Revisiting the economic growth and electricity consumption nexus in Pakistan

Do natural resource volatilities and renewable energy contribute to the environment and economic performance? Empirical evidence from E7 economies

The economies of the emerging seven (E7) are not insulated from the climate change challenges, which is a key concern for most countries. The E7 nations have undertaken part in initiatives to combat climate change, particularly in terms of reducing CO₂ emissions from the trajectory of productivity expansion in their countries. It is for this reason that this study examines the impact of resource volatility, renewable energy, and fossil fuel on both economic performance and CO₂ emission from 1990 to 2018. The present study used panel quantile regression and Driscoll-Kraay fixed effect-OLS estimators to examine these associations. From model I, the outcome shows that economic performance, natural gas rent, coal rent, and fossil fuel impact CO₂ emission positively. Moreover, oil rent, renewable energy, investment in energy, and the interaction between investment in energy and renewable energy also negatively and significantly impact CO₂ emission. On the other hand, model II which has economic performance as a dependent variable shows that all the understudy variables have significant positive relations with economic performance. Based on the empirical outcome, policy ramifications are provided.

Assessing the influence of urbanization and energy on carbon emissions of Turkey: evidence using the new RALS analysis

This research aimed at examining the nexus among urbanization, energy use, foreign direct investment (FDI), economic growth, and environmental sustainability in Turkey. Time-series data from 1970 to 2017 were used in the analysis, and ecological footprint was used as an indicator for environmental sustainability. The aim was to investigate the long-run nexus among the indicators and contribute to the literature in several ways. One of these contributions is to empirically investigate this relationship with the residual augmented least squares (RALS) augmented Dickey-Fuller ADF for stationarity test and RALS-EG (residual augmented least squares-Engle and Granger) for the long-run steady-state relationship of investigated variables. Together with, fully modified OLS (ordinary least squares) model has been employed to observe the long-run effect and the significance of the investigated variables on environmental sustainability. The results revealed that the long-run relationship exists and the long-run coefficients show statistically significant effects on environmental sustainability. In the long run, urbanization and energy usage degrade the environment and reduce environmental quality, although FDI inflow and gross domestic product (GDP) growth contribute 0.22% and 8.03% to environmental sustainability in Turkey, respectively. The environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis is not valid in this model and U-shaped relationship was found between increasing economic performance and the ecological footprint. The causality results reflect that urbanization has feedback causality with energy use. The study suggests that to achieve sustainable urbanization, policymakers in Turkey should execute well-planned urbanization programs, create an energy conservation policy, and encourage green industries to ensure a sustainable increase in environmental quality for Turkey.

The impact of electric power consumption on economic growth: a case study of Portugal, France, and Finland

Energy plays a vital role in promoting sustainable economic development in complex societies. This study has analyzed the impact of electricity consumption on three European Union member countries' economic growth, i.e., Portugal, France, and Finland, caring structural breaks in cointegration analyses. The empirical results indicate a positive impact of electric power consumption on economic growth in the long and short run in Finland and Portugal and in the long run in France. The findings also highlight the positive and significant role of the labor force in boosting economic growth in the long and short run in France and Finland. However, it shrinks economic growth in the long run in Portugal. The study discloses the positive role of capital in the long run in the case of Portugal. Similar results are found in all three countries in the short run. Moreover, the study diagnoses a bidirectional causal relationship between economic growth and electric power consumption in Finland in the long and short run and in France in the long run. A growth-promoting or electricity-led growth hypothesis is found in Portugal. By simulating the mean values of electric power consumption, economic growth follows an increasing trend in all the countries. Hence, electric power consumption has appeared an essential factor in elevating economic growth in all three selected countries. Based on these results, this study suggests that the provision of electricity supply ventures may be expanded in the selected EU member countries in order to enhance economic growth. The study also suggests that emphasis should be shifted from non-renewable energy sources to renewable energy sources to ensure the provision of clean energy to all the public under the umbrella of sustainable development goals of 2030. Hence, the present study contributes to achieving sustainable economic growth in the selected EU member countries.

