Environment and development: Is there a Kuznets curve for CO2 emissions?

Abstract

The purpose of the present paper is to explore and empirically test the relationship between growth in per capita income and environmental degradation by employing econometric techniques appropriate for smooth transition regressions with panel data. The methodology is applied to a panel dataset for CO2 emissions from developing countries over the period 1971 to 1997. The results support the EKC hypothesis and generate a skewed smooth inverted-V model where the transition pattern appears to be asymmetric so that emissions increase at a slower rate than the rate at which they decrease once the income threshold is passed.