CO2 Emissions in India: Are the States Converging?

Özet: The rapid industrialization process that had originated from England to foster a huge world population has almost reached its target and at the same time it has imputed a cost upon the world lives in terms of its by-product. The most alarming factor which is one of the components of the Green House Gases is the Carbon Di Oxide (CO2) the emission of which has grown over time in parallel way of industrial growth irrespective of the categories of the countries. The present study has tried to raise the issue in a micro level for the states of India that has experienced a shift in its economic policy paradigm in the name of economic liberalization in the period 1991-92. The aim of the present study is twofold-one is to examine whether the states are converging in CO2 emissions and the other is to study whether the states are getting unequal over time in this respect. The study observes that the states are insignificantly β converging and significantly σ converging for the period 1980-2000. Segregating the data for pre reform (1980-91) and post reform (1992-2000) periods the study further observes that the states are undoubtedly converging in the former period but diverging in the later period at least by the σ convergence. The study also found that there is growing concentration in CO2 emissions over post reform era which is a notion of interstate inequality.