Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Environmental Costs of Economic Growth Policies

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
China's Economic Growth: Towards Sustainable Economic Development and Social Justice

Abstract

Chapters 3 and 4 discussed how income inequality has increased and how poverty may be alleviated. China is rapidly developing into a consumer-oriented society. Along with it comes a capitalist throw-away culture, which produces unnecessary waste, increasing the usage of non-renewable resources. It is the cost of increasing affluence for which the Chinese are now paying in their search for the ‘Chinese Dream’ (zhōng guó mèng) promoted by the present Chinese government. The accomplishment of the zhōng guó mèng is an important and worthwhile goal but it can become costly to the environment if mismanaged. The environmental costs resulting from growth policies are discussed in this chapter. Nordhaus (1973) argued that continuing technological progress and substitution of factors is likely to result in a more optimistic scenario than presented by the Club of Rome (1972). However, it is argued in this chapter that corrective environmental policies have to be implemented to avoid further deterioration of the environment.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 99.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Acemoglu, D., Aghion, P., Bursztyn, L., & Hemous, D. (2012). The environment and directed technological change. The American Economic Review, 102(1), 131–166.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ahmad, E., & Stern, N. (1991). The theory and practice of tax reform in developing countries. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Andreoni, J., & Chapman, D. (2001). The simple analysis of the environmental Kuznets curve. Journal of Public Economics, 80(2), 269–277.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barbier, E. (1987). The concept of sustainable economic development. Environmental Conservation, 14(2), 101–110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baumol, W. J. (1972). On taxation and the control of externalities. American Economic Review, 62(3), 307–322.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baumol, W. J., & Oates, W. E. (1971). The use of standards and pricing for the protection of the environment. Swedish Journal of Economics, March, 1971(73), 42–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carson, R. T. (2010). The environmental Kuznets curve: Seeking empirical regularity and theoretical structure. Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, 4(1), 3–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Club of Rome (1972). The Limits to Growth. Meadows, D.H., Meadows, D.L. et al. A Report for the Club of Rome's Project of the Predicament of Mankind. London: A Potomac Associates Book, Earth Island Limited.

    Google Scholar 

  • China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED) (2004). An environmental impact assessment of China's WTO Accession. An analysis of six sectors. A Report by the Task Force on WTO and Environment, International Institute for Sustainable Development. Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

    Google Scholar 

  • China Forestry Press (Various Years). China Forestry Statistical Yearbook. Beijing: China Statictics Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • China Statistics Press (Various Years). China Environmental Statistical Yearbook. Beijing: China Statistics Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coady, D., Parry, I., Sears, L., & Shang, B. (2015). How large are global energy subsidies? IMF Working Paper No. WP/15/105, IMF, Washington, DC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cole, M. A., Rayner, A. J., & Bates, J. M. (1997). The environmental Kuznets curve: An empirical analysis. Environment and Development Economics, 2, 433–450.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dasgupta, P., & Heal, G. (1974). The optimal depletion of exhaustible resources. The Review of Economic Studies, 41, 3–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dasgupta, P. S., Heal, G. M., & Nisbet, J. (1979). Economic theory and exhaustible resources. Cambridge economic handbooks. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dasgupta, S., Laplante, B., Mamingi, N., & Wang, H. (2001). Inspections, pollution prices, and environmental performance: Evidence from China. Ecological Economics, 36(3), 487–498.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dasgupta, S., Wang, H., & Wheeler, D. (1997). Surviving success: Policy reform and the future of industrial pollution in China. Working Paper No. 1856, October, World Bank Policy Research Department, World Bank, Washington, DC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dong, Y., & Whalley, J. (2010). Carbon, trade policy and carbon free trade areas. The World Economy, 2010, 1073–1094.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Steinfeld, H., Gerber, P., Wassenaar, T., Castel, V., Rosales, M., & de Haan, C. (2006). Livestock’s long shadow: Environmental issues and options. Rome: FAO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frankel, J. A. (2003). The environment and globalization. NBER Working Papers No. 10090, National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA. Retrieved from http://www.nber.org/papers/w10090.pdf

  • Friedman, M., & Friedman, R. (1979). Free to choose. New York: Harcourt Bruce Jovanovich.