The impact of foreign direct investment, tourism, electricity consumption, and economic development on CO2 emissions in Bangladesh

The study's goal is to investigate the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI), tourism, electricity consumption, and economic development on CO₂ emissions in Bangladesh between 1990 and 2019. Empirical results reveal that FDI, electricity consumption, and economic development variables have significant and positive long-term effects on CO₂ emissions. Tourism, on the other hand, has a long-term negative effect. The square of the GDP variable has a substantial negative coefficient. This indicates that in Bangladesh, the nexus between CO₂ emissions and economic development is U-shaped inverted. As a result, the EKC postulate is proven to be correct. In the short term, electricity consumption, economic development, GDP², and tourism have no substantial effect on CO₂ emissions. Only the coefficients of FDI are negative and significant. The expected ECM coefficients are also negative and statistically significant. According to these data, the system as a whole adjusts at a rate of 60%. The Granger causality study reveals one direction of causation between electricity consumption and CO₂ emissions, CO₂ emissions and economic development, electricity consumption and economic development, FDI, and CO₂ emissions.

The role of electricity consumption, capital, labor force, carbon emissions on economic growth: implication for environmental sustainability targets in Nigeria

Despite consistent investments, grants, and other concessions in the power sector, nationwide power outages still remain an issue, even in 2020, disrupting business operations, contributing to huge recurrent expenses on generators and alternative sources of electricity in homes, businesses, and institutions. In this paper, we examine the role of electricity consumption on economic growth, while controlling for labor, capital, and carbon emissions, using the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) and the novel dynamic ARDL (DYNARDL) simulation analysis over the periods 1981-2019. Empirical results show that electricity consumption, capital, and labor exert positive inelastic impacts, while carbon emissions exert negative inelastic significant impact on economic growth within the period under investigation. From policy standpoint, we are of the opinion that stable supply and consumption of electricity can possibly boost economic growth and engender social stability in Nigeria. Thus, there is a need to strengthen the effectiveness of power sector and its energy generating agencies by ensuring periodic replacement of worn-out equipment in terms of adequately financed and efficient labor in order to enhance the contribution of the sector on economic growth, while in terms of environmental degradation, policy makers should work towards promotion of green economy for a sustainable economic growth and environment in Nigeria.

The relevance of EKC hypothesis in energy intensity real-output trade-off for sustainable environment in EU-27

Considering the prevailing wave of global warming and other environmental challenges, which can be attributed to increasing environmental pollution as a result of economic activity, thus, it is essential to understand the effect of economic progress on the environment. More importantly, this endeavor is especially suited for the European Union (EU) member states, which account for a sizable portion of the world economy. However, by considering the open border or trade policy approach of the bloc, this study applies a battery of econometrics analysis that consists of mean group, augmented mean group, common correlated effect mean group estimators, and Dumitrescu and Hurlin causality analysis for direction of causality. These techniques are superior to first-generation methods to substantiate the relationship between real income, energy intensity, and carbon emission between annual frequency data from 1990 to 2017. Empirical results from series of cointegration tests reveal the long-run equilibrium relationship between the highlighted variables in the EU. Our study validates the existence of EKC phenomenon where emphasis is based on GDP growth at the expense of environmental quality. This implies that EU growth trajectory comes with an environmental trade-off and consequences. However, few countries in the region have made substantial strides of carbon reduction but not as a bloc. This position is resonated by the regression from all estimators in harmony where energy intensity dampens environmental quality in the blocs investigated. On the direction of causality, feedback Granger causality is observed running from GDP growth and carbon emission. A similar direction of causality is seen between energy intensity and carbon emission. These outcomes have far-reaching consequences on the environment. This study recommends the need for energy transition to cleaner and friendlier energy technologies by EU officials. That is, the need for a paradigm shift from conventional energy based on fossil fuel to renewable energy should be pursued in the region. More policy directions are outlined in the concluding section.

