IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0104013.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Relationship between Air Pollutants and Economic Development of the Provincial Capital Cities in China during the Past Decade

Author

Listed:
  • Yunpeng Luo
  • Huai Chen
  • Qiu'an Zhu
  • Changhui Peng
  • Gang Yang
  • Yanzheng Yang
  • Yao Zhang

Abstract

With the economic development of China, air pollutants are also growing rapidly in recent decades, especially in big cities of the country. To understand the relationship between economic condition and air pollutants in big cities, we analysed the socioeconomic indictorssuch as Gross Regional Product per capita (GRP per capita), the concentration of air pollutants (PM10, SO2, NO2) and the air pollution index (API) from 2003 to 2012 in 31 provincial capitals of mainland China. The three main industries had a quadratic correlation with NO2, but a negative relationship with PM10 and SO2. The concentration of air pollutants per ten thousand yuan decreased with the multiplying of GRP in the provinical cities. The concentration of air pollutants and API in the provincial capital cities showed a declining trend or inverted-U trend with the rise of GRP per capita, which provided a strong evidence for the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC), that the environmental quality first declines, then improves, with the income growth. The results of this research improved our understanding of the alteration of atmospheric quality with the increase of social economy and demonstrated the feasibility of sustainable development for China.

Suggested Citation

  • Yunpeng Luo & Huai Chen & Qiu'an Zhu & Changhui Peng & Gang Yang & Yanzheng Yang & Yao Zhang, 2014. "Relationship between Air Pollutants and Economic Development of the Provincial Capital Cities in China during the Past Decade," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(8), pages 1-14, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0104013
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0104013
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0104013
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0104013&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0104013?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. de Bruyn, S. M. & van den Bergh, J. C. J. M. & Opschoor, J. B., 1998. "Economic growth and emissions: reconsidering the empirical basis of environmental Kuznets curves," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 161-175, May.
    2. Cole, M.A. & Rayner, A.J. & Bates, J.M., 1997. "The environmental Kuznets curve: an empirical analysis," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 2(4), pages 401-416, November.
    3. Fodha, Mouez & Zaghdoud, Oussama, 2010. "Economic growth and pollutant emissions in Tunisia: An empirical analysis of the environmental Kuznets curve," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 1150-1156, February.
    4. Grossman, G.M & Krueger, A.B., 1991. "Environmental Impacts of a North American Free Trade Agreement," Papers 158, Princeton, Woodrow Wilson School - Public and International Affairs.
    5. Selden Thomas M. & Song Daqing, 1994. "Environmental Quality and Development: Is There a Kuznets Curve for Air Pollution Emissions?," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 147-162, September.
    6. Ben B. B. Booth & Nick J. Dunstone & Paul R. Halloran & Timothy Andrews & Nicolas Bellouin, 2012. "Aerosols implicated as a prime driver of twentieth-century North Atlantic climate variability," Nature, Nature, vol. 484(7393), pages 228-232, April.
    7. Anil Markandya & Alexander Golub & Suzette Pedroso-Galinato, 2006. "Empirical Analysis of National Income and SO 2 Emissions in Selected European Countries," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 35(3), pages 221-257, November.
    8. Agras, Jean & Chapman, Duane, 1999. "A dynamic approach to the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 267-277, February.
    9. Song, Tao & Zheng, Tingguo & Tong, Lianjun, 2008. "An empirical test of the environmental Kuznets curve in China: A panel cointegration approach," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 381-392, September.
    10. Vincent, Jeffrey R., 1997. "Testing for environmental Kuznets curves within a developing country," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 2(4), pages 417-431, November.
    11. Panayotou T., 1993. "Empirical tests and policy analysis of environmental degradation at different stages of economic development," ILO Working Papers 992927783402676, International Labour Organization.
    12. Richard T. Carson, 2010. "The Environmental Kuznets Curve: Seeking Empirical Regularity and Theoretical Structure," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 4(1), pages 3-23, Winter.
    13. Shen, Junyi, 2006. "A simultaneous estimation of Environmental Kuznets Curve: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 17(4), pages 383-394.
    14. Li, Li & Chen, Changhong & Xie, Shichen & Huang, Cheng & Cheng, Zhen & Wang, Hongli & Wang, Yangjun & Huang, Haiying & Lu, Jun & Dhakal, Shobhakar, 2010. "Energy demand and carbon emissions under different development scenarios for Shanghai, China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(9), pages 4797-4807, September.
