Pollution and economic growth: Evidence from Central and Eastern European countries

Abstract

We investigate the relationships between pollution and growth in eleven Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. Aggregate results, robust to different estimators and control variables, reveal an increasing nonlinear link between GDP and CO2 for the group of CEE countries. However, at a disaggregated, country-level, the relationship between GDP and CO2 is characterized by much diversity among CEE countries, namely: N-shaped, inverted-N, U-shaped, inverted-U, monotonic, or no statistical link. Thus, despite an aggregated upward trend, some CEE countries managed to secure both higher GDP and lower CO2 emissions. From a policy perspective, EU policymakers could pay more attention to these countries, and amend the current unique environmental policy to account for country-heterogeneities in order to support economic growth without damaging the environment.