Title: Does an environmental Kuznets curve for waste pollution exist in China?

Authors: Shinji Kaneko, Shunsuke Managi, Hidemichi Fujii, Tetsuya Tsurumi

Addresses: Graduate School for International Development and Cooperation, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima 739-8529, Japan. ' International Graduate School of Social Sciences, Yokohama National University, 79-4, Tokiwadai, Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama 240-8501, Japan. ' Graduate School for International Development and Cooperation, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima 739-8529, Japan. ' International Graduate School of Social Sciences, Yokohama National University, 79-4, Tokiwadai, Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama 240-8501, Japan

Abstract: China is an emerging and leading world economy. The pace of economic change has been tremendously rapid since the beginning of economic reforms. Despite the importance of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) and environmental problems in China, no previous study has tested the EKC in China because of the difficulty in obtaining data and the need to adjust the data. The focus of this paper is to test the EKC in China using province level data over the period 1992-2003. This study applies non-parametric techniques to estimate the relationship between income and the environmental quality of wastewater, air pollution and solid waste.

Keywords: China; EKC; environmental Kuznets curve; non-parametric estimation; environmental pollution; wastewater treatment, air pollution; solid waste; water quality; environmental quality.

DOI: 10.1504/IJGENVI.2009.022082

International Journal of Global Environmental Issues, 2009 Vol.9 No.1/2, pp.4 - 19

Published online: 18 Dec 2008 *

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