A Cross-Sectoral Investigation of the Energy–Environment–Economy Causal Nexus in Pakistan: Policy Suggestions for Improved Energy Management

This paper explored the energy–environment–economy (EEE) causal nexus of Pakistan, thereby reporting the causal determinants of the EEE nexus by employing the newly developed modified Peter and Clark (PC) algorithm. The modified PC algorithm was employed to investigate the causal ordering of energy consumption, CO2 emissions and economic growth across Pakistan’s domestic, industrial, transportation and agricultural sectors. An empirical comparison, i.e., following Monte Carlo simulation experiments demonstrates that the proposed modified PC algorithm is superior to the original PC proposition and can differentiate between true and spurious nexus causalities. Our results show that significant causality is running from energy consumption in industrial and agricultural sectors towards economic growth. There is no causal association between energy consumption and economic growth in the domestic and transportation sectors. On the other hand, causality runs from energy consumption in the transportation, domestic and industrial sectors towards CO2 emissions. It is concluded that energy consumption in industrial and agricultural sectors leads to economic growth alongside the associated CO2 emissions. On the other hand, the contribution of domestic and transportation sectors in economic growth is trivial with significant CO2 emissions. This paper provides novel empirical evidence of impacts of energy mismanagement at sectoral levels, economic output and environmental consequences; alongside policy recommendations for sustainable energy-based development on the national scale.

Economic performance of Indonesia amidst CO2 emissions and agriculture: a time series analysis

To minimize the awful situation confronting the entire globe, the global warming danger has raised the intensity of consciousness from all areas of life. Therefore, the research assesses the impact of CO₂ emissions and energy use on economic performance and considers trade openness, urbanization, and agriculture in Indonesia utilizing data covering the period from 1965 to 2019. The current research employed the dynamic ordinary least square (DOLS) and autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) tests to capture the long-run association between these economic indicators. Furthermore, the gradual shift and wavelet coherence tests are utilized to capture the direction of causality. The ARDL bound test discloses a long-run interconnection among the variables of interest. The outcomes of the ARDL and DOLS depict that CO₂ emissions, agriculture, energy use, and urbanization trigger economic growth. Moreover, the wavelet coherence test findings revealed a positive correlation between economic growth and urbanization, CO₂ emissions, agriculture, and energy consumption. Furthermore, there is evidence of a weak and positive correlation between economic growth and trade openness. The gradual shift causality test outcomes disclosed that economic growth can predict urbanization and energy consumption, while agriculture can predict economic growth. These outcomes have far-reaching significance for economic growth and the selected variables in Indonesia.

Rethinking electricity consumption and economic growth nexus in Turkey: environmental pros and cons

The critical role of electricity consumption in influencing and reshaping the economic and environmental landscape of the global economy cannot be underestimated. Electricity is the most beneficial and commonly transformed energy source; however, the strength, weakness, opportunities and threat of its consumption require scientific scrutiny. This study investigates electricity-led growth hypothesis vis-à-vis its impact on economic growth and environmental quality of Turkey. The annual time series data set from 1970 to 2014 were employed in the analysis with a battery of unit root and stationary tests. The equilibrium relationship in the study is explored using Maki and Bayer-Hanck combined cointegration tests under multiple structural breaks along with the Pesaran's ARDL bounds test procedure for robust check. The study confirms the existence of cointegration relationship between electricity consumption, economic growth, capital, labour and ecological footprint. To detect the direction of causal relations, the VECM Granger causality test is employed. The causality analysis provides empirical evidence that supports the electricity-induced growth hypothesis in Turkey. This implies that embarking on conservative energy-efficient policies will slow down Turkey's economic growth. Thus, precautionary measures that ensure adequate policy on energy mix to guarantee availability and accessibility to modern electricity will sustain economic growth and improve environmental sustainability.

Research on multiple effects of fixed-asset investment on energy consumption--by three strata of industry in China

