One size doesn't fit all: estimating environmental Kuznets curves for hazardous waste site counts

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Abstract
An emergent empirical literature demonstrates theenvironmental Kuznets curve(EKC), or inverted‐U relationship, between environmental pollution and per capita income. Results are controversial and open to a variety of interpretations. The first contribution of this paper is to extend the limited empirical evidence of the EKC relationship to an unexpected context – counts of hazardous waste sites across U.S. counties. However, the primary contribution of this paper is methodological. By applying the EM algorithm, and the latent class Poisson model, to heterogeneous count data we employ an innovative technique for investigating EKC results. This approach allows us to identify three latent classes all exhibiting the inverted‐U relationship but with distinct characteristics. Hence one size doesn't fit all, and we find that three EKCs are required to adequately fit the data. One potential implication is that environmental policy should be designed differentially for these different classes. In particular, it may need to be geographically targeted for the efficient cleanup of blighted urban areas. Finally, future EKC studies should evaluate the potential for multiple curves. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.