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Urbanization, Economic Development and Environmental Change

Author

Listed:
  • Shushu Li

    () (Institute of Policy and Management, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China)

  • Yong Ma

    () (China Financial Policy Research Center, School of Finance, Renmin University of China, Haidian District, 59 Zhong Guan Cun Street, Beijing 100872, China)

Abstract

This paper applies the pressure-state-response (PSR) model to establish environmental quality indices for 30 administrative regions in China from 2003 to 2011 and employs panel data analysis to study the relationships among the urbanization rate, economic development and environmental change. The results reveal a remarkable inverted-U-shaped relationship between the urbanization rate and changes in regional environmental quality; the “turning point” generally appears near an urbanization rate of 60%. In addition, the degree and mode of economic development have significant, but anisotropic effects on the regional environment. Generally, at a higher degree of economic development, the environment will tend to improve, but an extensive economic growth program that simply aims to increase GDP has a clear negative impact on the environment. Overall, the results of this paper not only further confirm the “environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis”, but also expand it in a manner. The analysis in this paper implies that the inverted-U-shaped evolving relationship between environmental quality and economic growth (urbanization) is universally applicable.

Suggested Citation

  • Shushu Li & Yong Ma, 2014. "Urbanization, Economic Development and Environmental Change," Sustainability, MDPI, Open Access Journal, vol. 6(8), pages 1-19, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:6:y:2014:i:8:p:5143-5161:d:39076
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Vukina, Tomislav & Beghin, John C. & Solakoglu, Ebru G., 1999. "Transition to markets and the environment: Effects of the change in the composition of manufacturing output," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 4(04), pages 582-598, October.
    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. Managi, Shunsuke, 2006. "Are there increasing returns to pollution abatement? Empirical analytics of the Environmental Kuznets Curve in pesticides," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(3), pages 617-636, June.
    4. Stern , David I., 1998. "Progress on the environmental Kuznets curve?," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 3(02), pages 173-196, May.
    5. Managi, Shunsuke & Jena, Pradyot Ranjan, 2008. "Environmental productivity and Kuznets curve in India," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(2), pages 432-440, April.
    6. Osman Zaim & Fatma Taskin, 2000. "A Kuznets Curve in Environmental Efficiency: An Application on OECD Countries," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 17(1), pages 21-36, September.
    7. Dinda, Soumyananda, 2004. "Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis: A Survey," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 431-455, August.
    8. Shafik, Nemat, 1994. "Economic Development and Environmental Quality: An Econometric Analysis," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 46(0), pages 757-773, Supplemen.
    9. Halkos, George E. & Tzeremes, Nickolaos G., 2013. "A conditional directional distance function approach for measuring regional environmental efficiency: Evidence from UK regions," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 227(1), pages 182-189.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. repec:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2017:i:1:p:9-:d:123876 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Chao Bao & Dongmei He, 2015. "The Causal Relationship between Urbanization, Economic Growth and Water Use Change in Provincial China," Sustainability, MDPI, Open Access Journal, vol. 7(12), pages 1-10, December.
    3. repec:zbw:espost:170724 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Bridget O'Laughlin & Ashwani Saith, 2016. "Forum 2016," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 47(4), pages 876-901, July.
    5. repec:gam:jsusta:v:7:y:2015:i:12:p:16076-16085:d:59907 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. repec:bla:indrel:v:48:y:2017:i:4:p:310-325 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Shushu Li & Jinglan Zhang & Yong Ma, 2015. "Financial Development, Environmental Quality and Economic Growth," Sustainability, MDPI, Open Access Journal, vol. 7(7), pages 1-22, July.
    8. Xiping Yang & Zhiyuan Zhao & Shiwei Lu, 2016. "Exploring Spatial-Temporal Patterns of Urban Human Mobility Hotspots," Sustainability, MDPI, Open Access Journal, vol. 8(7), pages 1-18, July.
    9. Valentinov, Vladislav & Vaceková, Gabriela, 2015. "Sustainability of Rural Nonprofit Organizations: Czech Republic and Beyond," EconStor Open Access Articles, ZBW - German National Library of Economics, pages 9890-9906.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    urbanization process; economic development; environmental change; PSR model;

    JEL classification:

    • Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics
    • Q0 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - General
    • Q2 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation
    • Q3 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Nonrenewable Resources and Conservation
    • Q5 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics
    • Q56 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environment and Development; Environment and Trade; Sustainability; Environmental Accounts and Accounting; Environmental Equity; Population Growth
    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products

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