Fixed-asset investment directly affects energy consumption through purchasing and upgrading energy-saving equipment on the one hand, and indirectly affects energy consumption by expanding output scale on the other hand. This paper analyzes the multiple effects of fixed-asset investment on energy consumption by three strata of industry in China during 1991-2017. The econometric methods based on VAR model such as Johansen co-integration test and Granger causality test (linear Granger causality test and non-linear Granger causality test) are utilized to explore the long-run stable equilibrium relationships and causal interactions between fixed-asset investment and energy consumption. And the mediation test is performed by employing the bias-corrected non-parametric percentile bootstrap method combined with causal steps approach to obtain the direct and indirect effects of fixed-asset investment on energy consumption. Our study indicates that there are long-run stable equilibrium relationships between fixed-asset investment and energy consumption by three strata of industry. Bidirectional causalities exist in secondary and tertiary industries between fixed-asset investment and their respective energy consumption, and a unidirectional causality exists in primary industry from fixed-asset investment to energy consumption. The fixed-asset investment in primary industry directly suppresses its energy consumption, while indirectly promotes its energy consumption through its value added. And the fixed-asset investment in secondary industry not only directly promotes its energy consumption but also indirectly promotes its energy consumption through its value added.

A sustainable study of economic growth and development amidst ecological footprint: New insight from Nigerian Perspective

The current study presents the mitigation of Nigerian economic performance and ecological footprint with other selected variables in ascertainment of the contribution of the country in global fight to reduce global warming amidst competitive economic operations. The motivation behind this is due to the fact that the country's economy is majorly relying on two major sectors which are considered as emission-induced sectors. These sectors (petroleum and agricultural sector) are characterized by the excessive utilization of non-renewable sources of energy in operations. The findings from this study, both from the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) and Granger Causality (GC) perspectives aligns with the first stage of the theory (scale effect). Hence, both the economic growth and ecological footprint are increasing in the same pace. Among the findings from the ARDL regression are: a positive relation among income (GDP per capita) and the selected independent variables (ecological footprint, agric, FDI, energy use). Also, a negative relationship is revealed amid income and population of the country The findings from the causality test are: A one-way (Uni-directional) transmission is passed from economic growth (GDP per capita) to ecological footprint, from energy use to ecological footprint, from population to ecological footprint, from economic growth to energy use and from population to economic growth. It is evident that almost all the variables are causing the ecological footprint which aligns with the findings on ARDL regression. This has paved way for a well-articulated policy framing from the authorities of Nigeria with focus on the operations of both petroleum and agriculture. From the findings of this study, a well-structured policy is expected to be framed to curtail the growth based emissions in the Nigeria.

Renewed evidence of environmental sustainability from globalization and energy consumption over economic growth in China

This study is primarily motivated by exploring the role of globalization, energy intensity over economic expansion, and its impact on environmental sustainability in China. To this end, a sequence of econometrics tests were conducted to address this hypothesized relationship. The choice of China is informed by intense industrial activities and being one of the leading world economies. Annual frequency data from 1971 to 2015 is utilized for the current study. Empirical finding from novel and robust Bayer and Hanck combined cointegration test supports cointegration equilibrium relationship among the variables under review. This indicates a convergence between the explanatory variable and the explained variable in the fitted model. Further empirical evidence shows a positive statistically significant relationship between real income, ecological footprint, and globalization index. This outcome is insightful for environmental economists and policymakers. The causality analysis supports the growth-induced energy consumption hypothesis. Based on these revelations, policy direction for the energy sector in China in the face of global interconnectedness is offered in the concluding remark of this study.

Does electricity consumption and globalization increase pollutant emissions? Implications for environmental sustainability target for China

Giving that People's Republic of China is one of the two new frontiers of globalization, the country has continued to contend with the bottleneck of sustaining its economic growth amidst environmental hiccups arising from the drawbacks of globalization and energy consumption. By investigating the challenges of the country's drive toward environmental sustainability, the present study offers a new perspective on the role of electricity consumption and economic growth in a carbon-income function setting. This study also incorporates globalization into CO₂ emissions equation for the experimental period of 1970-2014. Stationarity properties were ascertained by the Zivot and Andrew unit root test under a single structural break. Subsequently, the recent and novel combined cointegration test of Bayer and Hanck (2013) in conjunction with the Pesaran bounds testing approach is used to establish a cointegration relationship among the selected variables. Finally, the modified Wald test of the Toda-Yamamoto Granger causality test is employed to detect the direction of causality flows among the variables. Empirical piece of evidence finds a statistically positive correlation between electricity consumption and economic growth as seen in the long-run regression. This result is also affirmed by the Granger causality test. The test corroborates with the electricity-induced growth hypothesis in the case of China. However, there is an environmental trade-off, as more electricity consumptions spur increased carbon dioxide emissions (CO₂). Our study finds empirical support that globalization reduced pollutant emissions in both the short and long run over our sampled period. Based on these results and outcomes, several policy prescriptions on the energy-income and environment nexus are renders for policymakers. Among such policy recommendations are (a) the need for the diversification of the Chinese energy mix to cleaner energy sources and renewables and (b) the need for decarbonization and adoption of carbon capturing and storage technologies.

