IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i11p5866-d560588.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Do Economic Policy Uncertainty and Geopolitical Risk Lead to Environmental Degradation? Evidence from Emerging Economies

Author

Listed:
  • Muhammad Khalid Anser

    (School of Public Administration, Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi’an 710055, China)

  • Qasim Raza Syed

    (National Tariff Commission, Ministry of Commerce, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan)

  • Hooi Hooi Lean

    (Economics Program, School of Social Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang 11800, Malaysia)

  • Andrew Adewale Alola

    (Department of Economics and Finance, Istanbul Gelisim University, Istanbul 34310, Turkey
    Department of Financial Technologies, South Ural State University, 454080 Chelyabinsk, Russia)

  • Munir Ahmad

    (School of Economics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310000, China)

Abstract

Since the turn of twenty first century, economic policy uncertainty (EPU) and geopolitical risk (GPR) have escalated across the globe. These two factors have both economic and environmental impacts. However, there exists dearth of literature that expounds the impact of EPU and GPR on environmental degradation. This study, therefore, probes the impact of EPU and GPR on ecological footprint (proxy for environmental degradation) in selected emerging economies. Cross-sectional dependence test, slope heterogeneity test, Westerlund co-integration test, fully modified least ordinary least square estimator, dynamic OLS estimator, and augmented mean group estimator are employed to conduct the robust analyses. The findings reveal that EPU and non-renewable energy consumption escalate ecological footprint, whereas GPR and renewable energy plunge ecological footprint. In addition, findings from the causality test reveal both uni-directional and bi-directional causality between a few variables. Based on the findings, we deduce several policy implications to accomplish the sustainable development goals in emerging economies.

