Environmental

Kuznets Curve
(EKC)
I M PL IC ATIONS A N D
R E V IEWS
Hypothesis:
The developing countries have
higher environmental
degradation tan develop
countries.
The explanation:
When a country begins a process of economic growth, experiments a transition from primary
activities to industrial activities and then postindustrial activities. This change in the structure
productive is traduced in an increased of the wealth and, the same time, of the contamination.
However, when a country reaches higher levels of wealth, the environmental degradation starts
to stabilizing and eventually to reducing. This reduction is due to adoption of new and better
technologies and a new economics regulations of the productive process.
Therefore, the conclusion is: the countries should be wealthier in order to attain a decent
environment or how mentions some researches, the environmental quality is a luxury product.
Implications
The EKC suggests that the economic growth is
the better way for solving environment
problems.
The principal implications is that supports the
idea for sustainability of economic growth and
puts in risk the sustainability of the life in the
planet.
Reviews
 The hypothesis emerged like an empiric result of a research but was generalized. This
hypothesis isn’t valid for anything pollute. For example: the solid wastes.
The hypothesis doesn’t recognize the planetary boundaries and puts an excessive optimism in
technological possibilities. Thus, this ECK’s proposal claims that the environmental problems can
be solved by a shift to more efficient technology.
This assertion have little to no evidence. Indeed the potential of our current
technology is limited and uncertain. Likewise, improvements of efficiency should
reduce the demand of resources. Conversely, improvements that have boosted
economic expansion by making things cheaper, have also increased the amount of
resources used and the environmental damage that is generated.
 The hypothesis doesn’t recognize the negative effects that the pollution has on economic
growth. Have been demonstrate that environmental impacts reducing the economic
development.

An aspect that is very polemic about this approach is that effectively the richest countries have
better environmental quality, but when these implication have been explored, it has been found
that the better environmental quality of rich countries is due to the delocalization of the
production centers to poor countries. As a result the environmental impacts are not eliminated,
but transferred to other places, which gives the appearance of a “better environmental quality”
in developed countries.
My opinion
I support these reviews and I consider that other Economics is possible.
I follow the degrowth theory that focus her attention in the distribution more than efficiency
and debated the needed for more growth, that increase the use of scarce resources and
generates pollution.