Economic growth, inequality and environmental degradation

Michael T. Dorsch*, Bethany Kirkpatrick

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract (may include machine translation)

This paper re-examines the relationship between economic growth and environmental degradation and tests the validity of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis by considering the role of income inequality. Using the ecological footprint (EF) as a consumption-based indicator of environmental degradation and the most comprehensive income inequality data available, we demonstrate that the environmental impact of economic growth depends on the distribution of income. We find evidence of an EKC relationship between the EF and economic growth; however, this result is conditional upon a perfectly egalitarian distribution of within-country income. For higher degrees of income inequality, we find no evidence of a 'turning point' within an empirically feasible range. These results suggest that when the gains of economic growth are concentrated the associated rate of environmental degradation is greater than when they are more broadly shared.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)124-140
Number of pages17
JournalInternational Journal of Sustainable Development
Volume24
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 2021

Keywords

  • EKC
  • Economic growth
  • Environmental kuznets curve
  • Income inequality
  • Sustainable development

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