Abatement of pollutant emissions in Nigeria: a task before multinational corporations

Following the global alertness and consciousness over the increasing warming and heating on the ground of climate change, over 200 countries including Nigeria have committed themselves in reducing this global phenomenon. Nigeria being among the countries placed with individual country's task and also known as a one-economy operating county because of its oil and gas gifting is subject to investigation of its efforts and result in decarburization of its economy and environment. The oil and gas sector of Nigeria has been identified as the major sector where the heavy utilization of energy is centered on through mining and exploration activities of these foreign companies who have investments and stakes in the main stream sector. This is the major reason of adopting FDI as a major variable to test the performance of the environmental condition of the country. To effectively carry this research, the authors, adopt, cointegration test and the linear ARDL test to unveil the true picture of the foreign investors impact on carbon emission reduction. Among the findings is the positive but not significant interaction between economic growth and carbon emission which infers the capability of the economic operation to initiate the degradation in the environment via pollutant emission. Energy use depicts inducement to carbon emission with positive association with carbon emission. FDI established both negative and positive relationship with carbon emission at initial stage and lag 1 respectively. All the variables point towards carbon emission increase in the country which call for serious attention towards decarburization of the country to fall in line with the agreed policy of Paris formation.

Influence of climate on energy consumption and CO2 emissions: the case of Spain

This paper presents a methodology that allows for calculating the thermal and electric energy consumption together with CO₂ emissions of cities by inhabitant and household based on climate, only making use of publicly available data. With this aim, climate was analysed and cities were classified based on it. The analysis of those cities' energy consumption and CO₂ emissions allowed for drawing conclusions. Once aware of the climate zones in which energy consumption and emissions are higher, these mentioned conclusions could help to take further actions. An index has been defined to facilitate this analysis. This paper shows the case of Spain for illustrative purposes. This type of study has been carried out in some detail in many countries, but not in Spain yet. This paper tries as well to fill the existing gaps in studies that relate climate to thermal and electric energy consumption. For this purpose, it analyses the 145 cities in Spain that have more than 50,000 inhabitants. Knowing all this is essential in all regions and countries. It will allow for taking proper actions for promoting the energy saving and the use of alternative energy sources that reduce CO₂ emissions. According to the study carried out in this paper, the extremer the climate of a city is, the higher the thermal energy consumption is. This consumption decreases in softer climates. However, electric energy consumption is similar in all cities independent of the climate they have. With regard to CO₂ emissions, it was calculated that the higher the energy consumption of a city is, the higher these emissions are.

The criticality of growth, urbanization, electricity and fossil fuel consumption to environment sustainability in Africa

While most African economies are primarily sandwiched with the seemingly unsurmountable task of attaining consistent economic growth and unhindered energy supply, the enormous threat posed by environmental degradation has further complicated the economic and environmental sustainability drive. In this context, the present study examines the effect of economic growth, urbanization, electricity consumption, fossil fuel energy consumption, and total natural resources rent on pollutant emissions in Africa over the period 1980-2014. By employing selected African countries, the current study relies on the Kao and Pedroni cointegration tests to cointegration analysis, the Pesaran's Panel Pooled Mean Group-Autoregressive distributive lag methodology (ARDL-PMG) for long run regression while Dumitrescu and Hurlin (2012) is employed for the detection of causality direction among the outlined variables. The study traces long run equilibrium relationships between examined indicators. The ARDL-PMG results suggest a statistical positive relationship between pollutant emissions and urbanization, electricity consumption and non-renewable energy consumption. Dumitrescu and Hurlin (2012) Granger causality test lends support to the long-run regression results. A bi-directional causality is observed between pollutant emissions, electricity consumption, economic growth and pollutant emissions while a unidirectional causality is apparent between total natural resources rent and pollutant emission. Based on these results, several policy implications for the African continent were suggested. (a) The need for a paradigm shift from fossil fuel sources to renewables is encouraged in the region (b) The need to embrace carbon storage and capturing techniques to decouple pollutant emissions from economic growth on the continent's growth trajectory. Further policy insights are elucidated.

Modeling the dynamic Nexus among coal consumption, pollutant emissions and real income: empirical evidence from South Africa

This study explores the interaction among coal consumption, pollutant emissions, and real income for South Africa in a multivariate setting. To achieve this objective, annual frequency data spanning from 1965 to 2017 is used for analysis. A series of econometrics tests were conducted ranging from stationarity and non-stationarity tests for unit root properties of the variables under consideration. Empirical evidence finds support for the inverted U-shaped pattern between energy consumption and environmental degradation in South Africa. The Toda-Yamamoto Granger causality test shows a feedback causality between economic growth and carbon dioxide emissions, as well as between GDP and coal consumption. All these highlighted findings have inherent environmental implications. Based on these outcomes, policy directions such as diversification of the South Africa energy mix to renewables and cleaner energy sources and also the adoption of carbon capturing and storage techniques were suggested to engender a cleaner and friendlier environment.

Trivariate modelling of the nexus between electricity consumption, urbanization and economic growth in Nigeria: fresh insights from Maki Cointegration and causality tests

In this era of intensive electricity utilization for economic development, the role of urbanization remains inconclusive, especially in developing economies. Here, this study examined the electricity consumption and economic growth nexus in a trivariate framework by incorporating urbanization as an additional variable. Using the recent novel Maki cointegration test, Ng-Perron, Zivot-Andrews, and Kwiatkowski unit root tests along with FMOLS, DOLS and the CCR estimation methods, we relied on an annual frequency data from 1971-2014. Results from FMOLS, DOLS and the CCR regression confirms the electricity consumption-driven economic growth. This is desirable as Nigeria is heavily dependent on energy (electricity) consumption. A unidirectional causality from urbanization to electricity consumption and economic growth was found but the long-run empirical findings revealed urbanization impedes growth - a situation that has policy implications. The study highlights that though urbanization is a good predictor of Nigeria's economic growth, however, the adjustment of the energy portfolio to meet the growing urban demand will curtail the adverse and far-reaching impact of urbanization on the economy.

The conditional relationship between renewable energy and environmental quality in sub-Saharan Africa

This paper complements existing literature by assessing the conditional relationship between renewable energy and environmental quality in a sample of 40 African countries for the period 2002 to 2017. The empirical evidence is based on fixed effects regressions and quantile fixed effects regressions. The findings from both estimation techniques show that renewable energy consistently decreases carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. Moreover, the negative effect is a decreasing function of CO₂ emissions or the negative effect of renewable energy on CO₂ emissions decreases with increasing levels of CO₂ emissions. In other words, countries with higher levels of CO₂ emissions consistently experience a less negative effect compared with their counterparts with lower levels of CO₂ emissions. Policy implications are discussed.

Environmental implication of offshore economic activities in Indonesia: a dual analyses of cointegration and causality

Global warming issues have become a pertinent theme for many economies and policy initiatives. The Indonesian economy is no exception as government officials and stakeholder are working seriously to decouple carbon emission from economic growth. It is on this premise that the present study attempts to investigate the nexus between the environmental implication of offshore economic activities, economic growth, energy use, and environment (CO₂) with the integration of foreign direct investment (FDI) and trade openness over recent time series data from 1980 to 2017. A series of analysis were conducted with Pesaran's autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) methodology and the Granger causality test as estimation techniques over the outlined variables. Empirical findings from ARDL long-run (elasticity) shows that economic growth is significantly positively associated with carbon emissions at the initial stage but a negative association is established at lags 1 and 2. A significant positive relationship is witnessed between economic growth and FDI. Also, statistical positive relationship is observed between economic growth and energy use, while an inverse relationship is observed between openness and economic growth. For causality analysis, we observe that a uni-directional causality is running from economic growth to foreign direct investment at 5% significant level. This outcome is in support of the growth-induced FDI hypothesis in Indonesia. Furthermore, a one-way causality is seen from energy to openness, CO₂ emissions, and from FDI to CO₂ emissions while there is a feedback causality between openness and CO₂ emissions. The findings of this study have implications to the environmental quality of Indonesia via economic growth; hence, the higher and better the economic growth of the country, the lesser the carbon emissions and the better the environmental quality. This proposition aligns with the pollution halo hypothesis (PHH), where FDI inflow enhances economic growth as well as impacts energy consumption and reduces carbon emissions in the host country.

