The simple analytics of the environmental Kuznets curve: a reformulation

Abstract

PurposeThis paper aims to review the relationship between per capita income and aggregate emission in an economy populated by rational agents. According to the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis, pollution–income relationship is an inverted U-shaped curve. This paper aims to derive that relationship in an endogenous way and extends the relevant literature in an important way.Design/methodology/approachThis paper formulated a general equilibrium model of homogenous population with identical tastes and preferences. Production side is modelled with firms operating in a monopolistically competitive environment. The approach is modelling the economy in an analytical way so that closed form solutions can be achieved. Model simulations have also been performed to get a clear view of results.FindingsThis study shows that increasing returns to scale in abatement technology ceases to be a sufficient condition for the generation of the EKC hypothesis. The general equilibrium structure of the model allows studying the endogenous evolution of income, emissions and prices of the abatement goods in a unified setting.Originality/valueThe paper is novel and original in nature. The results are new in the literature. These results extend and generalise the previous research work in this area in an important way. The sufficient condition that is obtained in this study limits the applicability of EKC in an otherwise identical economy as used in previous literature. Therefore, this paper adds value to the ongoing research related to EKC.