Growth, pollution, policy!

Rob Hart

European Economic Review, 2020, vol. 126, issue C

Abstract: We investigate long-run patterns in pollution flows in an optimally regulated, growing economy in which consumption and environmental quality are imperfectly substitutable and pollution is a by-product of production. We show that by-production implies that a scale effect will always drive increasing pollution when productivity is sufficiently low. On the other hand, if a clean technology exists it will always be chosen in the long run (hence emissions will approach zero) because for any strictly positive flow of pollution, willingness to pay to reduce that flow grows without bound as consumption grows without bound, whereas the cost of switching is bounded. We clarify the intuition using a specified model in which pollution arises as a by-product of the use of natural-resource inputs.

Keywords: Economic growth; Pollution; Natural resources; Environmental Kuznets curve; Free disposability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O11 O44 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:eecrev:v:126:y:2020:i:c:s0014292120300878

DOI: 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2020.103455

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