Is the Green Solow Model Valid for $$\hbox {CO}_{2}$$ CO 2 Emissions in the European Union?

Wan-Jiun Chen ()
Additional contact information
Wan-Jiun Chen: Chinese Culture University

Environmental & Resource Economics, 2017, vol. 67, issue 1, No 2, 23-45

Abstract: Abstract This paper addresses the $$\hbox {CO}_{2}$$ CO 2 emission patterns of the European Union from 1950 to 2010, and examines the validity of the Green Solow model, which simulates $$\hbox {CO}_{2}$$ CO 2 emissions growth by including only Solow forces and assuming emission intensity growth to be exogenous and constant. This study verifies that an environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) trajectory exists for per capita $$\hbox {CO}_{2}$$ CO 2 emissions in the European Union, that emission intensity growth is decreasing over time, and that the decreasing intensity growth reflects variations of the dependent variable in the specifications of the Green Solow model. The critique by Stefanski (On the mechanics of the Green Solow model. OxCarre Research Paper 47, OxCarre & Laval University, Oxford, 2013) of the Green Solow model assumption of exogenous and constant intensity growth is validated. The EKC is defined as the emissions plotted against income and emission intensity is defined as the ratio of emissions to income. The EKC and emission intensity share identical definitions and similar transition trajectories over time. The transition of the EKC trajectory and decline in emission intensity growth began before worldwide attention was focused on global warming.

Keywords: Mann–Kendall trend test; Green Solow model; Convergence; $$\hbox {CO}_{2}$$ CO 2 emissions; Emission intensity growth; Macroeconomics of climate change (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O14 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 (2)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10640-015-9975-0 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:kap:enreec:v:67:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1007_s10640-015-9975-0

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer. ... al/journal/10640/PS2

DOI: 10.1007/s10640-015-9975-0

Access Statistics for this article

Environmental & Resource Economics is currently edited by Ian J. Bateman

More articles in Environmental & Resource Economics from Springer, European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().