Is There a Material Kuznets Curve for Material Footprint? Example of G-7 Countries

The relationship between growth and income distribution was revealed by Kuznets in 1955, and this relationship was applied to different fields over time. In the early 1990s, it was understood that there was a strong relationship between the environment and economic growth, and the Environmental Kuznets Curve approach was proposed. In the following process, many variables representing environmental pollution were modeled separately and the Environmental Kuznets Curve was tested and various Kuznets Curves were brought to the literature. In the last few years, a new one has been added to these and the Material Kuznets Curve approach has started to take place in the literature. The Material Kuznets curve approach suggests that there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between material footprint and per capita gross domestic product. In this respect, it is aimed to test the validity of the material Kuznets curve approach in this study. In order to achieve this purpose, the data of the G-7 countries for the period 1990-2016 are used. In the creation of the model, the material footprint variable is considered as the dependent variable, and environmental pollution for material use is evaluated collectively. Per capita GDP, per capita GDP2 and per capita GDP3 are the selected independent variables. As a result of the Panel Durbin Hausman cointegration test, it is determined that there is no relationship between the variables as Kuznets stated, and thus the material Kuznets curve approach is rejected within the scope of the study.