contrary, we found that innovation increases emissions in developing countries and decreases emissions in developed countries.Keywords Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis, Renewable energy, Technology,Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Sustainable development

China has been experiencing great economic development and fast urbanisation since its reforms and opening-up policy in 1978. However, these changes are reliant on consumption of primary energy, especially coal, characterised by high pollution and low efficiency. China’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with carbon dioxide (CO2) being the most significant contributor, have also been increasing rapidly in the past three decades. Responding to both domestic challenges and international pressure regarding energy, climate change and environment, the Chinese government has made a point of addressing climate change since the early 2000s. This thesis provides a comprehensive analysis of China’s CO2 emissions and policy instruments for mitigating climate change. In the analysis, China’s CO2 emissions in recent decades were reviewed and the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis examined. Using the mostly frequently studied macroeconomic factors and time-series data for the period of 1980-2008, the existence of an EKC relationship between CO2 per capita and GDP per capita was verified. However, China’s CO2 emissions will continue to grow over coming decades and the turning point in overall CO2 emissions will appear in 2078 according to a crude projection. More importantly, CO2 emissions will not spontaneously decrease if China continues to develop its economy without mitigating climate change. On the other hand, CO2 emissions could start to decrease if substantial efforts are made. China’s present mitigation target, i.e. to reduce CO2 emissions per unit of GDP by 40-45% by 2020 compared with the 2005 level, was then evaluated. Three business-as-usual (BAU) scenarios were developed and compared with the level of emissions according to the mitigation target. The calculations indicated that decreasing the CO2 intensity of GDP by 40-45% by 2020 is a challenging but hopeful target. To study the policy instruments for climate change mitigation in China, domestic measures and parts of international cooperation adopted by the Chinese government were reviewed and analysed. Domestic measures consist of administration, regulatory and economic instruments, while China’s participation in international agreements on mitigating climate change is mainly by supplying certified emission reductions (CERs) to industrialised countries under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The most well-known instruments, i.e. taxes and emissions trading, are both at a critical stage of discussion before final implementation. Given the necessity for hybrid policies, it is important to optimise the combination of different policy instruments used in a given situation. The Durban Climate Change Conference in 2011 made a breakthrough decision that the second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol would begin on 1 January 2013 and emissions limitation or reduction objectives for industrialised countries in the second period were quantified. China was also required to make more substantial commitments on limiting its emissions. The Chinese government announced at the Durban Conference that China will focus on the current mitigation target regarding CO2 intensity of GDP by 2020 and will conditionally accept a world-wide legal agreement on climate change thereafter. However, there will be no easy way ahead for China.
QC 20120424

The Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis depends upon the assumption that countries go through a similar environmental impact trajectory as they experience income growth. This dissertation establishes an empirical relationship between CO2 emissions and gross domestic product per capita for Brazil over the period 1960-2014. The aim is to verify the existence of this empirical relationship and determine the EKC format. Findings indicate that GDP is related to CO2 in an inverted U-shaped relationship and Brazil is current near to the turning point, which was estimated in 12.205,13 USD. Indeed, from this point, CO2 emissions may decrease as GDP increases. Also, results showed that Brazil, with its current import pattern, is not imposing emissions to other countries. These conclusions may have strong policy consequences because it suggests that decarbonization of the economy will spontaneously lead to positive economic impact in the near future and would be not compromising economic growth; A curva ambiental de Kuznets para o Brasil Resumo: A teoria Environmental Kuznets Curve baseia-se no pressuposto que os países passam por uma trajetória de impacto ambiental semelhante ao crescimento económico. Este estudo busca estabelecer uma relação empírica entre as emissões de CO2 e o PIB per capita, aplicada ao Brasil no período 1960-2014. O objetivo é verificar a existência desta relação empírica e determinar o formato da EKC. Os resultados indicam uma relação em forma de U invertido entre o PIB e o CO2, além de uma proximidade ao ponto de viragem, estimado em 12.205,13 USD. Com efeito, a partir deste ponto, as emissões podem diminuir enquanto que o PIB aumenta. Os resultados também demonstraram que o Brasil, com seu atual modelo de importações, não está impondo emissões para outros países. Estes resultados podem ter grandes implicações, ao sugerirem que a descarbonização da economia teria um impacto económico positivo, num futuro próximo, sem comprometer o crescimento económico.

