China's economic growth and haze pollution control

Abstract

The Environmental Kuznets Curve, as a topic widely discussed in academia these days, needs to be further empirically tested. Taking the statistical data of 285 cities from 2003 to 2016 in China as the research sample, this paper uses a dynamic spatial panel model to analyze the impact of economic growth on haze pollution. The conclusions reveal that from an overall perspective, economic growth and haze pollution is always closely related, presenting an inverted U-shaped relationship; that is, the Environmental Kuznets Curve has been verified. Additionally, 26.84% of the sample cities in China have already exceeded the inflection point, meaning that economic growth has gradually led to the effective treatment of haze pollution. This is, however, restricted by stages of urban economic development. To be specific, economic growth has no significant impact on haze pollution when industrialization is in its infancy. Growth, however, exacerbates haze pollution in cities in the middle stages of industrialization although haze pollution does improve for cities in the later stages of industrialization. This means that Chinese cities should formulate reasonable and effective haze pollution control policies and measures according to their own economic development stage.