The impact of growth, energy and financial development on environmental pollution in China: New evidence from a spatial econometric analysis

Abstract This research examines data from 30 Chinese provinces from 1999 to 2017 to investigate the impacts of economic growth, energy consumption, and financial development on environmental pollution. Using spatial econometrics, we find that energy consumption has increased environmental pollution. Moreover, the direct effects of two indicators measuring financial development—financial depth and financial efficiency—on environmental pollution are directly negative and positive, respectively. Moreover, these two financial development indicators moderate the effects of technical progress and industry structure on environmental pollution differently. The “inverted N”-shaped environmental Kuznets curve relationship is well supported for SO2 and solid waste.