Casting shadows of progress: a comparative analysis of structural change and environmental quality in the United States and China

Abstract This study analyses and compares the environmental implications of structural change in a deindustrialized (the United States) and a late industrialized (China) nation. We contribute to the literature by performing a quantile-on-quantile analysis from 1965 to 2019. We examine the heterogeneous effect on the environment in the United States and China. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to examine and compare the effect of structural change on environmental quality in the United States and China. Our findings show that the factors determining environmental quality in China exhibit a more fluctuating pattern with varying responses across different quantiles, indicating a higher level of heterogeneity. Conversely, in the United States, environmental quality factors tend to display more stable responses across quantiles. Our results suggest some policy implications that the United States and China have important responsibilities to improve environmental quality all over the earth.