Abstract

PurposeThe environmental deterioration has become one of the most economically consequential and charged topics. Numerous scholars have examined the driving factors failing to consider the structural breaks. This study aims to explore sustainability using the per capita ecological footprints (EF) as an indicator of environmental adversities and controlling the resources rent [(natural resources (NR)], labor capital (LC), urbanization (UR) and per capita economic growth [gross domestic product (GDP)] of China.Design/methodology/approachThrough the analysis of the long- and short-run effects with an autoregressive distributed lag model (ARDL), structural break based on BP test and Granger causality test based on vector error correction model (VECM), empirical evidence is provided for the policies formulation of sustainable development.FindingsThe long-run equilibrium between the EF and GDP, NR, UR and LC is proved. In the long run, an environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) relationship existed, but China is still in the rising stage of the curve; there is a positive relationship between the EF and NR, indicating a resource curse; the UR is also unsustainable. The LC is the most favorable factor for sustainable development. In the short term, only the lagged GDP has an inhibitory effect on the EF. Besides, all explanatory variables are Granger causes of the EF.Originality/valueA novel attempt is made to examine the long-term equilibrium and short-term dynamics under the prerequisites that the structural break points with its time and frequencies were examined by BP test and ARDL and VECM framework and the validity of the EKC hypothesis is tested.

Highlights

  • Due to the lack of anticipation of the negative effects of highly developed industry and unfavorable prevention, three major global crises have been caused, namely, resource shortage, environmental pollution and ecological damage

  • According to the suggestion of Perron (Pesaran et al, 2010), the number and time of break of the ecological footprints (EF) series are judged by the sequence statistics of SupF(1)

  • The results demonstrate that there are two structural break points in the EF series and the time was between 1992 and 2003, respectively

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Summary

Introduction

Due to the lack of anticipation of the negative effects of highly developed industry and unfavorable prevention, three major global crises have been caused, namely, resource shortage, environmental pollution and ecological damage. In this context, sustainable development has become a worldwide concern (Zanten and Tulder, 2020). The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode

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