However recent data and research would lead us to believe that economic growth does not necessarily mean high emissions and a poor quality environment. In 1991 Grossman and Krueger developed the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) Hypothesis. The EKC hypothesis proposed that emissions followed an inverse U-Shaped path as a country's economy grew over time.
The Kuznets Curve represents the theory that economic inequality increases as a country develops industry but then begins to decrease as an economy approaches maturity. The EKC states that as countries begin to develop they tend to generate larger than normal amounts of pollution but as the curve is an inverse U it also shows that as the economies of these countries mature, the amount of pollution starts to shrink."this occurs because at low incomes people tend to value development over environmental quality, but as they achieve greater wealth they are willing to devote greater resources to greater environmental quality improvements. (Field and Field, 1994).
"Another way to think about this is that clean air, water, etc. provide an enjoyment that is income elastic. So as income increases above a threshold individuals and society will want to spend a large share of their incomes on these goods, reducing the pollution per unit of output and perhaps even total pollution. (Goffman, 2007). In addition, developing countries tend to be more inclined to develop heavy industry which naturally has higher pollution rates, while economies of countries that are already developed rely on relatively clean advanced technology as well as service sector businesses. "As new economic activity resulting from growth comes about, new changes occur within the environment, such as habitat destruction as well as air, water and pesticide pollution from industry and agriculture" (Booth,1998) .
It can be seen that economic growth might indeed be very beneficial for the environment.
