Title: Social preferences and Environmental Kuznets Curve in climate change integrated assessment modelling

Authors: Nicola Cantore

Addresses: Department of Agricultural Economics and Engineering, University of Bologna, Viale Fanin, 50, 40127 Bologna, Italy; University of York, Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy

Abstract: The Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis implies that a bell shaped relationship between income and pollution would induce policy makers to pursue economic growth in order to improve environment. In this paper we will use the popular integrated assessment model DICE for climate change in order to consider a more generalised version of the social planner utility function and we will investigate the relationship between income and pollution for different values of the elasticity of the marginal utility of consumption (α). Results do not provide evidence in favour of the Environmental Kuznets Curve existence for CO₂ emissions in the optimal path but EKC decomposition factors are affected by variations of the α parameter.

Keywords: EKC; environmental Kuznets curve; integrated assessment; social preferences; climate change assessment; climate change modelling; CO2 emissions; carbon emissions; carbon dioxide; greenhouse gases; GHG emissions.

DOI: 10.1504/IJGENVI.2010.030570

International Journal of Global Environmental Issues, 2010 Vol.10 No.1/2, pp.123 - 142

Published online: 24 Dec 2009 *

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