Environmental Economics and Policy Studies

, Volume 11, Issue 1–4, pp 19–36 | Cite as

Decomposition of the environmental Kuznets curve: scale, technique, and composition effects

  • Tetsuya Tsurumi
  • Shunsuke Managi
Article
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Accepted:

Abstract

This study decomposed the determinants of environmental quality into scale, technique, and composition effects. We applied a semiparametric method of generalized additive models, which enabled us to use flexible functional forms and include several independent variables in the model. The differences in the technique effect were found to play a crucial role in reducing pollution. We found that the technique effect was sufficient to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions. On the other hand, its effect was not enough to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and energy use, except for the case of CO2 emissions in high-income countries.

Key words

Economic growth Environmental Kuznets curve Scale effect Technique effect Composition effect 
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Copyright information

© Springer 2010

Authors and Affiliations

  • Tetsuya Tsurumi
    • 1
  • Shunsuke Managi
    • 1
    • 2
  1. 1.Faculty of Business Administration, International Graduate School of Social SciencesYokohama National UniversityYokohamaJapan
  2. 2.Institute for Global Environmental StrategiesKanagawaJapan

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