Environmental Kuznets Curve: A Critical Review

The relationship between economic growth and environmental quality has been under much dispute. Over the years, several studies have identified inverted-U shaped relationships between per capita income and some measure of environmental degradation. This has led to the emergence of a burgeoning literature on what has come to be known about as the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC). According to the EKC hypothesis, environmental damage increases in the early stages of economic growth, but diminishes once nations reach higher levels of income. This literature is important as it acknowledges the possibility of trade and growth being good for the environment. Against this backdrop, we have attempted to give an overview of some of the studies published on EKC and subsequently critically appraised the same. The EKC has been criticised for its simplified assumptions and the literature appears to be largely econometrically weak. It has been shown to apply to select environmental indicators for certain countries; hence its validity as a universal phenomenon remains questionable. Owing to global implications of environmental degradation, more efforts are required to examine the validity of EKC as a global phenomenon by relating a composite index of environmental degradation to a better measure of economic development across nations.