The Impact of Education on the Environmental Kuznets curve: a Threshold Panel Approach

The goal of this paper is to investigate the effect of education on Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC). The EKC hypothesis states that the relationship between per capita income and air pollution follows an inverted U-shaped curve. At the initial stages of development, as per capita income increases, so does air pollution due to rapid economic growth and lack of attention to the environment. However, after reaching a threshold level of per capita income and increasing societal welfare, clean air becomes a demand for a healthy life. This leads to increased attention towards pollution control and environmental protection, resulting in a decrease in air pollution beyond a certain level of per capita income. The results of this research, which examined developing and developed countries using the threshold panel method from 1990-2016, confirm the existence of the EKC in these countries. The study also found that education plays a significant role in reducing pollution levels in these communities. At initial stages of development, education is not widespread enough to prevent society from the dangers of pollution. However, with improved development and educational systems - particularly higher education - environmental issues become a priority for society and political authorities. This leads to intensified policies for pollution control and environmental protection resulting in decreased pollution levels on the downward part of the EKC.