What is Environment Kuznets Curve (EKC)

In order to understand the role of sustainability in the era of development, the broader purpose of the chapter is to examine the quantitative linkages between HDI and environmental performance for the selected developed and developing nations from 2002 to 2017. To test if the degree of economic expansion and standard of living has a systematic relationship with the level of environmental deterioration (existence of Kuznets curve hypotheses) in a country, the study employs fixed effects panel modeling on the selected country set. Several other macroeconomic and capital flow variables are considered in the extended empirical model development in order to supplement the holistic review of the situation. In addition, the study finds its novelty by considering relevant governance indicators in order to map the umbrella view. The findings of the panel analysis discover HDI to be positively associated with EPI, depicting higher human capital accumulation leading to lower environmental damage and better environmental performance. Additionally, the results confirm the deviation from EKC hypotheses in the context of developing nations while the same is established in case of developed nations.