The environmental Kuznets curve: a critical survey

During the last few years, several studies have found an inverted-U relationship between per capita income and environmental degradation. This relationship, known as the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC), suggests that environmental degradation increases in the early stages of development, but it will eventually decrease as income grows above a certain threshold level. The present paper provides a review of both early and recent contributions on this subject, in order to determine whether and to what extent such a curve can be empirically observed and which are the policy implications that derive from the empirical evidence.