The purpose of this thesis is see if national policies regarding aimed at combating climate change could work even if international ones, such as the Kyoto Protocol, are considered to fail. The question was if environmental policies could be included as an explanatory variable for the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC). The environmental polices of interest were the market-based instrument, environmental taxes.   First, the hypothesis whether or not Sweden fit the EKC theory is tested, and this proves to be the case when looking at the years 1800-1996. Second, a hypothesis was tested to see if environmental taxes can help decreasing carbon emission intensity further once a country has reached its turning point. Comparing Sweden to six other countries from the European Union show that this is the case, although environmental taxes must be one of many tools and cannot work alone.   The study shows that the role of taxes were significant, thus showing their importance for the work on climate change. It is also observed that national policies do work, while regional, or international, ones are harder to conduct. The importance of national policies is enhanced since they will be guiding countries when deciding whether or not to commit to international policies.

The Environmental Kuznets Curve is an inverted U-shaped relationship which demonstrates how environmental degradation increases as countries begin to develop and lowers as they become wealthier. The classical EKC measures the effects of GDP per capita (a country’s wealth) on pollu-tion. This paper is a study of the connection of a number of factors- GDP per capita, fossil fuels, al-ternative and nuclear energy, rural population and life expectancy at birth to the Environmental Kuznets Curve. Two econometric approaches are applied in order to test whether the variables have a more pronounced linear or quadratic form. Four income groups of countries are investigated in order to check if the state of development plays a crucial role in environmental deterioration. The results of the study point out that EKC does not apply for the chosen variables. From the regression for GDP, however, it can be concluded that EKC forms in 1990s.

The effect of economic growth on environmental quality is much under dispute. A number of empirical studies have made the claim that there exists in some income ranges a positive relation between per capita income and some measure of environmental quality. According to this inverted U-shaped pattern of different pollutants relative to per capita incomes in different countries which is also called the "Environmental Kuznets Curve" (EKC), environmental pressure increases up to a point as income goes up; after the turning point environmental quality improves as income keeps rising. Possible explanations for this pattern are seen in the progression of economic development, from clean agrarian economies to polluting industrial economies to clean service economies. This trend is enhanced through the transfer of cleaner technology from high-income countries to low-income countries and the tendency of people with higher income having a higher preference for environmental quality. Since this relationship is so fundamental to questions of economic development and sustainability it has provoked a vast load of research over the last seven years supporting but also heavily criticizing the results and conclusions. This paper gives an overview of the literature published on this topic to date and the conceptual, methodological and fundamental critique put forward. (author's abstract)
Series: Working Papers Series "Growth and Employment in Europe: Sustainability and Competitiveness"

Thesis advisor: Christopher Maxwell
Reducing carbon dioxide emissions and strengthening the economies of developing countries are among the most pressing issues within Sustainable Development. In order to enact effective policies to move toward Sustainable Development Goals, a deep understanding of the pollution-income relationship, and how it differs between developed and developing countries, is imperative. Using advanced panel data analysis techniques, and using the IPAT and EKC models, my results find that the relationship between carbon dioxide emissions and economic development differs for developed and developing countries. Additionally, my analysis uses carbon dioxide emissions, a global pollutant, to proxy environmental quality. My results, however, oppose those of existing literature which use local pollutants as the proxy. This may suggest that the utility gained from reducing local pollutants differs from the utility gained by reducing global pollutants. Further exploration of the differing pollution-income relationship for local and global pollutants serves as an area for future research
Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2021
Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences
Discipline: Departmental Honors
Discipline: Economics

