The Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) Hypothesis in China: A Review

Haider Mahmood (), Maham Furqan, Muhammad Shahid Hassan and Soumen Rej
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Haider Mahmood: Department of Finance, College of Business Administration, Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University, 173, Alkharj 11942, Saudi Arabia
Maham Furqan: School of Public Policy, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA
Muhammad Shahid Hassan: Department of Economics and Statistics, Dr Hasan Murad School of Management, University of Management and Technology, Lahore 54770, Pakistan
Soumen Rej: School of Business, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Uttarakhand 248007, India

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 7, 1-32

Abstract: China is the largest total pollution emitter country on the globe and a vast literature has investigated the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis in China. Thus, we aim to review empirical studies on the testing of the EKC hypothesis using different pollution proxies and area samples in China. The EKC hypothesis can be validated by establishing an inverted U-shaped or an N-shaped relationship between pollution and economic growth. In this review of the Chinese literature, the validity of the EKC hypothesis is found more often than its absence. In comparison, a higher proportion of the studies validated the EKC hypothesis using global pollution proxies compared with local pollution proxies. Moreover, a greater percentage of the studies substantiated the EKC hypothesis using Chinese provincial and city-level data compared with aggregate national data. To validate these findings, we applied logistic regression, and the chance of the validity of the EKC hypothesis was found to be 5.08 times higher than the absence of the EKC if a study used a global pollution proxy. Moreover, the chance of the existence of the EKC hypothesis was found to be 4.46 times higher than the nonexistence of the EKC if a study used Chinese provincial, city, sectoral, or industrial data.

Keywords: the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC); China; empirical studies; pollution (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (22)

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