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Analysis of income inequality and environmental pollution in BRICS using fresh asymmetric approach

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Abstract

With rapid economic growth, BRICS is facing enormous burdens of carbon emission and severe issues of income inequality. However, behind this economic success, the BRICS economies also face few thoughtful challenges to improve environmental quality by catching up the sustainable development goals. Consequently, the existing empirical research is concerned with the dynamic links between income inequality and CO2 emissions by using the novel nonlinear ARDL approach, but small attention has been paid to the BRICS in literature. Therefore, we observed that a negative and positive change in income inequality has positive effect on CO2 emissions in Russia and South Africa in the long run, although a positive change in income inequality has positive effects on CO2 emissions in Brazil, Russia, and China, while a negative change in income inequality has negative effect on CO2 emissions in India, Brazil, and Russia in the short run. Hence, the findings value specific attention from policymakers in BRICS economies.

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Availability of data and materials

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. China Center for Special Economic Zone Research, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China

    Weijun Zhao

  2. Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing, China

    Muhammad Hafeez

  3. Department of Management Sciences, Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering and Information Technology, Rahim Yar Khan, Pakistan

    Adnan Maqbool

  4. School of Economics, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan

    Sana Ullah

  5. Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), Islamabad, Pakistan

    Sidra Sohail

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  1. Weijun Zhao
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  2. Muhammad Hafeez
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  3. Adnan Maqbool
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  4. Sana Ullah
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  5. Sidra Sohail
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Contributions

This idea was given by Weijun Zhao. Muhammad Hafeez, Sana Ullah, and Adnan Maqbool analyzed the data and wrote the complete paper. Sidra Sohail read and approved the final version.

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Correspondence to Weijun Zhao or Sidra Sohail.

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Zhao, W., Hafeez, M., Maqbool, A. et al. Analysis of income inequality and environmental pollution in BRICS using fresh asymmetric approach. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 51199–51209 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-14209-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-14209-6

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