Suggested Citation

  • Muhammad Khalid Anser & Qasim Raza Syed & Hooi Hooi Lean & Andrew Adewale Alola & Munir Ahmad, 2021. "Do Economic Policy Uncertainty and Geopolitical Risk Lead to Environmental Degradation? Evidence from Emerging Economies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-15, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:11:p:5866-:d:560588
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/11/5866/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/11/5866/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dario Caldara & Matteo Iacoviello, 2022. "Measuring Geopolitical Risk," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 112(4), pages 1194-1225, April.
    2. Ehsan Rasoulinezhad & Farhad Taghizadeh-Hesary & Jinsok Sung & Nisit Panthamit, 2020. "Geopolitical Risk and Energy Transition in Russia: Evidence from ARDL Bounds Testing Method," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-17, March.
    3. Su, Chi-Wei & Khan, Khalid & Tao, Ran & Nicoleta-Claudia, Moldovan, 2019. "Does geopolitical risk strengthen or depress oil prices and financial liquidity? Evidence from Saudi Arabia," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    4. Eberhardt, Markus & Teal, Francis, 2008. "Modeling technology and technological change in manufacturing: how do countries differ?," MPRA Paper 10690, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Pesaran, M. Hashem, 2015. "Time Series and Panel Data Econometrics," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198759980, Decembrie.
    6. Qing Wang & Kefeng Xiao & Zhou Lu, 2020. "Does Economic Policy Uncertainty Affect CO 2 Emissions? Empirical Evidence from the United States," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-11, November.
    7. Simplice A. Asongu & Mary Oluwatoyin Agboola & Andrew Adewale Alola & Festus Victor Bekun, 2019. "The criticality of growth, urbanization, electricity and fossil fuel consumption to environment sustainability in Africa," Working Papers 19/093, European Xtramile Centre of African Studies (EXCAS).
    8. Wei-Fong Pan, 2019. "Geopolitical Risk and R&D investment," Economics Discussion Papers em-dp2019-11, Department of Economics, University of Reading.
    9. Hashem Pesaran, M. & Yamagata, Takashi, 2008. "Testing slope homogeneity in large panels," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 142(1), pages 50-93, January.
    10. Scott R. Baker & Nicholas Bloom & Steven J. Davis, 2016. "Measuring Economic Policy Uncertainty," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 131(4), pages 1593-1636.
    11. Kang, Wensheng & Lee, Kiseok & Ratti, Ronald A., 2014. "Economic policy uncertainty and firm-level investment," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 39(PA), pages 42-53.
    12. Sharif, Arshian & Baris-Tuzemen, Ozge & Uzuner, Gizem & Ozturk, Ilhan & Sinha, Avik, 2020. "Revisiting the role of renewable and non-renewable energy consumption on Turkey’s ecological footprint: Evidence from Quantile ARDL approach," MPRA Paper 100044, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. M. Hashem Pesaran, 2007. "A simple panel unit root test in the presence of cross-section dependence," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(2), pages 265-312.
    14. Bagliani, Marco & Bravo, Giangiacomo & Dalmazzone, Silvana, 2008. "A consumption-based approach to environmental Kuznets curves using the ecological footprint indicator," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 650-661, April.
    15. Joakim Westerlund, 2007. "Testing for Error Correction in Panel Data," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 69(6), pages 709-748, December.
    16. Charfeddine, Lanouar & Mrabet, Zouhair, 2017. "The impact of economic development and social-political factors on ecological footprint: A panel data analysis for 15 MENA countries," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 138-154.
    17. Ahmed, Zahoor & Asghar, Muhammad Mansoor & Malik, Muhammad Nasir & Nawaz, Kishwar, 2020. "Moving towards a sustainable environment: The dynamic linkage between natural resources, human capital, urbanization, economic growth, and ecological footprint in China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    18. Dumitrescu, Elena-Ivona & Hurlin, Christophe, 2012. "Testing for Granger non-causality in heterogeneous panels," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 1450-1460.
    19. Zahoor Ahmed & Muhammad Mansoor Asghar & Muhammad Nasir Malik & Kishwar Nawaz, 2020. "Moving towards a sustainable environment: The dynamic linkage between natural resources, human capital, urbanization, economic growth, and ecological footprint in China," Post-Print hal-03557938, HAL.
    20. Pesaran, M. Hashem & Vanessa Smith, L. & Yamagata, Takashi, 2013. "Panel unit root tests in the presence of a multifactor error structure," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 175(2), pages 94-115.
    21. Yu, Jian & Shi, Xunpeng & Guo, Dongmei & Yang, Longjian, 2021. "Economic policy uncertainty (EPU) and firm carbon emissions: Evidence using a China provincial EPU index," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    22. Eyup Dogan & Nigar Taspinar & Korhan K Gokmenoglu, 2019. "Determinants of ecological footprint in MINT countries," Energy & Environment, , vol. 30(6), pages 1065-1086, September.
    23. Al-Mulali, Usama & Ozturk, Ilhan, 2015. "The effect of energy consumption, urbanization, trade openness, industrial output, and the political stability on the environmental degradation in the MENA (Middle East and North African) region," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 382-389.
    24. Kang, Wensheng & Ratti, Ronald A., 2013. "Oil shocks, policy uncertainty and stock market return," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 305-318.
    25. Adams, Samuel & Adedoyin, Festus & Olaniran, Eniola & Bekun, Festus Victor, 2020. "Energy consumption, economic policy uncertainty and carbon emissions; causality evidence from resource rich economies," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 179-190.
    26. Baltagi, Badi H., 2015. "The Oxford Handbook of Panel Data," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199940042, Decembrie.
