The Impact of Urbanization on CO2 Emissions: Evidence from Developing Countries

This paper analyzes the impact of urbanization on CO2 emissions in developing countries, taking into account the presence of heterogeneity in the sample of countries and testing for the stability of the estimated elasticities over time. The sample covers the period from 1975 through 2003 for different groups of countries, classified according to their income levels. Our results show that, whereas the impact of population growth on emissions is above unity and only slightly different for upper, middle, and low- income countries, urbanization, demonstrate a very different impact on emissions for low and lower-middle-income countries and upper-middle income countries.