Economic Development and Environmental Quality

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Economic Development and Environmental Quality
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Environmental Problems in Developing Countries

• Environmental problems in developing countries
  are different from those in developed countries
• Sanitation problems
• Diseases (such as malaria)
• Indoor air pollution problems

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Environmental Problems in Developing Countries

• The environmental Kuznets curve theres often
  an inverted U-shaped relationship between
  pollution and economic development.

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The Environmental Kuznets Curve

• Certain types of air and water pollution tend to
  increase with development until per capita income
  reaches a level of about 5000 to 8000.
• Beyond this level, pollution starts to decline.

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The Environmental Kuznets Curve

• This suggests that pollution levels might grow
  sharply in the future, since many countries are
  on the rising part of the curve.
• Per capita GDP in 1998
• 1440 in sub-Saharan Africa
• 2060 in India
• 2407 in Indonesia
• 3051 in China

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• God forbid that India should ever take to
  industrialism after the manner of the West. It
  took Britain half the resources of the planet to
  achieve this prosperity. How many planets will a
  country like India require?
• Mahatma Gandhi

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The Environmental Kuznets Curve

• Why does the curve rise at low levels of
  development? Possible explanations
• People in poorer countries are more interested in
  jobs than environmental quality.
• Poorer countries cannot easily afford pollution
  abatement costs.
• Environmental regulation is weak in developing
  countries.
• Why does pollution tend to fall at higher levels
  of development? Possible explanations
• Industrial sectors become cleaner.
• People value environmental quality more.
• Regulatory institutions become more effective.