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Do China’s Urban–Environmental Quality and Economic Growth Conform to the Environmental Kuznets Curve?

The environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) expresses the relationship between environmental quality and economic growth. Based on the defects of previous studies on EKC using only environmental pollution indicators, this study holds that environmental quality is the result of pollutants after treatment,...

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Autores principales: Song, Wenhao, Ye, Chunhui, Liu, Yuheng, Cheng, Weisong
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8704283/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34949027
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182413420
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author Song, Wenhao
Ye, Chunhui
Liu, Yuheng
Cheng, Weisong
author_facet Song, Wenhao
Ye, Chunhui
Liu, Yuheng
Cheng, Weisong
author_sort Song, Wenhao
collection PubMed
description The environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) expresses the relationship between environmental quality and economic growth. Based on the defects of previous studies on EKC using only environmental pollution indicators, this study holds that environmental quality is the result of pollutants after treatment, absorption, and self-purification, including two dimensions of pollution and absorption. Therefore, the environmental pollution and absorption data of 74 key environmental monitoring cities in China from 2005 to 2017 were selected, and a comprehensive index of environmental quality was constructed using the vertical and horizontal grading method. Then, based on the relevant economic growth indicators of these cities, they were divided into first-tier and new first-tier, second-tier, third-tier, and below. It was found that the EKC of the total sample, the first-tier and new first-tier cities, and the second-tier cities presented an inverted N-shape and had passed the second inflection point, where environmental quality continues to improve with the deepening of economic growth. There was no EKC in the third-tier and below cities. The findings have important implications. China can cross the second inflection point of the EKC and improve environmental quality at a low income level. Therefore, by vigorously developing cleaner production technologies and raising residents’ awareness of environmental protection, it is possible to improve environmental quality at a lower income level than expected, which provides a useful reference for other developing countries.
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spelling pubmed-87042832021-12-25 Do China’s Urban–Environmental Quality and Economic Growth Conform to the Environmental Kuznets Curve? Song, Wenhao Ye, Chunhui Liu, Yuheng Cheng, Weisong Int J Environ Res Public Health Article The environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) expresses the relationship between environmental quality and economic growth. Based on the defects of previous studies on EKC using only environmental pollution indicators, this study holds that environmental quality is the result of pollutants after treatment, absorption, and self-purification, including two dimensions of pollution and absorption. Therefore, the environmental pollution and absorption data of 74 key environmental monitoring cities in China from 2005 to 2017 were selected, and a comprehensive index of environmental quality was constructed using the vertical and horizontal grading method. Then, based on the relevant economic growth indicators of these cities, they were divided into first-tier and new first-tier, second-tier, third-tier, and below. It was found that the EKC of the total sample, the first-tier and new first-tier cities, and the second-tier cities presented an inverted N-shape and had passed the second inflection point, where environmental quality continues to improve with the deepening of economic growth. There was no EKC in the third-tier and below cities. The findings have important implications. China can cross the second inflection point of the EKC and improve environmental quality at a low income level. Therefore, by vigorously developing cleaner production technologies and raising residents’ awareness of environmental protection, it is possible to improve environmental quality at a lower income level than expected, which provides a useful reference for other developing countries. MDPI 2021-12-20 /pmc/articles/PMC8704283/ /pubmed/34949027 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182413420 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Song, Wenhao
Ye, Chunhui
Liu, Yuheng
Cheng, Weisong
Do China’s Urban–Environmental Quality and Economic Growth Conform to the Environmental Kuznets Curve?
title Do China’s Urban–Environmental Quality and Economic Growth Conform to the Environmental Kuznets Curve?
title_full Do China’s Urban–Environmental Quality and Economic Growth Conform to the Environmental Kuznets Curve?
title_fullStr Do China’s Urban–Environmental Quality and Economic Growth Conform to the Environmental Kuznets Curve?
title_full_unstemmed Do China’s Urban–Environmental Quality and Economic Growth Conform to the Environmental Kuznets Curve?
title_short Do China’s Urban–Environmental Quality and Economic Growth Conform to the Environmental Kuznets Curve?
title_sort do china’s urban–environmental quality and economic growth conform to the environmental kuznets curve?
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8704283/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34949027
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182413420
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