    15. Sinton, Jonathan E. & Fridley, David G., 2000. "What goes up: recent trends in China's energy consumption," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(10), pages 671-687, August.
    16. De GROOT, HENRI L.F. & WITHAGEN, CEES A. & MINLIANG, ZHOU, 2004. "Dynamics of China's regional development and pollution: an investigation into the Environmental Kuznets Curve," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 9(4), pages 507-537, August.
    17. Marzio Galeotti, 2003. "Economic Development and Environmental Protection," Working Papers 2003.89, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    18. Hu, Jin-Li & Wang, Shih-Chuan, 2006. "Total-factor energy efficiency of regions in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(17), pages 3206-3217, November.
    19. Jalil, Abdul & Mahmud, Syed F., 2009. "Environment Kuznets curve for CO2 emissions: A cointegration analysis for China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(12), pages 5167-5172, December.
    20. Shafik, Nemat, 1994. "Economic Development and Environmental Quality: An Econometric Analysis," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 46(0), pages 757-773, Supplemen.
    21. Dhakal, Shobhakar, 2009. "Urban energy use and carbon emissions from cities in China and policy implications," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(11), pages 4208-4219, November.
    22. Ben B. B. Booth & Nick J. Dunstone & Paul R. Halloran & Timothy Andrews & Nicolas Bellouin, 2012. "Erratum: Aerosols implicated as a prime driver of twentieth-century North Atlantic climate variability," Nature, Nature, vol. 485(7399), pages 534-534, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Li, Baoxi & Cheng, Shixiong & Xiao, De, 2020. "The impacts of environmental pollution and brain drain on income inequality," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    2. B. Venkatraja, 2021. "Does China exhibit any evidence of an Environmental Kuznets Curve? An ARDL bounds testing approach," Economic Thought journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 1, pages 88-110,111-.
    3. Zhidong Li & Dora Marinova & Xiumei Guo & Yuan Gao, 2015. "Evaluating Pillar Industry’s Transformation Capability: A Case Study of Two Chinese Steel-Based Cities," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(9), pages 1-19, September.
    4. Mara Madaleno & Victor Moutinho, 2021. "Analysis of the New Kuznets Relationship: Considering Emissions of Carbon, Methanol, and Nitrous Oxide Greenhouse Gases—Evidence from EU Countries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-23, March.
    5. Chun Liu & Gui-hua Nie, 2021. "Identifying the Driving Factors of Food Nitrogen Footprint in China, 2000–2018: Econometric Analysis of Provincial Spatial Panel Data by the STIRPAT Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-23, May.
    6. Qudsia Kanwal & Xianlai Zeng & Jinhui Li, 2023. "Measuring the recycling potential of industrial waste for long-term sustainability," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-13, December.
    7. Yue-Hua Dai & Wei-Xing Zhou, 2017. "Temporal and spatial correlation patterns of air pollutants in Chinese cities," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(8), pages 1-24, August.
    8. Daxin Dong & Boyang Xu & Ning Shen & Qian He, 2021. "The Adverse Impact of Air Pollution on China’s Economic Growth," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-27, August.
    9. Jia Yu Xie & Dong Hee Suh & Sung-Kwan Joo, 2021. "A Dynamic Analysis of Air Pollution: Implications of Economic Growth and Renewable Energy Consumption," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-15, September.
    10. Azad Haider & Muhammad Iftikhar ul Husnain & Wimal Rankaduwa & Farzana Shaheen, 2021. "Nexus between Nitrous Oxide Emissions and Agricultural Land Use in Agrarian Economy: An ARDL Bounds Testing Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-19, March.
    11. Louis Sevitnenyi Nkwatoh, 2022. "Zero-pollution effect and economic development: standard and nested environmental Kuznets curve analyses for West Africa," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(10), pages 11895-11910, October.
    12. Akinbode Damilola Olatunde & Ogunleye, Edward Oladipo, 2022. "Determinants of Environmental Pollution in Sub-Sahara Africa," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 6(3), pages 631-642, March.
    13. Jun Liu & Yuhui Zhao & Zhonghua Cheng & Huiming Zhang, 2018. "The Effect of Manufacturing Agglomeration on Haze Pollution in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-15, November.
    14. Yan Zhu & Hongfeng Zhang & Xu He, 2023. "Impact of New and Old Driving Force Conversion on Air Quality: Empirical Analysis Based on RDD," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-12, February.
    15. Fujii, Hidemichi & Iwata, Kazuyuki & Chapman, Andrew & Kagawa, Shigemi & Managi, Shunsuke, 2018. "An analysis of urban environmental Kuznets curve of CO2 emissions: Empirical analysis of 276 global metropolitan areas," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 228(C), pages 1561-1568.
    16. D. Jingyuan I. & L. Chong I. & L. Marsiliani & D. Jingyuan I. & L. Chong I. & L. Marsiliani, 2018. "Взаимосвязь между экономическим ростом и окружающей средой в Пекине на основе показателя PM2.5 // The Relationship between Growth and the Environment in Beijing, Using PM2.5 Concentrations," Review of Business and Economics Studies // Review of Business and Economics Studies, Финансовый Университет // Financial University, vol. 6(2), pages 5-18.