Cette thèse aborde l'un des sujets les plus discutés et en vogue dans le domaine de l'économie, à savoir le lien entre le développement économique et la qualité environnementale. En particulier, on met l’accent sur les effets du développement économique—tant dans ses dimensions économique, sociale que politique—sur la qualité de l'environnement pour les économies en développement et en transition. Le chapitre I, divisé en trois phases clés, à savoir la revue de la littérature théorique, la partie empirique et la revue de la littérature empirique, contribue à la littérature en donnant diverses informations sur le lien entre la croissance économique et la pollution de l'environnement dans les économies en développement et en transition. Globalement, les résultats révèlent que des études empiriques récentes, parvenant à réduire certaines lacunes suggérées par la théorie, pourraient en effet indiquer un certain consensus sur la relation entre la croissance et la pollution, à savoir la validité de l'hypothèse de la Courbe de Kuznets Environnementale (CKE). Le chapitre II examine le lien pollution-croissance dans les pays d'Europe Centrale et Orientale (PECO), en ajoutant à la littérature empirique l’utilisation de l'hypothèse étendue de l'CKE comme cadre théorique. D'une part, il révèle un lien de croissance non linéaire entre le PIB et le CO2 agrégé, qui est fortement robuste pour différents estimateurs et variables de contrôle. En revanche, l'analyse au niveau des pays révèle que la relation entre le PIB et le CO2 se caractérise par une grande diversité dans les PECO. Ainsi, malgré une tendance globale à la hausse, certains PECO ont réussi à assurer à la fois un PIB plus élevé et une réduction des émissions de CO2. Du point de vue politique, les décideurs de l'UE pourraient accorder plus d'attention à ces pays, c'est-à-dire envisager une intégration plus rigoureuse des hétérogénéités des pays et, en même temps, soutenir la croissance économique sans nuire à l'environnement. Le chapitre III étudie la réponse des émissions de CO2 agrégées et sectorielles résultant des perturbations externes du PIB et de l'urbanisation, en supposant un canal de transmission qui intègre deux des éléments clés utilisés dans la lutte contre la dégradation de l'environnement—les énergies renouvelables et l'efficacité énergétique. Les résultats, robustes à plusieurs spécifications alternatives, indiquent que la production globale, l'urbanisation et l'intensité énergétique augmentent les émissions totales de CO2, tandis que les énergies renouvelables ont l'effet inverse. Par ailleurs, en ce qui concerne la réponse du CO2 aux chocs de production et d'urbanisation, le modèle suggère que ces pays atteindront le seuil maximum qui conduirait à un changement de la tendance des émissions à la baisse. Cependant, les résultats varient en fonction du niveau de revenu et du statut des pays sur la ratification/l'adhésion au Protocole de Kyoto. Ensuite, l'analyse sectorielle montre que les transports, les bâtiments et les secteurs non-combustion sont plus susceptibles de contribuer à l'augmentation des niveaux futurs de CO2. En général, ce chapitre peut fournir des informations précieuses sur les perspectives de durabilité environnementale dans les pays en développement. Le chapitre IV explore les effets de la stabilité politique sur la dégradation de l'environnement, donnant une perspective renouvelée sur ce sujet dans les pays en développement. Il montre qu'une évolution non linéaire en forme de cloche décrit la relation entre les variables au niveau agrégé. De plus, bien que ce résultat reste stable pour plusieurs spécifications alternatives, nous identifions des hétérogénéités significatives dans les caractéristiques distinctes des pays et les mesures alternatives de pollution. En outre, des estimations désagrégées révèlent des schémas contrastés pour la relation entre le CO2 et la stabilité politique. (...)
This thesis tackles one of the most debatable and in vogue topics in economics, namely the economic development and environmental quality nexus. Notably, it studies the economic development's effects—in terms of its economic, social, and political dimensions—on the environmental quality for developing and transition economies. Chapter I, which is divided into three key phases, namely theoretical review, empirical exercise, and empirical review, contributes to the literature by giving various insights regarding the link between economic growth and environmental pollution in developing and transition economies. Overall, it reveals that the recent empirical studies, indeed, succeeding to curtail some of the deficiencies suggested by theoretical contributions, might indicate a certain consensus regarding pollution-growth nexus and Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis validity. Chapter II examines the pollution-growth nexus in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, adding to the related empirical literature using the extended EKC hypothesis as a theoretical background. On the one hand, it unveils an increasing nonlinear link between GDP and CO2 at the aggregate level, which is powerfully robust to different estimators and control variables. On the other hand, the country-level analysis reveals that the relationship between GDP and CO2 is characterized by much diversity among CEE countries. Thus, despite an aggregated upward trend, some CEE countries managed to secure both higher GDP and lower CO2 emissions. From a policy perspective, EU policymakers could pay more attention to these countries and amend the current unique environmental policy to account for country-heterogeneities to support economic growth without damaging the environment. Chapter III investigates the aggregated and sector-specific CO2 emissions' responsiveness following exogenous shocks to growth and urbanization, considering a transmission scheme that incorporates two of the widely used instruments in mitigating environmental degradation—renewables and energy efficiency. First, robust to several alternative specifications, the results indicate that output, urbanization, and energy intensity increase the aggregated CO2 emissions, while renewable energy exhibits an opposite effect. Moreover, regarding the CO2 responsiveness in the aftermath of output and urbanization shocks, the pattern may suggest that these countries are likely to attain the threshold that would trigger a decline in CO2 emissions. However, the findings are sensitive to both countries' economic development and Kyoto Protocol ratification/ascension status. Second, the sector-specific analysis unveils that the transportation, buildings, and non-combustion sector exhibits a higher propensity to increase the future CO2 levels. Generally, this chapter may provide useful insights concerning environmental sustainability prospects in developing states. Chapter IV explores the effects of political stability on environmental degradation, giving a renewed perspective on this topic in developing states. It shows that a nonlinear, bell-shaped pattern characterizes the relationship between variables at the aggregate level. Moreover, while this result is robust to a broad set of alternative specifications, significant heterogeneities are found regarding countries' distinct characteristics and alternative pollution measures. Besides, the country-specific estimates unveil contrasting patterns regarding the relationship between CO2 and political stability. Broadly speaking, the findings suggest that both the formal and informal sides of political stability play a vital role in mitigating CO2 pollution in developing countries, and may provide meaningful insights for policymakers. (...)

