Symmetric and Asymmetric Impact of Poverty, Income Inequality, and Population on Carbon Emission in Pakistan: New Evidence From ARDL and NARDL Co-Integration

Salim Khan,Wang Yahong

doi:10.3389/fenvs.2021.666362

Abstract

Several researchers have studied the relationship between poverty and environmental degradation, as these concerns are remained at top priority in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, the symmetric and asymmetric impact of poverty and income inequality along with population and economic growth on carbon emissions (CO2e) has not been studied in the case of Pakistan. For this purpose, the short and long-run impact of poverty, income inequality, population, and GDP per capita on CO2e investigated by applying the Autoregressive Distributive Lag (ARDL) along with Non-linear Autoregressive Distributive Lag (NARDL) co-integration approach in the context of Pakistan for period 1971–2015. The symmetric results of the current study show poverty and population density along with GDP per capita increase carbon emissions in both the short and long-run, while income inequality has no impact on carbon emissions in the short-run. While in the long-run the symmetric results show that income inequality weakens environmental degradation in terms of carbon emissions. The analysis of NARDL also supports the results obtained from ARDL and suggests a positive effect of poverty, population, and economic growth on carbon emission in Pakistan. The empirical findings of the current study provide policy implications in light of the United Nation's SDGs for the development of Pakistan.

Highlights

Increasing environmental degradation in terms of carbon dioxide emissions, (CO2e) is a major threat to the quality of the environment and for the sustainable development of many countries
We provide the empirical findings of long-run dynamics as well as short-run dynamics; we used the Autoregressive Distributive Lag (ARDL) approach to quantify the nexus between headcount ratio (HCR) of poverty, income inequality (Gini index), population, GDP per capita, and CO2e for Pakistan
In order to achieve the study objective and sustainable development goals (SDGs) goals, the empirical findings of the current study deliver a significant insight by inspecting the nexus between poverty, income inequality, and CO2e, incorporating population density and economic growth in the model for Pakistan using time-series data from 1971 to 2015

Summary

Introduction

Increasing environmental degradation in terms of carbon dioxide emissions, (CO2e) is a major threat to the quality of the environment and for the sustainable development of many countries. The ongoing concerns for sustainable development have increased over the years as the quality of the environment has declined because of economic activities. Sustainable development and economic growth are supportive to the alleviation of extreme poverty, if they are not associated with environmental degradation and income inequality. From the perspective of underdeveloped nations like Pakistan, the nexus between CO2e and income inequality might decrease poverty, but at the same time, it increases environmental degradation (Grunewald et al, 2017). The association of extreme poverty and income inequality along with population, economic growth and environmental pollution has been overlooked in many countries, in developing countries like South Asia, including Pakistan. Many studies have focused mainly on other environmental issues in the developed countries, while the empirical studies on developing economies like Pakistan, to the extent of past literature reviews, are very few

Methods

Results

Conclusion