Does agricultural value added induce environmental degradation? Empirical evidence from an agrarian country

This study empirically investigates the agriculture-induced environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis in an agrarian framework. Annual time series data from 1981-2014 was employed using augmented Dickey-Fuller and the Phillips-Perron (PP) unit root test complemented by the Zivot and Andrews unit root that accounts for a single structural break to ascertain stationarity properties of variables under consideration. For the cointegration analysis, an autoregressive distributive lag methodology and the recent novel Bayer and Hanck combined cointegration technique are employed. For the direction of causality, the Granger causality test is used as estimation technique. Empirical findings lend support for the long-run equilibrium relationship among the variables under consideration. This study also validates the inverted U-shaped pattern of EKC for the case of Nigeria, affirming that Nigeria remains at the scale-effect stage of its growth trajectory. Further empirical results show that foreign direct investment attraction helps mitigate carbon emissions in Nigeria. Based on these results, several policy prescriptions on the Nigeria energy mix and agricultural operations in response to quality of the environment were suggested for policymakers, stakeholders, and environmental economists that formulate and design environmental regulations and strategies to realise the goal 7 of sustainable development (SDG).

Ecological footprint, urbanization, and energy consumption in South Africa: including the excluded

The study explores the relationship between ecological footprint, urbanization, and energy consumption by applying the ARDL estimation technique on data spanning 1965-2014 for South Africa. After applying the unit root test that accounts for a break in the data, the Bayer and Hanck (J Time Ser Anal 34:83-95, 2013) combined cointegration test affirms cointegrating relationship among the variables. Findings further reveal that economic growth and financial development exact a deteriorating impact on the environment in the short run. However, the same was not true for both energy use and urbanization. While urbanization and energy use promote environmental quality in the long run, financial development and economic growth degrade it further. The long-run findings of our study are confirmed to be robust as reported by the fully modified OLS (FMOLS), dynamic OLS (DOLS), and the canonical cointegrating regression (CCR) estimates. The direction of causality supports the energy-led growth hypothesis for South Africa. Policy outcomes and directions, and the possibility of promoting sustainable growth without degrading the environment are discussed.

Triangular nexus between foreign direct investment, international tourism, and energy consumption in the Chinese economy: accounting for environmental quality

Recently, China is named among the most carbon dioxide (CO₂)-emitting countries in the world after the United State of America (USA). A major part of Chinese carbon dioxide emissions is as a result of offshore industrial activities which come into the economy as foreign direct investment (FDI). Following this, the present study seeks to investigate the nexus between CO₂ emissions, FDI, energy use, and tourism arrivals, and possibly to advise on who will bear the responsibility of offshore CO₂ emissions. Utilizing ARDL-bound testing and Granger causality approaches for both short- and long-run effects the author found that economic growth (GDP) has a positive relationship with both tourism arrivals, energy use, FDI, and CO₂.This contributes to heavy CO₂ emissions which the author classified as the outsourced/offshore CO₂emissions in China's FDI. Tourism arrivals have a bi-directional (feedback) causal relationship with energy use and a uni-directional causal relationship with CO₂(transmitting from tourism to CO₂). Both FDI and energy use have a bi-directional (feedback) causal relationship; CO₂, energy use, and tourism arrivals have a unidirectional relationship with GDP which established the triangular nexus causality among the variables and the impact on GDP. Hence, the policy implication should be geared towards implementing the policies and regulations that will checkmate and reduce the excesses of foreign firms to the environment quality of China and promote environmentally friendly economic activities.