Investigating the carbon leakage effect on the environmental Kuznets curve using luminosity data

Arne Steinkraus ()

No 15, Economics Department Working Paper Series from Technische Universität Braunschweig, Economics Department

Abstract: This paper studies the effect of carbon leakage on the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) using satellite nighttime light data. I show that nighttime lighting is an important variable for estimating carbon dioxide emissions that is superior to other existing indicators and covers all countries in the world. I find evidence of an inverted-U shaped relationship between light and, thus, greenhouse gas emissions and income, with a turning point at approximately US $50,000. However, the relationship is primarily driven by changes in the structure of international trade, implying strong carbon leakage effects. Consequently, environmental regulations that become operative in only one part of the world may fail without global coordination.

Keywords: Environmental Kuznets Curve; Carbon Leakage; Nighttime Lighting (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F18 F64 Q50 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr, nep-ene, nep-env and nep-ger
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Investigating the Carbon Leakage Effect on the Environmental Kuznets Curve Using Luminosity Data (2016)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:tbswps:15

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