Is there an environmental Kuznets inverted-U shaped curve?

Abstract

This study examines the relationship among carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, income, energy consumption, trade openness, financial development and institutional quality based on the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis in 151 countries for the period 1996-2010, using the pooled ordinary least squares methods. The results support cubic specification of the EKC hypothesis, which assumes a cubic polynomial inverted-U shaped relationship between income and environmental degradation. Other empirical results indicate that energy consumption, trade openness, financial development and institutional quality are significant variables in explaining CO2 emissions.