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The paper examines the relationship between foreign direct investment (FDI) and economic growth in Croatia over the period 2000-2019, based on quarterly data. The research data were retrieved from the Croatian National Bank and Eurostat databases. Two options of time series were considered: (1) logarithm of GDP growth rate and logarithm of FDI and (2) logarithm of GDP growth rate and logarithm of FDI/GDP. The conducted research employed three cointegrations tests: Engle-Granger cointegration test, Johansen cointegration test, bounds cointegration tests (ARDL model). Results of three cointegration tests indicated that there is no long-run equilibrium relationship between quarterly GDP growth rate and any of the FDI series. Lack of long-run equilibrium relationship between GDP growth rate and FDI means also that there is no Granger causality relationship between these series. In other words, FDI have no statistically significant impact on the growth rate of the GDP in Croatia for the period being investigated. This research study has important theoretical and practical implications. One of the possible explanations would be in the type of FDI inflow, mostly brownfield FDI. However, greenfield FDI is the one generating more positive effects on the recipient country and countries should focus their efforts to attract this type of FDI.

This study aims to investigate the effects of information and communication technology (ICT), energy consumption, economic growth, and financial development on carbon dioxide emissions using 1993–2013 panel data from 12 Asian countries. The study employs a panel unit root test accounting for the presence of cross-sectional dependence and found that Internet usage is stationary and carbon dioxide emissions, energy consumption, gross domestic production (GDP), and financial development are first-difference stationary. The results form Pedroni panel cointegration test confirms that the variables are cointegrated. The results of the cointegration test indicate that the ICT-energy-GDP-carbon dioxide emissions nexus has long-run equilibrium. Both energy consumption and GDP have significant, positive impacts on carbon dioxide emissions; energy consumption and GDP have an effect on carbon dioxide emissions growth. ICT has a significantly negative effect on carbon dioxide emissions; the promotion of ICT becomes one of the important strategies introduced to mitigate carbon dioxide emissions for various countries. Causality results show that energy consumption, GDP, and financial development cause more carbon dioxide emissions. Energy consumption, GDP, and carbon dioxide emissions cause ICT. GDP causes financial development, whereas energy consumption and GDP are interdetermined. The feedback hypothesis exists in the region; those countries need to develop alternative energy to replace fossil fuels. ICT does not threaten the environment and ICT policy can be seen as a part of carbon dioxide emissions reduction policy.

This paper analyzes the legitimacy of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis for a group of seven (G7) countries over the period 1995–2015. In addition to testing the EKC speculation, the authors also would like to understand the ways in which increases in renewable energy consumption and the international tourism receipt affect the CO2 emissions in G7 countries, because the energy and tourism sectors may have considerable direct impacts on CO2 emissions. In this investigation, a panel bootstrap cointegration test and an augmented mean group (AMG) estimator were applied. The empirical findings indicate that the tourism-induced EKC hypothesis is valid only for France. Additionally, it was detected that a rise in renewable energy consumption has a negative (reduction) impact on CO2 emissions in France, Italy, the UK, and the US. However, an increase in the receipt of international touristm has a positive (additional) impact on Italy’s CO2 emissions. Hence, this country’s decision-makers should re-review their tourism policy to adopt a renewable-inclusive one for sustainable tourism and the environment.

Many recent studies have focused on the influencing factors of the ecological footprint, but less attention has been given to human capital. Human capital, which is based on education and rate of return on education, may reduce the ecological footprint since environmental issues are human-induced. The current study investigates the impact of human capital on the ecological footprint in India for the period 1971 to 2014. The outcomes of the newly developed combined cointegration test of Bayer and Hanck disclose the long-run equilibrium relationship between variables. The findings reveal a significant negative contribution of human capital to the ecological footprint. The results of the causality test show that human capital Granger causes the ecological footprint without any feedback. In addition, energy consumption adds to the ecological footprint, while the relationship between economic growth and ecological footprint follows an inverted U-shaped pattern. The findings unveil the potential to reduce the ecological footprint by developing human capital.

The role of renewable energy and globalization on ecological footprint is investigated in the USA by controlling for the effects of financial development and real output using quarterly data from 1985:Q1 to 2014:Q4. We apply the minimum Lagrange multiplier unit root test, multiple structural break cointegration test, and autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) estimation approach. The empirical evidence suggests that, in the long run, renewable energy and real output exert negative pressure on ecological footprint while financial development and globalization exert positive pressure on ecological footprint. The short-run results indicate that renewable energy, financial development, real output, and globalization are positively linked to ecological footprint. The vector error correction model Granger causality results, in the long run, divulge that ecological footprint, consumption of renewable energy, real output, and globalization Granger-cause financial development while ecological footprint, renewable energy, financial development, and globalization Granger-cause real output. The results also show that, in the short run, renewable energy and globalization cause ecological footprint and real output causes renewable energy, while renewable energy causes globalization. The finding also reveals that the causality between real output and globalization, as well as globalization and financial development, is bidirectional. Therefore, our findings provide insights for policymakers to consider consumption of renewable energy as a surest way to mitigate carbon dioxide emissions.

