Does Export Product Quality Matter for CO₂ Emissions? Evidence from China

This paper re-estimates the environmental Kuznets curve over the period 1971–2010 in China. To this end, it uses the unit root tests with one structural break and the autoregressive-distributed lag (ARDL) estimations. The special role is given to the impacts of export product quality and energy consumption on CO₂ emissions in the empirical models. The paper finds that the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis is valid in China. It also observes the positive effect from energy consumption to CO₂ emissions. In addition, it finds that the export product quality is negatively associated with CO₂ emissions. The paper also argues potential implications