Environmental Quality and Income Inequality: An Empirical Examination — Presentation Detail — Celebration of Scholars

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Student presentations must have a faculty sponsor.

Abstracts must include a title and a description of the research, scholarship, or creative work. The description should be 150-225 words in length and constructed in a format or style appropriate for the presenter’s discipline.

The following points should be addressed within the selected format or style for the abstract:

A clear statement of the problem or question you pursued, or the scholarly goal or creative theme achieved in your work.
A brief comment about the significance or uniqueness of the work.
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A statement of the conclusions, results, outcomes, or recommendations, or if the work is still in progress, the results you expect to report at the event.

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Additional Information

More information is available at carthage.edu/celebration-scholars/. The following are members of the Research, Scholarship, and Creativity Committee who are eager to listen to ideas and answer questions:

Jun Wang
Kim Instenes
John Kirk
Nora Nickels
Andrew Pustina
James Ripley

Environmental Quality and Income Inequality: An Empirical Examination

Name: Marquell Williams
Major: Economics, Math
Hometown: Rockford, Illinois
Faculty Sponsor:
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: Independent research

Abstract

Manufacturing is a large part of the American economy and is responsible for a considerable portion of American gross domestic product. One large negative externality of the American manufacturing sector is from resulting waste products. These waste products negatively impact the health of those exposed. Consequently, it is imperative that all intricacies of American manufacturing, particularly environmental degradation and resulting health impacts, are understood to create a better, healthier society. While there exists an abundance of literature discussing the relationship between income and demographic characteristics with environmental degradation, there is little existing literature examining the relationship between environmental degradation with the diversity of demographics and income in a population. Our set of panel data, collected from the Toxic Release Inventory, regarding pollution discharges in each U.S. metropolitan county over twenty years allowed for an in-depth study of environmental quality over time and space. This study focused on the impact of income inequality and demographic composition on environmental damage and resulting health outcomes. Using regression analysis of the panel data allowed us to estimate the relationship between these factors. Preliminary data analysis suggest that within a county, income inequality and toxic releases are positively correlated.

Poster file