    Google Scholar 

  • Green, F., & Stern, N. (2014). An innovative and sustainable growth path for China: A critical decade. Policy Paper, May 2014, Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy and the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang, Q., Dawe, D., Rozelle, S., Huang, J., & Wang, J. (2005). Irrigation, poverty and inequality in rural China. The Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, 49, 159–175.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • International Energy Agency (IEA). (2007a). Statistics by country, region. Retrieved from http://www.iea.org/Textbase/stats/index.asp

  • International Energy Agency (IEA). (2007b). Key world energy statistics. Retrieved from http://www.iea.ord

  • International Energy Agency (IEA). (2013). CO2 emissions statistics—Country. Retrieved from http://www.iea.org/statistics/topics/co2emissions/

  • International Monetary Fund (2013). World energy subsidies. Washington, DC: IMF.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewin, P. (1982). Pollution externalities: Social cost and strict liability. Cato Journal, 2(1), 205–229.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lin, B., & Liu, J. (2010). Estimating coal production peak and trends of coal imports in China. Energy Policy, 38, 512–519.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mishan, E. J., & Quah, E. (2007). Cost benefit analysis (5th ed.). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nordhaus, W. D. (1973). World dynamics: Measurement without data. The Economic Journal, 83(332), 1156–1183.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • OECD (2003). OECD performance review: Japan. Paris: OECD Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • OECD (2009). Ensuring environmental compliance—Trends and good practices. Paris: OECD Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • OECD (2013). The People’s Republic of China. Avoiding the middle-income trap: Policies for sustained and inclusive growth. Paris: OECD Publications.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Pan, H. (2011). Implementing sustainable travel policies in China. International Transport Forum, OECD Discussion Paper No. 2011–12, OECD, Paris. Retrieved fromhttp://www.internationaltransportforum.org/itrc/DiscussionPapers/DP201112.pdf

  • Panayotou, T. (1997). Demystifying the environmental Kuznets curve: Turning a black box into a policy tool. Environment and Development Economics, 2(4), 465–484.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pigou, A. C. (1920). The economics of welfare. London: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roumasset, J., Burnett, K., & Wang, H. (2007a). Environmental resources and economic growth. In L. Brandt & T. G. Rawski (Eds.), China’s economic transition: Origins, mechanism, and consequences (chap. 8). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roumasset, J., Burnett, K., & Wang, H. (2007b). Is China’s growth sustainable? Working Papers No. 07–23, Department of Economics, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rozelle, S., Albers, H., Li, G., & Benzinger, V. (1998). Forest resources under economic reform: Response in China’s state and collective management regimes. China Information, 13, 106–128.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schneider, K. (2011). Coal is China’s largest industrial water consumer. Grist, 24 February. Retrieved from http://grist.org/article/2011-02-23-coal-is-chinas-largest-industrial-water-consumer/

  • Seldon, T. M., & Song, D. (1995). Neoclassical growth, the J curve for abatement and the inverted-U curve for pollution. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 29(2), 162–168.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shalizi, Z. (2008). Water and urbanization. In S. Yusuf & T. Saich (Eds.), China urbanizes—Consequences, strategies, and policies (chap. 7, pp. 157–180). Washington, DC: World Bank.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaw, D., Pang, A., Lin, C.-C., & Hung, M.-F. (2010). Economic growth and air quality in China. Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, 12, 79–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shah, A. (2015). Taxing choices for economic growth with social justice and environmental protection in the People’s Republic of China. Public Finance and Management, 15(4), 326–357.

    Google Scholar 

  • Solomon, S., Qin, D. H., Manning, M., et al. (2007). Climate change 2007: The scientific basis. Contribution of working group I to the fourth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Solow, R. M. (1974). Intergenerational equity and exhaustible resources. The Review of Economic Studies, 41, 29–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steinfeld, E. S. (2008). Energy policy. In S. Yusuf & T. Saich (Eds.), China urbanizes—Consequences, strategies, and policies (chap. 6, pp. 125–156). Washington, DC: World Bank.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stern, N. (2007). The economics of climate change: The Stern review. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Tietenberg, T. H. (1974). On taxation and the control of externalities: Comment. American Economic Review, 64(3), 462–466.

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations Industrial Development Organization (2011). UNIDO green industry: Policies for supporting green industry. Vienna: UNIDO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang, J., Feng, L., & Tverberg, G. (2013). An analysis of China’s coal supply and its impact on China’s future economic growth. Energy Policy, 57, 542–551.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wishnick, E. (2005). China as a risk society. Honolulu, HI: East–West Center Seminar.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Bank (1999). Global Economic Prospects and the Developing Countries. 1998-99 - Beyond Financial Crisis. Washington, DC: World Bank.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Bank (2001). China’s air, land, and water: Environmental priorities for a new millennium. Washington, DC: World Bank.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • World Bank. (2011). World Bank data catalogue. Washington, DC.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Health Organization (2008). The global burden of disease: 2004 update. Geneva: WHO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, J. (2012). Delivering environmentally sustainable economic growth: The case of China. San Diego: University of California, Asia Society.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Independent scholar, Shun Cheng District, Fushun-City, China

    John Joshua

Authors
  1. John Joshua
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Copyright information

© 2017 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Joshua, J. (2017). The Environmental Costs of Economic Growth Policies. In: China's Economic Growth: Towards Sustainable Economic Development and Social Justice. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59435-8_6

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59435-8_6

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-59434-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-59435-8

  • eBook Packages: Economics and FinanceEconomics and Finance (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation