Investigating the EKC hypothesis for China: the role of economic complexity on ecological footprint

Yilanci, Veli; Pata, Uğur Korkut

doi:10.1007/s11356-020-09434-4

Research Article
Published: 08 June 2020

Investigating the EKC hypothesis for China: the role of economic complexity on ecological footprint

Environmental Science and Pollution Research volume 27, pages 32683–32694 (2020)Cite this article

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Abstract

This empirical study aims to test the validity of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis for China within the framework of (Narayan and Narayan Energy Policy 38(1):661–666, 2010) approach. To this end, the study employs a recently developed Fourier ARDL procedure and time-varying causality test over the period 1965–2016 to analyze the short- and long-term relationships between economic growth, economic complexity index, energy consumption, and ecological footprint. The findings of the Fourier ARDL procedure confirm the existence of cointegration among the series. Moreover, the results of this study demonstrate that energy consumption and ecological complexity increase ecological footprint in both the short- and long term. However, the short-term elasticity of economic growth is smaller than the long-term elasticity, implying that the EKC hypothesis is not valid for China. This finding is robust as it is confirmed by the time-varying causality test. The overall results illustrate that economic complexity has an increasing impact on ecological footprint, and economic growth is not effective to solve environmental problems in China. Therefore, the Chinese government should encourage a more environmentally friendly production process and cleaner technologies in exports to reduce environmental pollution.

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Faculty of Political Sciences, Department of Econometrics, Sakarya University, Esentepe Campus, Serdivan, 54050, Sakarya, Turkey
Veli Yilanci
Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of Economics, Osmaniye Korkut Ata University, 80000, Osmaniye, Turkey
Uğur Korkut Pata

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Table 3 Unit root test results

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Yilanci, V., Pata, U.K. Investigating the EKC hypothesis for China: the role of economic complexity on ecological footprint. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27, 32683–32694 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-09434-4

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Received: 06 April 2020
Accepted: 25 May 2020
Published: 08 June 2020
Issue Date: September 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-09434-4

Keywords

EKC hypothesis
Economic complexity
Economic growth
Bootstrap FARDL
Time-varying causality
China

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