Ancorada na linha de investigação da hipótese da EKC (Environmental Kuznets Curve), a minha análise, empiricamente fundamentada, pretende cruzar o crescimento económico e a qualidade ambiental, numa possível simbiose, através de políticas ambientais. O crescimento económico que predominou nas últimas décadas, ostenta um paradigma referencial que cruza uma época industrial e pós-industrial. Nesse pano de fundo, o investigador desencontrado com o seu tempo, analisa as correntes de uma relação entre crescimento económico e qualidade ambiental. Os estudos passados demonstram que o ambiente e a economia se encontram numa trajetória onde um crescimento sustentável é obrigatório, abrindo um novo capítulo sobre como facilitar ou potencializar atividades económicas sem menosprezar o meio ambiente. Esta dissertação tem por objetivo focar-se na vantagem e necessidade em usar diversas políticas ambientais no contexto previamente explicado. Estas políticas podem traduzir-se em impostos ambientais tais como os energéticos, os de recursos, os de transporte e até de poluição em geral. De modo a responder ao problema em questão, torna-se essencial entender de que forma países com ideais políticos, culturais e poder económico diferentes, dão resposta ao desfecho económico e ambiental pretendido, descrevendo o seu percurso ao longo das últimas décadas. Neste estudo, verificamos a existência de um EKC para os países analisados consoante o grau de desenvolvimento e, a contribuição de facto, das políticas ambientais em um crescimento económico sustentável. De acordo com os principais resultados obtidos, observamos que as políticas ambientais são significativas para uma boa relação ambiente-economia sendo utilizadas de uma forma mais eficaz nos países desenvolvidos e que, os objetivos e tratados impostos por uma união política e económica entre países pode, efetivamente, reforçar um melhor uso de políticas a nível nacional.
Within the EKC hypothesis (Environmental Kuznets Curve) research, my analysis, empirically grounded, intends to link economic growth and environmental quality in a possible symbiosis through environmental policies. The economic growth that prevailed in these last decades designs a paradigm underlying an industrial and post-industrial era. Having this background in mind, the present researcher emerges detached from his/her time, finding himself/herself lost between the different analyzes that concern the relationship between economic growth and environmental quality. Past studies claim that the environment and economy are on a path where sustainable growth is mandatory, opening a new chapter on how to facilitate or enhance economic activities without neglecting the environment. This study focuses on understanding the underlying advantages of using different environmental policies. These policies can translate into environmental taxes such as energy, resource, transport and even pollution taxes. In order to answer this problem, it is essential to understand how countries with different cultures, political background and economic power address these issues by describing their political and economic course over the past few decades and analyzing them under the light of the EKC. In this study, according to the development degree of each country, we verified the existence of an EKC for each of the countries that were analyzed and the contribution of environmental policies on a sustainable economic growth. According to the main results obtained, it is possible to confirm that environmental policies are used in a significant and more efficient way in developed countries and that laws and treaties that are imposed by a political and economic union can reinforce the policies on national level.

