Air Pollution Mortality in Denmark, Finland, and Sweden

Authors

• Ulla Lehmijoki
• Elena Rovenskaya

DOI: https://doi.org/10.23979/fypr.45047

Keywords:

air pollution, mortality, economic growth, Denmark, Finland, Sweden,

Abstract

The adverse health consequences of air pollution are of concern currently and there
is a fear that these consequences escalate along with economic growth. The effect of
economic growth on air pollution deaths is analyzed in Denmark, Finland, and Sweden
by applying the Environmental Kuznets Curve approach, according to which economic
growth has competing effects on air pollution and related deaths. On the one hand,
emissions tend to increase as the scale of economic activity increases, but on the other
hand, consumers and firms in richer countries use cleaner goods and adopt cleaner
technologies. In Denmark and Finland, the latter effects are stronger, while in Sweden the
opposite is true. Therefore, air pollution deaths will decrease in Denmark and Finland
but increase in Sweden. Since country's own emissions do not determine air pollution
completely, the paper briefly analyzes emissions from the Baltic countries and Russia.