Income Inequality, Economic Complexity, and Renewable Energy Impacts in Controlling Consumption-Based Carbon Emissions.

Although many studies have been conducted on the role of renewable energy in the environment, literature has ignored the potential role of socioeconomic indicators in renewable energy and pollution nexus. Also, critical questions arose with the critical factors, such as income inequality and economic complexity, have not been answered properly. This study explores the nexus between income inequality, economic complexity, renewable energy consumption, GDP per capita, and pollution and thus aims to reach efficient policy strategies by revealing empirical evidence. The study follows an environmental impact model structure and conducts the panel-corrected standard errors and fixed effect regression. BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) are selected to conduct our research. Annual data covering the period 1990-2017 for the sample countries are employed. Consumption-based carbon dioxide emissions as an indicator of environmental pollution are used since income inequality makes more sense in terms of the consumption side of an economy and is more related to consumers rather than the production sector. The obtained results reveal that income inequality has a positive and significant impact on consumption-based carbon dioxide emissions. However, GDP per capita, renewable energy, and economic complexity reduce pollution. It is also observed that the interaction term of inequality and renewable energy decreases emissions. Findings confirm that socioeconomic indicators, such as economic complexity and income inequality with the interaction of renewable energy, are crucial factors in reducing emissions and designing a greener future.

Turning points for environmental sustainability: the potential role of income inequality, human capital, and globalization.

Recently, the potential role of social indicators in environmental degradation gets immense attention. Environmental degradation and income inequality are two of the hot topics of debate that anticipate urgent solution. However, income inequality-CO2 emissions nexus has been little investigated in the literature. This study explores the relationship between income inequality and carbon dioxide emission by incorporating globalization and human capital as the determinants of this relationship. The study deploys an innovative technique of dynamic auto-regressive distributive lag simulation to evaluate data covering the period 1980-2015. Findings indicate that unequal distribution of wealth negatively affects carbon emissions. Likewise, the results show that globalization and human capital contribute to environmental degradation. The inclusion of transmission variables validates findings of the study. Policy strategies toward better income distribution and positive externalities of globalization are suggested for sustainability transitions.

Mitigating energy production-based carbon dioxide emissions in Argentina: the roles of renewable energy and economic globalization.

The energy sector of Argentina is predominantly reliant on fossil fuels. Consequently, such fossil fuel dependency within the nation's power sector, in particular, has aggravated the environmental quality in Argentina by amplifying the nation's energy production-based carbon emission levels. However, keeping into consideration the international commitments pledged by Argentina under the Paris Accord and the Sustainable Development Goals agenda, it is pertinent for this South American country to curb its energy production-based emission of greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide. Against this milieu, this study examines the impacts of renewable electricity generation, economic globalization, economic growth, and urbanization on carbon dioxide emissions generated from the production of electricity and heat in the context of Argentina. Using annual frequency data from 1971 to 2016, recent econometric methods are applied to control for multiple structural breaks in the data. The major findings from the ecnometric analyses affirmed long-run associations between renewable electricity generation, economic globalization, economic growth, urbanization, and energy production-based carbon dioxide emissions in Argentina. Besides, enhancing renewable electricity output shares is found to curb these emissions while economic globalization and urbanization are witnessed to boost them. Moreover, renewable electricity generation and economic globalization are found to jointly reduce the energy production-related carbon dioxide emissions in Argentina. The results also validate the authenticity of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis. Finally, the causality analysis reveals evidence of unidirectional causalities running from renewable electricity generation, economic globalization, economic growth, and urbanization to energy production-related carbon dioxide emissions in Argentina. In line with these findings, this study recommends several viable policies which can be implemented to help Argentina control the growth of its energy production-based carbon dioxide emissions.

Sustainable development and pollution: the effects of CO2 emission on population growth, food production, economic development, and energy consumption in Pakistan.