碩士
國立臺灣海洋大學
應用經濟研究所
105
This study was testing the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis of the G7 and ASEAN countries. According to the literature, when economic growth up to the relative high point, the environmental disruption will decline to the relatively low point. This research was to verify the literature result, testing the different level of the economic development organizations. In order to find out the consequence through the study. Based on the World Bank and the Statistical Review of World energy, this study collected 15 countries and 15 variables from 1975 to 2015 and 15 observers to find out the presence or absence of the environment in different economies. This research separate the data into two groups. Due to the variable definition, our study setting group one as trade group, and group two as energy group. In order to test the EKC hypothesis and find out the variables effect through the different economic development. This study used ARDL bound test to verify the unit countries EKC hypothesis through the different groups, and also used VECM to verify the panel data short term variable casusl effect and long term EKC hypothesis. Due to the result, different economic development didn’t the main reason to effect the EKC hypothesis. Base on single countries result of the G7 and ASEAN, the EKC hypothesis was existed. When the economic growth to a certain extent, the environmental disruption will decline to the relative low point. Otherwise, the results of this study were used to find out the structural change years and the relationship between the variables in the individual countries. Also to find out the casual relationship between the panel data variables in order to confirm the existence of the interaction between variables. In the estimates of a single country, both G7 and ASEAN had signs of existence in the long-term EKC. Such as：USA, UK, EU, Italy, France, Germany, Russian, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. All of them had enough evidence to prove when the economic growth could inhibit the CO2 emission. According to the group one result, merchandise exports could inhibit the CO2 emission. The group two result also verify oil price could inhibit the CO2 emission. Nevertheless, oil consumption had the positive effect on CO2 emission. Due to the study of the result we separated the data not only in the single countries also as the panel data of the G7 and ASEAN data according to their economic development. In the result of the group one study, trade variables had more than 50% of the countries their EKC hypothesis was existence. In the end, the research chose the group one variables into the later on panel study. According to the empirical result, we could find out that ASEAN and the panel data of all countries their EKC was existence in the long term. And also discover that when GDP growth up to the relative high point, the environmental disruption will decline to the relatively low point. However the empirical result of G7 countries was not have the same consequence as the study anticipation at first. In the short term of the Granger casual relationship test. G7countries empirical result declared that the real GDP and the square of the real GDP had the two-way casual relationship. Merchandise imports and exports had the two-way casual relationship. The real GDP and the square of the real GDP had the one way casual relationship to the energy-use of the oil and renewable energy consumption. Merchandise imports /exports, energy use of oil and square and the real GDP had the one-way casual relationship to the CO2 emission. Merchandise imports /exports had the one-way casual relationship to the real GDP, the square of the real GDP and energy use of oil. Renewable energy consumption had the one-way casual relationship to the merchandise imports /exports. The empirical result of ASEAN countries that the real GDP and the square of the real GDP had the two-way casual relationship. The real GDP and the CO2 emission had the two-way casual relationship. Merchandise imports /exports, the real GDP, the square of the real GDP and energy use of oil had the two-way casual relationship. The CO2 emission had the one-way casual relationship to the energy use of oil and merchandise imports /exports. Renewable energy consumption had the one-way casual relationship to the CO2 emission and energy use of oil. The energy use of oil had the one-way casual relationship to the real GDP. The empirical result of the panel data of the all countries. The real GDP had the two-way casual relationship to all of the variables except the CO2 emission. The square of the real GDP had the two-way casual relationship to all of the variables except the CO2 emission and merchandise exports. Merchandise imports and exports had the two-way casual relationship. The CO2 emission had the one-way casual relationship to all of the variables except the renewable energy consumption and merchandise exports. According to all of the empirical results, in the single countries consequence, the G7 countries had more evidence to prove the EKC is existence. However in the panel data research the G7 countries didn’t exist this hypothesis. Obviously, to decline the CO2 emission. Not only focus on the economic development different also improve the renewable energy consumption and merchandise exports is the most important things of all.

