Testing Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis in Asian countries

The aim of this study is to test the Environmental Kuznet Curve (EKC) hypothesis for 14 Asian countries spanning the period 1990-2011. We focused on how both income and policies in these countries affect the income-emissions (environment) relationship. The GMM methodology using panel data is employed in a multivariate framework to test the EKC hypothesis. The multivariate framework includes: CO2 emissions, GDP per capita, population density, land, industry shares in GDP, and four indicators that measure the quality of institutions. In terms of the presence of an inverted U-shape association between emissions and income per capita, the estimates have the expected signs and are statistically significant, yielding empirical support to the presence of an Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis.