A Modified Environmental Kuznets Curve for sustainable development assessment using panel data

Many empirical studies have tried to analyse the causal relations between economic growth and environmental degradation by using the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC). Despite the huge diffusion of EKC studies, this model has been criticised for incompleteness in a sustainable development context. The aim of this paper is to build a Modified EKC (MEKC) including well-being aspects and sustainability of the development process, based on a panel dataset. Finally, an indicator for technological capabilities has been added, accounting for the role of diffusion of technical progress. Comparing the turning points of the, respectively, MEKC and EKC, some useful policy implications apply.