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Environmental Kuznets Curve: the case of Bangladesh for waste emission and suspended particulate matter

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Abstract

Economists have shown the empirical relationships between the economic growth of a nation and its environmental quality using the hypothesis of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC). To understand the EKC phenomena, a study of the literature was undertaken. As waste, waste emission, and suspended particulate matter (SPM) are the active agents of environmental degradation, the study focused on those agents for EKC consideration. Through understanding the different EKC trajectories, an attempt was made to relate the economic development of Bangladesh to the EKC. It is shown that the EKCs for waste, emissions from waste, and SPM follow the conventional EKC trajectory with a turning point related to higher income per capita in most cases. The type of economic policy that Bangladesh should follow to deal with the pollutants and their sources is also shown. The study recommends creating a tunnel in the EKC to lower the turning point in Bangladesh. The study is likely to help stimulate policy development in Bangladesh.

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Notes

  1. http://www.scirus.com/.

  2. http://www.scopus.com/.

  3. http://apps.isiknowledge.com.

  4. Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

  5. Stands for Global Environment Monitoring System. It was formed by UNEP (United Nations Environment Program) in 1975 to organize the global set of comparable measures of ambient air and water quality.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Jim Richardson, Director of the Canadian Bioenergy Association, for improving the paper greatly. We also greatly acknowledge the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments, criticism, and suggestion to improve the paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Forestry and Environmental Sciences, University of Chittagong, Chittagong, 4331, Bangladesh

    Md Danesh Miah & Md Farhad Hossain Masum

  2. Forest Policy Laboratory, Shinshu University, 8304 Minamiminowa-Mura, Kami Ina Gun, Nagano-ken, 399-4598, Japan

    Md Danesh Miah, Masao Koike & Shalina Akther

  3. Institute of Forest Economics, University of Freiburg, Tennenbacher str.4, 79106, Freiburg, Germany

    Nur Muhammed

Authors
  1. Md Danesh Miah
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  2. Md Farhad Hossain Masum
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  3. Masao Koike
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  4. Shalina Akther
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  5. Nur Muhammed
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Correspondence to Md Danesh Miah.

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Miah, M.D., Masum, M.F.H., Koike, M. et al. Environmental Kuznets Curve: the case of Bangladesh for waste emission and suspended particulate matter. Environmentalist 31, 59–66 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10669-010-9303-8

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