Environmental Kuznets curves - real progress or passing the buck? A case for consumption-based approaches

Recent research has examined the hypothesis of an environmental Kuznets curve (EKC)-the notion that environmental impact increases in the early stages of development followed by declines in the later stages. These studies have focused on the relationship between per capita income and a variety of environmental indicators. Results imply that EKCs may exist for a number of cases. However, the measures of environmental impact used generally focus on production processes and reflect environmental impacts that are local in nature and for which abatement is relatively inexpensive in terms of monetary costs and/or lifestyle changes. Significantly, more consumption-based measures, such CO2 emissions and municipal waste, for which impacts are relatively easy to externalize or costly to control, show no tendency to decline with increasing per capita income. By considering consumption and trade patterns, the author re-examines the concept of the EKC and proposes the use of alternative, consumption-based measures of environmental impact. The author speculates that what appear to be improvements in environmental quality may in reality be indicators of increased ability of consumers in wealthy nations to distance themselves from the environmental degradation associated with their consumption. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.