    27. Lee, Chien-Chiang, 2005. "Energy consumption and GDP in developing countries: A cointegrated panel analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 415-427, May.
    28. Ying Chen & Xiaoqian Shen & Li Wang, 2021. "The Heterogeneity Research of the Impact of EPU on Environmental Pollution: Empirical Evidence Based on 15 Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-13, April.
    29. Farhani, Sahbi & Shahbaz, Muhammad & AROURI, Mohamed El Hedi, 2013. "Panel analysis of CO2 emissions, GDP, energy consumption, trade openness and urbanization for MENA countries," MPRA Paper 49258, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 20 Aug 2013.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dao, Ngoc Bich & Truong, Huong Hoang Diep & Shahbaz, Muhammad & Chu, Lan Khanh, 2024. "The impacts of natural resources rents diversification, uncertainty, and environmental technologies on ecological sustainability: Empirical evidence from OECD countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    2. Riti, Joshua Sunday & Shu, Yang & Riti, Miriam-Kamah J., 2022. "Geopolitical risk and environmental degradation in BRICS: Aggregation bias and policy inference," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    3. Muhammad Sadiq & Syed Tauseef Hassan & Irfan Khan & Mohammad Mafizur Rahman, 2024. "Policy uncertainty, renewable energy, corruption and CO2 emissions nexus in BRICS-1 countries: a panel CS-ARDL approach," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(8), pages 21595-21621, August.
    4. Alvarado, Rafael & Tillaguango, Brayan & Murshed, Muntasir & Ochoa-Moreno, Santiago & Rehman, Abdul & Işık, Cem & Alvarado-Espejo, Johana, 2022. "Impact of the informal economy on the ecological footprint: The role of urban concentration and globalization," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 750-767.
    5. Uzar, Umut, 2024. "The dynamic effect of income distribution, natural resources, and freedom of press on ecological footprint: Theory and empirical evidence for emerging economies," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    6. Mahmood, Ahmad & Zahoor, Ahmed & Xiyue, Yang & Nazim, Hussain & Sinha, Avik, 2021. "Financial development and environmental degradation: Do human capital and institutional quality make a difference?," MPRA Paper 110039, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2021.
    7. Lian Xue & Mohammad Haseeb & Haider Mahmood & Tarek Tawfik Yousef Alkhateeb & Muntasir Murshed, 2021. "Renewable Energy Use and Ecological Footprints Mitigation: Evidence from Selected South Asian Economies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-20, February.
    8. Chen, Jie & Huang, Shoujun & Kamran, Hafiz Waqas, 2023. "Empowering sustainability practices through energy transition for sustainable development goal 7: The role of energy patents and natural resources among European Union economies through advanced panel," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    9. Jahanger, Atif & Usman, Muhammad & Kousar, Rakhshanda & Balsalobre-Lorente, Daniel, 2023. "Implications for optimal abatement path through the deployment of natural resources, human development, and energy consumption in the era of digitalization," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(PB).
    10. Ahmad, Mahmood & Jiang, Ping & Majeed, Abdul & Umar, Muhammad & Khan, Zeeshan & Muhammad, Sulaman, 2020. "The dynamic impact of natural resources, technological innovations and economic growth on ecological footprint: An advanced panel data estimation," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    11. Liu, Haiying & Alharthi, Majed & Atil, Ahmed & Zafar, Muhammad Wasif & Khan, Irfan, 2022. "A non-linear analysis of the impacts of natural resources and education on environmental quality: Green energy and its role in the future," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    12. Safi, Adnan & Haseeb, Muhammad & Islam, Madeeha & Umar, Muhammad, 2023. "Can sustainable resource management overcome geopolitical risk?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 87(PB).
    13. Perekunah B. Eregha & Solomon P. Nathaniel & Xuan Vinh Vo, 2023. "Economic growth, environmental regulations, energy use, and ecological footprint linkage in the Next-11 countries: Implications for environmental sustainability," Energy & Environment, , vol. 34(5), pages 1327-1347, August.
    14. Qamruzzaman, Md & Karim, Salma & Jahan, Ishrat, 2022. "Nexus between economic policy uncertainty, foreign direct investment, government debt and renewable energy consumption in 13 top oil importing nations: Evidence from the symmetric and asymmetric inves," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 195(C), pages 121-136.
    15. Hassan, Hassan & Tian, Shanwu & Safi, Adnan & Umar, Muhammad, 2024. "Climate commitments and financial moderation: A deep dive into renewable energy's influence on OECD carbon footprints," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 1484-1495.
    16. Aladejare, Samson Adeniyi, 2022. "Natural resource rents, globalisation and environmental degradation: New insight from 5 richest African economies," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    17. Malayaranjan Sahoo & Narayan Sethi, 2022. "The dynamic impact of urbanization, structural transformation, and technological innovation on ecological footprint and PM2.5: evidence from newly industrialized countries," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 4244-4277, March.
    18. Liu, Haiying & Saleem, Muhammad Mansoor & Al-Faryan, Mamdouh Abdulaziz Saleh & Khan, Irfan & Zafar, Muhammad Wasif, 2022. "Impact of governance and globalization on natural resources volatility: The role of financial development in the Middle East North Africa countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    19. Li, Xuelin & Yang, Lin, 2023. "Natural resources, remittances and carbon emissions: A Dutch Disease perspective with remittances for South Asia," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PB).
    20. Feng, Yanchao & Sabir, Saeed Ahmad & Quddus, Abdul & Wang, Jianxin & Abbas, Shujaat, 2024. "Do the grey clouds of geopolitical risk and political globalization exacerbate environmental degradation? Evidence from resource-rich countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:11:p:5866-:d:560588. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.