Population growth has been a leading driver of global CO2 emissions over the last several decades. CO2 emission and greenhouse gas emissions are a key issue in the world that affects food production and also causes the climate change. The core purpose of this study was to inspect the influence of carbon dioxide emission to population growth, food production, economic growth, livestock and energy utilization in Pakistan. The STIRPAT (Stochastic Impact by Regression on Population, Affluence and Technology) model with the extension of an ARDL (Autoregressive Distributed Lag) method was utilized to demonstrate the linkage amid variables. Outcomes during short-run investigation reveal that variables population growth, economic growth, rural population growth, livestock production uncovered a productive association with CO2 emission. Furthermore, via long-run population growth, economic growth, rural population growth, livestock production and energy utilization have positive interaction with CO2 emission, while the variables food production and urban population growth demonstrated an adverse influence to CO2 emission during long- and short-run interaction. Similarly, the error correction model exposed that population growth, economic progress, livestock and energy utilization have constructive interaction to CO2 emission, while the variables food production, urban and rural population growth exposed an adverse impact to CO2 emission. On the basis of this analysis, we will address the strategic consequences.

The asymmetric associations between foreign direct investment inflows, terrorism, CO2 emissions, and economic growth: a tale of two shocks.

Foreign direct investments can exert ambiguous effects on the environmental quality of the host economies. At the same time, terrorism is a worldwide phenomenon that affects human life, FDI inflows, economic growth, and, most importantly, environmental well-being. Hence, it can be expected that there are relationships between terrorism, foreign direct investment inflows, and carbon dioxide emissions. However, in the previous literature, less attention has been given to explore these nexuses. In addition, the possible non-linearities in data are also mostly ignored in the preceding related studies. Against this backdrop, this paper explores the linear and non-linear influences of terrorism and foreign direct investment inflows on carbon dioxide emissions, controlling for energy consumption and economic growth within the model, on carbon dioxide emissions in the context of ten global economies that are most impacted by terrorism. To this end, we used the data from 1973 to 2016 and deployed the linear and non-linear autoregressive distributed lag methods to scrutinize the environmental impacts of the explanatory variables of concern. The results confirmed the presence of non-linearities in the relationships between terrorism, inflows of foreign direct investments, and carbon dioxide emissions. Furthermore, the findings revealed that the positive shocks to terrorism and foreign direct investment inflows significantly deteriorate the environment with a dominating effect. Unlike the previous studies, this current study validates the pollution haven hypothesis for the sample economies. Energy consumption and economic growth  were also evidenced to exacerbate the carbon dioxide emission levels in all selected countries. Based on these results, we recommend that our sample economies should focus on promoting education, employment, economic stability, and public awareness to eradicate terrorism which, in turn, can mitigate the emissions of carbon dioxide further. In addition, stringent environmental regulations on foreign direct investment inflows are required to reduce the adverse environmental effects of such sources of foreign finance. Furthermore, the international firms should be encouraged to invest in cleaner technologies by offering them tax benefits and other financial incentives.

Carbonization and atmospheric pollution in China: The asymmetric impacts of forests, livestock production, and economic progress on CO2 emissions.

The accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has surged over the years as a consequence of diverse humans activities such as deforestation and farming, in particular. The rapidly growing agriculture and farm mechanization have contributed to substantial increases in energy use and carbon dioxide emissions across the globe. It is hypothesized that agriculture significantly contributes to a country's economy to which China is no exception. Hence, the main intention of the current study was to explore the asymmetrical influences of cereal crop production, forestry production, and economic progress on CO2 emissions in China between 1970 and 2017. The non-linear ARDL (Autoregressive Distributed Lag) bounds testing method was used to determine the short- and long-run dynamics linked with positive and negative shocks to the explanatory variables. The findings indicate that positive shocks to cereal crop production deteriorate the atmospheric quality by intensifying carbon dioxide emissions only in the long run, while the impacts of negative shocks in this regard are statistically insignificant. Ironically, shocks to forestry do not exhibit any significant impact on China's carbon dioxide emission levels. Moreover, carbon dioxide emissions demonstrate a strong progressive association with the positive shocks to energy resources utilized within the Chinese economy. Additionally, positive and negative shocks to economic progress are evidenced to boost and reduce the carbon dioxide emission figures in the long run. Lastly, negative shocks to livestock production are witnessed to increase carbon dioxide emissions only in the short run. Hence, for achieving the Chinese carbon-neutrality agenda, it is recommended to prioritize the use of renewable energy resources, particularly for producing cereal crops, in order to curb carbon dioxide emissions in China. Simultaneously, the Chinese economic growth policies should integrate environmentally-friendly schemes to counter the adversative environmental influences related to the economic progress in China.

A STIRPAT-based investigation on the role of economic growth, urbanization, and energy consumption in shaping a sustainable environment in the Mediterranean region.

The Mediterranean region is highly vulnerable to undesired consequences of global warming triggered by industrialization, urbanization, and mostly fossil energy consumption. However, the region has also great renewable energy generation potential such as solar and wind, which enables countries in the region to considerably mitigate CO2 emissions, the main driver of global warming. Developing countries around the world have less impact on carbon emissions than the developed Global North. Therefore, developing countries in the Mediterranean region are affected by the carbon burden of the first industrialized and developed European countries. This study investigates the role of economic growth, fossil and renewable energy consumption, and urbanization of developing Mediterranean countries in CO2 emissions by using annual data covering 1995-2016 period. To this end, it follows a STIRPAT model including gross domestic product per capita, urbanization, and renewable and non-renewable energy consumption. Considering cross correlation among countries, panel data methodologies are employed to estimate how carbon emissions respond to increase in gross domestic product, urbanization, and disaggregated energy consumption. Empirical results reveal that gross domestic product and fossil energy increase CO2 emissions; urbanization and renewable energy decrease CO2 emissions.

Technology spillovers and sustainable environment: Evidence from time-series analyses with Fourier extension.

Globalization and human capital accumulation are the main drivers of technology spillovers and essential for economic growth. At the same time, globalization and human capital are drivers to construct a green growth path that prevents pollution and the overuse of resources, and thus mitigates environmental degradation and achieves sustainable development. This mechanism, known as the 'technique/technology effect', may occur by stimulating technological development and creating environmental awareness and is of utmost importance in developed and developing countries to protect the environment. The aim of this study is to evaluate these outcomes, investigating how the environment reacts to developments in globalization and human capital accumulation by performing time-series analyses augmented with Fourier extensions, for countries in the BRICS group (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). The study first checks unit root and cointegration relationship by using Fourier unit root and Fourier cointegration approaches. Having confirmed a cointegration relationship, the FMOLS estimator extended with Fourier terms is applied to estimate cointegration parameters. Empirical results show that globalization and human capital are beneficial to protect the environment and to build a sustainable blueprint for the future, which specifically refer to more investment in the educational system and more efforts promoting social and cultural interaction across the globe.

Nexus between willingness to pay for renewable energy sources: evidence from Turkey.

The willingness to pay (WTP) plays a central role in directing appropriate policy regarding ambitious renewable energy targets. Based on this discrepancy, this study intends to investigate the willingness to pay (WTP) for Turkish citizens regarding green electricity by using a one-way analysis of variance (one-way ANOVA). The interviews were conducted comprising 2500 households in 12 major metropolitan cities of Turkey, which is based on the contingent valuation method and consists of 26 questions. The results indicate that for a 20% share of renewable energy, middle-income groups are willing to pay higher than lower and upper-income groups. Moreover, highly environmentally conscious people tend to pay more for a 20% share of green energy. On the other hand, high-income groups and old age groups indicated a positive and high willingness to pay for a 30% share of renewable energy (RE) sources. In addition, primary school and undergraduate educational groups recorded highly significant results for willingness to pay. The results also indicate that Turkish citizens are willing to pay 9.25 Turkish liras (TL) per month for a 20% share and 4.77 Turkish liras per month for a 30% share of renewable energy in total energy production.

The use of ecological footprint in estimating the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis for BRICST by considering cross-section dependence and heterogeneity.

A vast body of literature estimates the impact of economic growth on environmental degradation in the framework of EKC model. Typical empirical studies proxy environmental degradation with CO2 emissions; however, this indicator does not consider the complex nature of environmental degradation. To fulfill this omission, ecological footprint that tracks the use of multiple categories of productive surface areas is used as proxy for the environment. Moreover, studies that do not consider issues of heterogeneity and cross-sectional dependence may not produce reliable outcomes. Hence, the present study re-investigates the validity of the EKC hypothesis for BRICST (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Turkey) by using ecological footprint and considering the mentioned issues in the estimation process. Based on the annual data covering the period of 1980-2014, excluding Russia due to data unavailability, empirical results show that the EKC hypothesis is not valid, and energy intensity and energy structure are important determinants of environmental degradation. In line with the empirical outputs, possible policy suggestions are discussed in the present study.

How do environmental technologies affect green growth? Evidence from BRICS economies.

Green growth has become one of the best alternative strategies for sustainable development. Although environmental technologies play a fundamental role in green growth, further investigations are required to understand whether and how environmental technologies affect green growth. Therefore, this study explores the role of environmental technologies in green growth by controlling renewable and non-renewable energy consumption for BRICS countries. To this end, the study conducts advanced panel data estimation techniques that produce robust results against endogeneity, heteroskedasticity, and cross-sectional dependence issues. Empirical results show that environmental-related technologies positively contribute to green growth. Results also confirm that renewable energy promotes green growth, but non-renewable energy is detrimental to green growth. BRICS countries need to improve innovations in the energy sector for achieving green growth and sustainability targets.

The nexus between economic globalization and human development in Asian countries: an empirical investigation.

In recent years, countries both developed and developing ones have experienced a rapid economic globalization expanding economic activities. Although this economic globalization process is fruitful for the economy; however, what role it plays in the promotion of the human development index is still unknown. To this end, the study tries to explore the linkage among economic globalization, real income, and human development index in Asian countries from 1990 to 2015. The advanced econometric techniques that allow dependencies across countries are employed. The panel cointegration approach, Westerlund (2007) panel cointegration test, confirms the cointegration relationship among study variables, and the study estimates long-run cointegration parameters. Results reveal that economic globalization has not a significant impact on human development. However, real income promotes human development in Asian countries.

Does globalization matter for environmental sustainability? Empirical investigation for Turkey by Markov regime switching models.

Many efforts have been made to theoretically explain and/or empirically investigate how globalization plays a role on environmental quality. However, as in theoretical explanations, empirical literature as well has not reached a consensus yet to enlighten possible effects in developing countries especially. On the one hand, Globalization is expected to contribute to decrease environmental degradation through the technique effect that underlines the role of obtaining clean technologies. On the other hand, this expectation may become reversed since globalization triggers economic activities through the scale effect and movements of dirty industries to developing countries. This paper focuses on how environmental sustainability reacts to globalization in Turkey. To this end, ecological footprint as a proxy for environmental sustainability and KOF globalization measurements are analyzed by using Markov regime switching models. Estimations indicate that growth in financial globalization, politic globalization, trade globalization, human capital, and capital stock reduce the ecological footprint growth of Turkey. Results reveal as well that interpersonal globalization growth diminishes ecological footprint growth. All three regime-switching models yield that growths of economic globalization and social globalization result in an increase in ecological footprint growth in Turkey.

Is there deterministic, stochastic, and/or club convergence in ecological footprint indicator among G20 countries?

Ecological footprint has been widely accepted as an indicator of environmental performance in recent years since it considers carbon dioxide emissions, the collapse of fisheries, the change in land use, and deforestation. This paper investigates, if exists, the convergence in per capita ecological footprint among G20 countries by employing the annual data for the period 1961 to 2014. A bootstrap-based panel KPSS test with structural breaks and club convergence test are carried out. Eventually, this paper is expected to contribute to the literature of natural resources and ecology/environment by (1) monitoring the panel variable of ecological footprint, (2) launching stochastic and deterministic convergence analyses, and (3) estimating the club convergence parameters. In conclusion, the confirmative results in favor of environmental convergence are obtained by exhibiting the stochastic and deterministic convergences and deriving the output of merging clubs.

Analyzing the environmental Kuznets curve for the EU countries: the role of ecological footprint.

A great majority of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) literature use CO2 emissions to proxy for environmental degradation. However, this is an important shortage in application of the EKC concept because environmental degradation cannot be captured by CO2 emissions only. By using a broader proxy, ecological footprint, this study aims to investigate the presence of environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis for the EU countries. The annual data from 1980 to 2013 is examined with second generation panel data methodologies which take into account the cross-sectional dependence among countries. The results show that there is U-shaped relationship between the real income and ecological footprint. In addition, non-renewable energy increases the environmental degradation while renewable energy and trade openness decrease the environmental degradation in the EU countries. Policy implications are further discussed.