Recent economic and environmental literature suggests that the current state of energy use in South Africa amidst rapid growing population is unsustainable. Researchers in this area mostly focus on the effect of fossil energy use on carbon (CO 2 ) emission, which represents only an aspect of environmental quality. In contrast, the current study evaluates the influence of renewable energy use, human capital, and trade on ecological footprint––a more comprehensive measure of environmental quality. To this end, the study employs multiple structural breaks cointegration tests (Maki cointegration tests), dynamic unrestricted error correction model through Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model, and VECM Granger causality tests. The results of the Maki cointegration tests reveal the existence of a cointegration between the variables in all the models with evidence of multiple structural breaks. Further, the ARDL results divulge that an increase in renewable energy use, human capital, and trade improves environmental quality through a decrease in ecological footprint, while an increase in income stimulates ecological footprint. Moreover, causal relationship is found, running from all the variables to renewable energy and trade flow in the long run, while in the short run, economic growth causes ecological footprint. Trade is found to Granger-cause human capital, while human capital causes renewable energy. Additionally, human capital, renewable energy, and economic growth are predictors of trade. The study therefore recommends South African policymakers to consider the importance of renewable energy, human capital development, and trade as a policy option to reduce ecological footprint and improve environmental quality.

This study examined the drivers of environmental degradation and pollution in 17 countries in Africa from 1971 to 2013. The empirical study was analyzed with Westerlund error-correction model and panel cointegration tests with 1000 bootstrapping samples, U-shape test, fixed and random effect estimators, and panel causality test. The investigation of the nexus between environmental pollution economic growth in Africa confirms the validity of the EKC hypothesis in Africa at a turning point of US$ 5702 GDP per capita. However, the nexus between environmental degradation and economic growth reveals a U shape at a lower bound GDP of US$ 101/capita and upper bound GDP of US$ 8050/capita, at a turning point of US$ 7958 GDP per capita, confirming the scale effect hypothesis. The empirical findings revealed that energy consumption, food production, economic growth, permanent crop, agricultural land, birth rate, and fertility rate play a major role in environmental degradation and pollution in Africa, thus supporting the global indicators for achieving the sustainable development goals by 2030.

Johansen's (1988, 1991) likelihood ratio test for cointegration rank of a vector autoregression (VAR) depends only on the squared sample canonical correlations between current changes and past levels of a simple transformation of the data. We study the asymptotic behavior of the empirical distribution of those squared canonical correlations when the number of observations and the dimensionality of the VAR diverge to infinity simultaneously and proportionally. We find that the distribution weakly converges to the so-called Wachter distribution. This finding provides a theoretical explanation for the observed tendency of Johansen's test to find \"spurious cointegration.\"

The ecological consequences of military spending is a hugely neglected area, and a veil of mystery surrounds this topic. The environmental threats posed by militaries remain insufficiently investigated in the name of national security. Prompted by the internal and external conflicts and prolonged military dictatorships, the Pakistani military assumes a role that goes beyond that of a traditional army. The current study addresses this significant gap in the literature by investigating the impacts of military spending on economic growth and the ecological footprint in Pakistan from 1971 to 2016 using the combined cointegration test and the bootstrap causality test. The findings of the study unveil a positive impact of military spending on the ecological footprint, while a negative impact on economic growth. The outcomes of the bootstrap causality test of Hacker and Hatemi-J ( 2012 ) highlight that economic growth Granger causes military spending, while causality runs from military spending to the ecological footprint. Energy consumption contributes to the ecological footprint and economic growth, whereas education expenditures do not influence economic growth and the environment in the long run. Further, the findings suggest a U-shaped link between GDP and footprint in Pakistan. The authorities should focus on resolving external and internal conflicts, on a priority basis, and reduce military spending to improve economic growth and the environment.

Over the past three decades, Pakistan’s energy consumption has surged due to industrialization, population growth, and development activities. To meet the escalating energy demands, the country has primarily relied on thermal power projects, which are financially burdensome and environmentally detrimental, compared to hydropower projects. This reliance exposes Pakistan to global oil price shocks and environmental degradation. To address this dilemma, this empirical research investigates the impact of both non-energy factors (labour and capital) and energy-specific factors (renewable and non-renewable) on Pakistan’s aggregate output, using annual time-series data from 1980 to 2021. The analysis employs the newly established Residual Augmented Least Square (RALS) cointegration test and the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) methodology to estimate the long-term cointegrating relationship among the examined variables. The empirical findings demonstrate that both non-energy and energy-specific factors positively and significantly influence Pakistan’s long-term aggregate output. However, petroleum consumption exerts a positive but insignificant influence on Pakistan’s long-term aggregate output. The study recommends diversifying the energy supply mix to include more hydroelectricity, non-hydroelectric renewables (mainly solar and wind), and natural gas. Specifically, transitioning from imported, expensive, and more greenhouse gas (GHG)-generating petroleum products to domestically produced natural gas could potentially reduce Pakistan’s trade deficit and its vulnerability to global oil price shocks. Besides the economic benefits, shifting from non-renewable energy sources (specifically oil) to renewable energy would enhance Pakistan’s image and increase its geopolitical influence over neighboring countries. Additionally, the study emphasizes the need to encourage private sector participation in renewable energy projects and suggests implementing effective carbon tax policies to mitigate CO 2 emissions and foster economic growth.