Göteborg Papers in Economic History
No 15:
Economic Growth and Clean Water in the Göta River - A Pilot Study of Collective Action and the Environmental Kuznets Curve 1895-2000
Staffan Granér ()
and Klas Rönnbäck ()
Abstract: Because of a growing population and industrialization,
total pollution levels in many water-courses around the world have
increased considerably for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. In the
last few decades, however, the trend of increasing water pollution has been
turned in many industrialized countries, delinking economic growth from
environmental pollution. This is in essence one aspect of what many
environmental economists call an ‘environmental Kuznets curve’. The
research question of this project is why there is such a pattern to water
quality in many countries? Much previous literature on the topic studies
only the positive impact of environmental legislation. This study, focusing
upon the case of the river Göta in Sweden, undertakes a more thorough
analysis, including other crucial factors as well such as industrial
transformation and decline, as well as stakeholder associations. The
project utilizes a very long series of data on the water quality in the
river Göta, covering more than 100 years of data for crucial indicators, in
order to establish what factors were contributing to reducing levels of
pollution. Analyzing the driving factors of this ‘Environmental Kuznets
Curve’ can give us crucial insights into how a sustainable development
might be achieved in the future.
Keywords: Economic History; Environmental history; Environmental pollution; Water quality; Environmental Kuznets curve; Sweden; Göta älv; (follow links to similar papers)
JEL-Codes: N53; N54; N73; N74; Q25; Q28; Q57; (follow links to similar papers)
55 pages, October 3, 2011
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