Air Pollution Driving Factors Analysis: Evidence from Economically Developed Area in China.

Rapid economic growth is usually accompanied by rising air pollution in China, especially in the economically developed regions. Beijing is the capital of China, which is selected as a study case in this article. The aim of this study is to authenticate if the Environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis exists between air pollution and economic growth in Beijing over the period of 1990-2013, and to understand the driving factors of the air pollution by utilizing the Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence and Technology (STIRPAT) model. To avoid the multicollinearity of the driving factors, ridge regression is utilized. CO₂, SO₂ and dust emissions are served as the air pollution indicators. Results show that, both CO₂ and SO₂ emissions, contribute to an agreement to the EKC hypothesis, while dust emissions do not. Besides, the turning point of SO₂ emissions has already achieved in 1999, whereas that of CO₂ emissions will be achieved in 2026. Population, urbanization, and industry structure are introduced into the STIRPAT model. In the STIRPAT model, CO₂, SO₂ and dust emissions all follow the EKC hypothesis, while only SO₂ emissions achieved the turning point in 2006, nevertheless, that of CO₂ and dust emissions will be achieved in 2023 and 2070, respectively. Population, urbanization, and industry structure factors all contribute a positive impact on CO₂ emissions. However, the three factors all exert negative influence on the SO₂ and dust emissions. Finally, policies on addressing air pollution problems in Beijing have been discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]