The Impacts of Technical Progress on Sulfur Dioxide Kuznets Curve in China: A Spatial Panel Data Approach

Zhimin Zhou (), Xinyue Ye and Xiangyu Ge
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Xinyue Ye: Computational Social Science Laboratory, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44240, USA
Xiangyu Ge: School of Statistics and Mathematics, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Wuhan 430073, China

Sustainability, 2017, vol. 9, issue 4, 1-27

Abstract: This paper aims to reveal the nexus for sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) emission and income, as well as the effects of technical progress on SO 2 emission in China based on environment Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis. The spatial panel technique is used in case the coefficient estimates are biased due to the negligence of spatial dependence. With the provincial panel data of China from 2004 to 2014, this is the first research that finds an inverse N -trajectory of the relationship between SO 2 emission and economic growth and confirms the beneficial impacts of technical advancement on SO 2 emission abatement. The empirical results also suggest that the industrial structure change is an important driving force of the SO 2 EKC. In addition, the direct and spillover effects of determinants on sulfur emission are clarified and estimated by a correct approach. Finally, we check the stability of our conclusions on the EKC shape for SO 2 and technical progress effects when controlling for different variables and specifications, through which we find the turning points are sensitive to variables selections.

Keywords: SO 2 emission; environmental Kuznets curve; technical progress; spatial panel data model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (22)

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