Alexi Thompson^*

Show more
Kansas State University, Manhattan, USA..
Show less

Abstract: This paper explores the role of population in empirical studies. While panel estimation should control for differences across countries as more populated countries should pollute more, more pollution may not lead to more pollution per capita. Two models are estimated each of which control for population in different ways. One model accounts for population by expressing BOD in per capita terms and the second model regresses BOD on population using the residual in the EKC regression. The Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) reveals the second model is preferred to the first model. In addition, although both models reveal an EKC, the turning points are vastly different. Future EKC studies can benefit by testing EKC models that control for population in different ways.

Keywords: Environmental Kuznet’s Curve; Population; Pooled Mean Group Estimation

Cite this paper: A. Thompson, "Accounting for Population in an EKC for Water Pollution," Journal of Environmental Protection, Vol. 4 No. 7, 2013, pp. 147-150. doi: 10.4236/jep.2013.47A017.

References

[1]   H. Iwata, K. Okada and S. Samreth, “Empirical Study on Environmental Kuznets Curve for CO2 in France: The Role of Nuclear Energy,” Energy Policy, Vol. 38, No. 8, 2010, pp. 4057-4063. doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2010.03.031

[2]   T. M. Selden and D. Song, “Environmental Quality and Development: Is There an Environmental Kuznet’s Curve for Air Pollution?” Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Vol. 27, No. 2, 1994, pp. 147-162. doi:10.1006/jeem.1994.1031

[3]   J. A. List and C. A. Gallet “The Environmental Kuznets Curve: Does One Size Fit All?” Ecological Economics, Vol. 31, No. 3, 1999, pp. 409-423. doi:10.1016/S0921-8009(99)00064-6

[4]   D. I. Stern and M. S. Common, “Is There an Environmental Kuznets Curve for Sulfur?” Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Vol. 41, No. 2, 2001, pp. 162-178. doi:10.1006/jeem.2000.1132

[5]   R. K. Kaufman, B. Davisdottir, S. Garnham and P. Pauly, “The Determinants of Atmospheric SO2 Concentrations Reconsidering the Environmental Kuznets Curve,” Ecoogical Economics, Vol. 25, No. 2, 1998, pp. 209-220. doi:10.1016/S0921-8009(97)00181-X

[6]   I. Trabelisi, “Is There an EKC Relevant to the Industrial Emission of Water Pollution for SEMU and EU Countries?” Environmental Management and Sustainable Development, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2012, pp. 31-43.

[7]   D. Stern, “The Rise and Fall of the Environmental Kuznets Curve,” World Development, Vol. 32, No. 8, 2004, pp. 1419-1439. doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2004.03.004

[8]   H.-C. Hwang, “Water Quality and the End of Communism: Does a Regime Change Lead to a Cleaner Environment,” 2006, in press. doi:10.2139/ssrn.952320

[9]   C. Lee, Y. Chui and C. Sun, “The Environmental Kuznet’s Curve Hypothesis for Water Pollution: Do Regions Matter?” Energy Policy, Vol. 38, No. 1, 2010, pp. 12-23. doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2009.05.004

[10]   S. Dasgupta, B. Laplante H. Wang and D. Wheeler, “Confronting the Environmental Kuznets Curve,” Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 16, No. 1, 2002, pp. 147-168. doi:10.1257/0895330027157

[11]   World Resources Institute, “Earth Trends: Environmental Information,” 2007. http://earthtrends.wri.org

[12]   A. Heston, R. Summers and B. Aten, “Penn World Table Version 6.3,” Center for International Comparisons of Production, Income and Prices at the University of Pennsylvania, 2009. https://pwt.sas.upenn.edu

[13]   I. Martínez-Zarzosa and A. Bengochea-Morancho, “Pooled Mean Group Estimation of an Environmental Kuznets Curve for CO2,” Economic Letters, Vol. 82, No. 1, 2004, pp. 121-126. doi:10.1016/j.econlet.2003.07.008

[14]   G. Bella, C. I. Massidda and I. Etzo, “A Panel Estimation of the Relationship between Income, Electric Power Consumption and CO2 Emissions,” MPRA Paper No. 26077, 2010. http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/26077/

[15]   A. Thompson, “Water Abundance and an EKC for Water Pollution,” Economic Letters, Vol. 117, No. 2, 2012, pp. 423-425. doi:10.1016/j.econlet.2012.06.014

[16]   K. M. Im, Pesaran and Y. Shin, “Testing for Unit Roots in Heterogenous Panels,” Journal of Economics, Vol. 115, No. 1, 2003, pp. 53-74.

[17]   W. Enders, “Applied Econometric Time Series,” 2nd Edition, John Wiley and Sons, New York, 2004.

[18]   J. Westurlund, “Testing for Error Correction in Panel Data,” Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 69, No. 6, 2007, pp. 709-748. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0084.2007.00477.x

[19]   P. L. Pedroni, “Panel Cointegration: Asymptotic and Finite Sample Properties of Pooled Time Series Tests with an Application to the Purchasing Power Parity Hypothesis,” Economic Theory, Vol. 20, No. 3, 2004, pp. 597-625. doi:10.1017/S0266466604203073

[20]   J. J. M. Kremers, N. R. Ericson and J. J. Dolado, “The Power of Cointegration Test,” Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics. Vol. 54, No. 3, 1992, pp. 325-348. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0084.1992.tb00005.x