ENVIRONMENTAL-QUALITY AND DEVELOPMENT - IS THERE A KUZNETS CURVE FOR AIR-POLLUTION EMISSIONS

Several recent studies have identified inverted-U relationships between pollution and economic development. We investigate this question using a cross-national panel of data on emissions of four important air pollutants: suspended particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, and carbon monoxide. We find that per capita emissions of all four pollutants exhibit inverted-U relationships with per capita GDP. While this suggests that emissions will decrease in the very long run, we forecast continued rapid growth in global emissions over the next several decades. (c) 1994 Academic Press, Inc.