Halfway into its third decade, the debate surrounding the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis has stalled with political economists and socio-ecologists ascendant and modernization theorists scrambling to give their apparently moribund perspective new life. But beyond the rise and fall of the EKC, there remains a second-order question and decades of data: how do the theoretical perspectives of these contenders shape what their protagonists do and don't see? How have they mistaken episodes of "talking past each other" for genuine dialogue? Which perspective has had the biggest impact on the other’s way of thinking? A qualitative and quantitative analysis compares the top-ranking journals in economics with interdisciplinary journals of environmental economics revealing a categorical divergence in the types of critical thought deployed in the EKC debate over an almost 15 year period. The few articles appearing in the top ranking economic journals systematically fail to grasp the fundamentals of ecology which is evident in both their measurements and conclusions. I offer an abridged discussion of the critiques socio-ecology presents contemporary economics as what, in Kuhnian terminology, may well be described as a discipline in the crisis moment of a paradigm shift in no particular direction. I then conclude by siding with Habermas and Adorno against Popper's ideologically impoverished “falsifactionism”: progress in science depends as much on a theory of ideological critique as it does on the acquisition of technical knowledge. My intent has been to argue that ideological critique is empirically possible as the history of thought.

This diploma thesis examines scientific articles to determine if there is an agree-ment in literature on the topic of relationship between economic growth and en-vironment. This investigation uses meta-analysis to explore the systematic varia-tion across environmental Kuznets curve studies to better understand the specific factors that affect this relationship. Binomial and multinomial logit models are performed. Final results stimulate an ongoing discussion of not discovering any unity in this area.

碩士
國立臺北大學
經濟學系
104
The relationship between economic growth and the environmental quality has been drawn considerable attention for the last three decades. The studies of Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) aim at exploring whether the pollution would first increase with economic growth and then decrease after some turning point. A survey on the current literature shows that most of the studies of EKC are focused on the national level. Only few of them compare the differences of empirical results for EKC across different regions within a country. The same literature gap exists for the empirical studies of Taiwan. However, regional air pollutions, such as SO2 and PM10, will be impacted by the development of regional industries, weather, and other geographical factors. The studies at national levels can only show the average results for the whole country. Therefore, to understand the different patterns of EKC among regions, we collect the annual panel data of 22 counties in Taiwan during 1994 to 2014, and divide them into four regions (northern, central, southern and eastern regions of Taiwan). The EKC hypotheses are respectively testedfor the four regions. The air pollutions under investigation consist of SO2 and PM10. In addition to real income per capita, our regressions incorporate other explanatory variables such as the number of cars, the employment and land area of secondary industry, and the days of rainfall per year. Our empirical evidences show that the test results of EKC hypotheses are quite different for Taiwan and individual regions. In addition, regional air pollutions are influenced by different factors. Concerning the impact of real income per capita on SO2, it is insignificant in the northern, central and eastern regions. However, an inverted U relationship exists between real income per capita and SO2 in the southern region. The test results for PM10 are quite different across regions. There is a U shape relationship between real income per capita and PM10 in the northern region. In the central region, PM10 decreases as the real income per capita increases. In the southern region, it shows an inverted U shape relationship, suggesting validity of EKC hypothesis. Finally, the impact of real income per capita on PM10 is insignificant in the eastern region. In addition to real income per capita, we also investigate the impacts of the other explanatory variables on SO2 and PM10. The results show that the number of cars and employment of secondary industry have significant impacts on SO2 in the northern, central, and southern regions. Moreover, the number of cars and employment of secondary industry are also significant factors affecting PM10 in southern region. However, these explanatory variables are insignificant to PM10 in the northern and central regions, and to SO2 in the eastern region. The days of rainfall per year are only significant in the regression of PM10 in the eastern region. In conclusion, we suggest that policies for air pollutions abatement should be designed according to each region’s characteristic such as economic development, industrial development and geographical factors.

The study compares FIT (Feed-in tariff) and RPS (Renewable Portfolio Standard) as the two most commonly used support schemes for renewable energy sources (RES) in the EU. It examines a relationship of an Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) and by a practical experiment for public lighting in Prague the study proposes an ecological functioning of electricity grids in the EU with CO2 emissions reduction effect. The main contribution lies in the recency and originality of the econometric analysis and practical experiment. FIT and RPS analysis demonstrates that both schemes affect demand for electricity and increase its price. The econometric model was tested for 28 EU countries for 1990-2013. The results say that the EU is currently located on the downslope of the inverted U-shaped EKC with a turning point, after which the dependence begins to grow. Nevertheless, for the most of observations the turning point is too far to be a source of concern. Practical experiment has shown that installation of energy saving devices for electricity grids in the EU can bring satisfactory results in reducing CO2 emissions independently of state aid. More efficient use of existing energy sources, however, should rather serve as a complement to conventional support, phasing out with the development of RES technologies....