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Is Population Growth Bad for the Environment?

Author

Listed:
  • Liu Xiangbo

    (School of Labor and Human Resources, IMI, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China)

  • Levy Ting

    (Department of Economics, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL, USA)

  • Chao Chi-Chur

    (Department of Economics, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia)

  • Zhang Mengbo

    (Department of Economics, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA)

Abstract

The relationship between economic growth and environmental degradation has been central to the debate over sustainable growth. This paper uses utility growth as an index of sustainable growth, which is positively related to economic growth and negatively related to environmental degradation. Skilled and unskilled labor are used in this economy and the population is growing over time generating growth without scale effects. The pollution growth rate is higher in a decentralized economy, whereas the sustainable growth rate is higher in an economy with a social planner. An increased rate of population growth is associated with a higher sustainable growth rate in both economies. A higher share of skilled labor is associated with a higher sustainable growth rate in a decentralized economy, while the effect of a higher share of skilled labor is ambiguous in an economy with a social planner.

Suggested Citation

  • Liu Xiangbo & Levy Ting & Chao Chi-Chur & Zhang Mengbo, 2017. "Is Population Growth Bad for the Environment?," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 17(3), pages 1-14, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:bejeap:v:17:y:2017:i:3:p:14:n:5
    DOI: 10.1515/bejeap-2016-0210
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    endogenous growth; sustainable growth; environmental degradation; pollution abatement; scale effect; technology innovation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q56 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environment and Development; Environment and Trade; Sustainability; Environmental Accounts and Accounting; Environmental Equity; Population Growth
    • Q32 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Nonrenewable Resources and Conservation - - - Exhaustible Resources and Economic Development

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