Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the emissions of CO2 in Italy during 1861 to 2002.The Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) is applied to explore the relationship between CO2 emissionand Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita. An Index Decomposition Analysis (IDA) is also appliedto investigate changes in emissions between 1990 to 2002. Several factors contribute to change in theemission of CO2. These factors generally include a scale effect, a technological effect and a compositioneffect.
Design/methodology/approach – The main discussion in the paper is about the exiting of EKC in Italy and how a decomposition analysis can be used to look behind the time series of the environmentalaccounts.
Findings – The findings in the paper indicate the typical inverted “U” form of EKC is not confirmedwith our data set for Italy. According our econometric results, there is a positive relationship betweeneconomic growth and CO2; following the trend, the maximum emission of CO2 per capita in Italy wouldbe reached when the GDP per capita will be about 26900 US$ (turning point). Basically, two majorforces have determined the increase of CO2 pollution in Italy over time: eco-efficiency (pollution permonetary unit of output) and volume effect (volume growth of Value Added).
Practical implications – The decomposition method performed in this paper allows us to analysewhich sectors are responsible for CO2 emissions and quantify the magnitude of the theoretical factorsexpected to influence the emission. The method used for the decomposition analysis can also beapplied by countries with lack of time series Input-Output data.
Originality/value – The investigation in the paper of the existing of EKC allows to know at whichlevel of income the CO2 emissions will start decreasing in Italy. The analysis is based on a long timeseries (141 years). Decomposition analysis can be considered a tool, which helps to detect whether theincrease of CO2 is mainly due to economic growth or technological change.