Factoring the Environmental Kuznets Curve: Evidence from Automotive Lead Emissions

This article describes the relationship between automotive lead emissions and national income for 48 countries over 20 years. It draws three principal conclusions. First, lead emissions can be shown to follow an inverse- or an “environmental Kuznets curve” with respect to income. Second, the peak of this curve is sensitive to both the functional form estimated and the time period considered. Third, automotive lead pollution is the product of two separate factors, lead per gallon of gasoline (pollution intensity) and gasoline consumption (polluting activity), and the declining portion of the curve depends critically on reducing gasoline lead content, not gasoline use.