    17. Tao Zhang & Yung-ho Chiu & Ying Li & Tai-Yu Lin, 2018. "Air Pollutant and Health-Efficiency Evaluation Based on a Dynamic Network Data Envelopment Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-22, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Saboori, Behnaz & Sulaiman, Jamalludin & Mohd, Saidatulakmal, 2012. "Economic growth and CO2 emissions in Malaysia: A cointegration analysis of the Environmental Kuznets Curve," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 184-191.
    2. Jie He, 2007. "Is the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis valid for developing countries? A survey," Cahiers de recherche 07-03, Departement d'économique de l'École de gestion à l'Université de Sherbrooke.
    3. Roxana Pincheira & Felipe Zuniga, 2021. "Environmental Kuznets curve bibliographic map: a systematic literature review," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(S1), pages 1931-1956, April.
    4. Sabuj Kumar Mandal & Devleena Chakravarty, 2017. "Role of energy in estimating turning point of Environmental Kuznets Curve: an econometric analysis of the existing studies," Journal of Social and Economic Development, Springer;Institute for Social and Economic Change, vol. 19(2), pages 387-401, October.
    5. Azam, Muhammad & Khan, Abdul Qayyum, 2016. "Testing the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis: A comparative empirical study for low, lower middle, upper middle and high income countries," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 556-567.
    6. Wang, Kuan-Min, 2012. "Modelling the nonlinear relationship between CO2 emissions from oil and economic growth," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 29(5), pages 1537-1547.
    7. Wang, Sophie Xuefei & Fu, Yu Benjamin & Zhang, Zhe George, 2015. "Population growth and the environmental Kuznets curve," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 146-165.
    8. He, Jie & Richard, Patrick, 2010. "Environmental Kuznets curve for CO2 in Canada," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(5), pages 1083-1093, March.
    9. Xiaosheng Li & Xia Yan & Qingxian An & Ke Chen & Zhen Shen, 2016. "The coordination between China’s economic growth and environmental emission from the Environmental Kuznets Curve viewpoint," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 83(1), pages 233-252, August.
    10. Dinda, Soumyananda & Coondoo, Dipankor & Pal, Manoranjan, 2000. "Air quality and economic growth: an empirical study," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 409-423, September.
    11. Al Mamun, Md. & Sohag, Kazi & Hannan Mia, Md. Abdul & Salah Uddin, Gazi & Ozturk, Ilhan, 2014. "Regional differences in the dynamic linkage between CO2 emissions, sectoral output and economic growth," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 1-11.
    12. Piaggio, Matías & Padilla, Emilio, 2012. "CO2 emissions and economic activity: Heterogeneity across countries and non-stationary series," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 370-381.
    13. Dinda, Soumyananda, 2004. "Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis: A Survey," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 431-455, August.
    14. Muhammad Bilal Khan & Hummera Saleem & Malik Shahzad Shabbir & Xie Huobao, 2022. "The effects of globalization, energy consumption and economic growth on carbon dioxide emissions in South Asian countries," Energy & Environment, , vol. 33(1), pages 107-134, February.
    15. Onafowora, Olugbenga A. & Owoye, Oluwole, 2014. "Bounds testing approach to analysis of the environment Kuznets curve hypothesis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 47-62.
    16. Bilgili, Faik & Koçak, Emrah & Bulut, Ümit, 2016. "The dynamic impact of renewable energy consumption on CO2 emissions: A revisited Environmental Kuznets Curve approach," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 838-845.
    17. D. Jingyuan I. & L. Chong I. & L. Marsiliani & D. Jingyuan I. & L. Chong I. & L. Marsiliani, 2018. "Взаимосвязь между экономическим ростом и окружающей средой в Пекине на основе показателя PM2.5 // The Relationship between Growth and the Environment in Beijing, Using PM2.5 Concentrations," Review of Business and Economics Studies // Review of Business and Economics Studies, Финансовый Университет // Financial University, vol. 6(2), pages 5-18.
    18. Jun, Wen & Mughal, Nafeesa & Zhao, Jin & Shabbir, Malik Shahzad & Niedbała, Gniewko & Jain, Vipin & Anwar, Ahsan, 2021. "Does globalization matter for environmental degradation? Nexus among energy consumption, economic growth, and carbon dioxide emission," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    19. Jie HE, 2005. "Economic Determinants for China’s Industrial SO2 Emission: Reduced vs. Structural form and the role of international trade," Working Papers 200505, CERDI.
    20. Stern, David I. & Common, Michael S., 2001. "Is There an Environmental Kuznets Curve for Sulfur?," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 162-178, March.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0104013. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.