Economic growth and the environment: An examination of Indian data

In this study, the strength of the relationship between a variety of pollution measures and income is estimated for different cities and towns, and states of India from 1987 to 1994. The six pollution measures used are Nitrogen dioxide, Sulfur dioxide, Suspended particulate matter, Biological oxygen demand, Chemical oxygen demand, and Faecal coliform. Additionally, the importance of composition of production, income distribution, and composition of consumption in affecting the pollution-income relationship is evaluated.; Fixed effects and random effects estimation techniques are used to estimate the strength of the relationship between the six pollution measures and income. Additionally, these estimation techniques are also used to analyze the importance of composition of output in affecting pollution outcomes. Ordinary least squares method is used to analyze the importance of income distribution and composition of consumption in affecting the pollution outcomes.; Over the period of 1987 to 1994, only two out of the six pollutants used in this study, namely, Nitrogen dioxide and Faecal Coliform, were related to income in a negative manner. In estimations, incorporating composition of production and composition of consumption measures, in addition to real output per capita, often produced weak results. This is because in estimations the coefficients associated with these measures often ended up with wrong signs and hard-to-justify values. The use of headcount index for an income distribution measure, in addition to real output per capita, in regressions produced some meaningful results. In particular, we find that all else being the same, a 1-percentage point increase in headcount index will have the effect of increasing Suspended particulate matter concentrations by 5.76 μg/m 3.; The rapid growth in the ownership of automobiles during the second half of 1990s in several Indian cities casts doubts on the continuation of a negative Nitrogen dioxide and income relationship after 1994. On the other hand, the negative relationship between Faecal coliform and income can be considered good news because water-borne illnesses exact a heavy toll on human health and mortality in India.