Economic growth and the diffusion of clean technologies: explaining environmental Kuznets curves
Open access
Date
2005-08Type
- Working Paper
ETH Bibliography
yes
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Abstract
Production often causes pollution as a by-product. Once environmental degradation becomes too severe, regulation is introduced by which society forces the economy to make a transition to cleaner production processes. We model this transition as a change in general purpose technology" and investigate how it interferes with economic growth driven by quality-improvements. The model gives an explanation for the inverted U-shaped pollution-income relation found in empirical research for many pollutants (Environmental Kuznets Curve). We provide an analytical foundation for the claim that the rise and decline of pollution can be explained by policy-induced technology shifts and intrasectoral changes. Show more
Permanent link
https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-a-005025364Publication status
publishedJournal / series
Economics Working Paper SeriesVolume
Publisher
ETH Zurich, Institute of Economic Research (WIF)Subject
Environmental Kuznets curve; General purpose technology; Growth; Intrasectoral shiftsOrganisational unit
03635 - Bretschger, Lucas (emeritus) / Bretschger, Lucas (emeritus)
02045 - Dep. Geistes-, Sozial- u. Staatswiss. / Dep. of Humanities, Social and Pol.Sc.
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ETH Bibliography
yes
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