IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecolec/v69y2010i7p1587-1593.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Anxiety and technological change -- Explaining the inverted U-curve of sulphur dioxide emissions in late 20th century Finland

Author

Listed:
  • Kunnas, Jan
  • Myllyntaus, Timo

Abstract

This article examines the linkage between per capita GDP and sulphur dioxide emissions for one single country, in this case Finland. The narrow approach together with a combination of a historical and economical approach enables us to cut deeper into the controversial environmental Kuznets curve-hypothesis. We found the main reasons for a downturn in sulphur emissions to be: technological development and anxiety about possible environmental damage and economic costs related to that. It can be discussed whether our results refute the environmental Kuznets curve or just show possible ways in which the environmental Kuznets curve is achieved. Nevertheless our case study casts some serious doubt on the most straightforward assumption coming out from the EKC, that economic growth would automatically solve environmental problems. We claim that the causal connection might also go in an opposite direction: proper environmental standards and conservation comprise a necessary condition for economic growth in the long run.

Suggested Citation

  • Kunnas, Jan & Myllyntaus, Timo, 2010. "Anxiety and technological change -- Explaining the inverted U-curve of sulphur dioxide emissions in late 20th century Finland," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(7), pages 1587-1593, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:69:y:2010:i:7:p:1587-1593
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921-8009(10)00100-X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wagner, Martin, 2008. "The carbon Kuznets curve: A cloudy picture emitted by bad econometrics?," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 388-408, August.
    2. Stern, David I., 2004. "The Rise and Fall of the Environmental Kuznets Curve," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 32(8), pages 1419-1439, August.
    3. Grossman, G.M & Krueger, A.B., 1991. "Environmental Impacts of a North American Free Trade Agreement," Papers 158, Princeton, Woodrow Wilson School - Public and International Affairs.
    4. Selden Thomas M. & Song Daqing, 1994. "Environmental Quality and Development: Is There a Kuznets Curve for Air Pollution Emissions?," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 147-162, September.
    5. Anil Markandya & Alexander Golub & Suzette Pedroso-Galinato, 2006. "Empirical Analysis of National Income and SO 2 Emissions in Selected European Countries," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 35(3), pages 221-257, November.
    6. Gene M. Grossman & Alan B. Krueger, 1995. "Economic Growth and the Environment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 110(2), pages 353-377.
    7. Panayotou T., 1993. "Empirical tests and policy analysis of environmental degradation at different stages of economic development," ILO Working Papers 992927783402676, International Labour Organization.
    8. Muller-Furstenberger, Georg & Wagner, Martin, 2007. "Exploring the environmental Kuznets hypothesis: Theoretical and econometric problems," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(3-4), pages 648-660, May.
    9. Khanna, Neha, 2002. "The income elasticity of non-point source air pollutants: revisiting the environmental Kuznets curve," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 77(3), pages 387-392, November.
    10. Anton Nahman & Geoff Antrobus, 2005. "The Environmental Kuznets Curve: A Literature Survey," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 73(1), pages 105-120, March.
    11. Elbert Dijkgraaf & Herman Vollebergh, 2005. "A Test for Parameter Homogeneity in CO 2 Panel EKC Estimations," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 32(2), pages 229-239, October.
    12. Lindmark, Magnus, 2002. "An EKC-pattern in historical perspective: carbon dioxide emissions, technology, fuel prices and growth in Sweden 1870-1997," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(1-2), pages 333-347, August.
    13. Roger Perman & David I. Stern, 2003. "Evidence from panel unit root and cointegration tests that the Environmental Kuznets Curve does not exist," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 47(3), pages 325-347, September.
    14. Dinda, Soumyananda, 2004. "Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis: A Survey," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 431-455, August.
    15. Michael E. Porter & Claas van der Linde, 1995. "Toward a New Conception of the Environment-Competitiveness Relationship," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 9(4), pages 97-118, Fall.
    16. Shafik, Nemat & Bandyopadhyay, Sushenjit, 1992. "Economic growth and environmental quality : time series and cross-country evidence," Policy Research Working Paper Series 904, The World Bank.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Roula Inglesi-Lotz & Jessika Bohlmann, 2014. "Environmental Kuznets curve in South Africa: To confirm or not to confirm?," EcoMod2014 6378, EcoMod.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zilio, Mariana & Recalde, Marina, 2011. "GDP and environment pressure: The role of energy in Latin America and the Caribbean," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(12), pages 7941-7949.
    2. Kacprzyk, Andrzej & Kuchta, Zbigniew, 2020. "Shining a new light on the environmental Kuznets curve for CO2 emissions," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    3. Song, Tao & Zheng, Tingguo & Tong, Lianjun, 2008. "An empirical test of the environmental Kuznets curve in China: A panel cointegration approach," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 381-392, September.
    4. Xiaosheng Li & Xia Yan & Qingxian An & Ke Chen & Zhen Shen, 2016. "The coordination between China’s economic growth and environmental emission from the Environmental Kuznets Curve viewpoint," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 83(1), pages 233-252, August.
    5. Miguel Rodríguez & Yolanda Pena-Boquete, 2013. "Mishandling carbon intensities," Working Papers 1302, Universidade de Vigo, Departamento de Economía Aplicada.
    6. Giovanis, Eleftherios, 2013. "Environmental Kuznets curve: Evidence from the British Household Panel Survey," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 602-611.
    7. Jie He, 2007. "Is the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis valid for developing countries? A survey," Cahiers de recherche 07-03, Departement d'économique de l'École de gestion à l'Université de Sherbrooke.
    8. Azam, Muhammad & Khan, Abdul Qayyum, 2016. "Testing the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis: A comparative empirical study for low, lower middle, upper middle and high income countries," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 556-567.
    9. Orubu, Christopher O. & Omotor, Douglason G., 2011. "Environmental quality and economic growth: Searching for environmental Kuznets curves for air and water pollutants in Africa," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(7), pages 4178-4188, July.
    10. Romero-Avila, Diego, 2008. "Questioning the empirical basis of the environmental Kuznets curve for CO2: New evidence from a panel stationarity test robust to multiple breaks and cross-dependence," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(3), pages 559-574, January.
    11. Bennedsen, Mikkel & Hillebrand, Eric & Jensen, Sebastian, 2023. "A neural network approach to the environmental Kuznets curve," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    12. Nektarios Aslanidis, 2009. "Environmental Kuznets Curves for Carbon Emissions: A Critical Survey," Working Papers 2009.75, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    13. Bali Swain, Ranjula & Kambhampati, Uma S. & Karimu, Amin, 2020. "Regulation, governance and the role of the informal sector in influencing environmental quality?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    14. Saboori, Behnaz & Sulaiman, Jamalludin & Mohd, Saidatulakmal, 2012. "Economic growth and CO2 emissions in Malaysia: A cointegration analysis of the Environmental Kuznets Curve," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 184-191.
    15. Roxana Pincheira & Felipe Zuniga, 2021. "Environmental Kuznets curve bibliographic map: a systematic literature review," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(S1), pages 1931-1956, April.
    16. Pablo-Romero, María del P. & De Jesús, Josué, 2016. "Economic growth and energy consumption: The Energy-Environmental Kuznets Curve for Latin America and the Caribbean," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 1343-1350.
    17. Pei-Ing Wu & Je-Liang Liou & Hung-Yi Chang, 2015. "Alternative exploration of EKC for $$\hbox {CO}_{2}$$ CO 2 emissions: inclusion of meta-technical ratio in quantile regression model," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 49(1), pages 57-73, January.
    18. Sabuj Kumar Mandal & Devleena Chakravarty, 2017. "Role of energy in estimating turning point of Environmental Kuznets Curve: an econometric analysis of the existing studies," Journal of Social and Economic Development, Springer;Institute for Social and Economic Change, vol. 19(2), pages 387-401, October.
    19. Fodha, Mouez & Zaghdoud, Oussama, 2010. "Economic growth and pollutant emissions in Tunisia: An empirical analysis of the environmental Kuznets curve," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 1150-1156, February.
    20. Stern, David I., 2014. "The Environmental Kuznets Curve: A Primer," Working Papers 249424, Australian National University, Centre for Climate Economics & Policy.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:69:y:2010:i:7:p:1587-1593. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolecon .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.