Energy, externalities and environmental quality: will development cure the ills it creates?

Abstract

This paper reviews the factors that can influence environmental quality in the course of economic development and examines critically empirical studies that have been carried out, including those that have produced evidence of environmental "Kuznets curves.' It also considers the policy implications of the relationships that have been estimated and examines the question whether the estimates of environmental Kuznets curves imply that development will necessarily and automatically cure the environmental ills that it creates. -Author