Thriving or Declining? Unraveling Corruption, Environmental Quality, Energy Consumption, and Economic Growth in ASEAN Countries

Abstract

The current study is carried out to explore the link between Corruption,Environment quality. Energy consumption and economic growth in selectedAsean countries. In addition to that, the present study aims to highlight thedirect impacts of corruption upon environmental degradation, energyconsumption, and economic progress. For this purpose, the analyticalframework has been particularly used. Theoretically, environmental quality isexpected to be directly influenced by corruption using taxation andregulations, while corruption affects economic growth which in turn affectsthe quality of environment. Therefore, economic growth is negativelyinfluenced by the levels of corruptions. The higher the levels of corruption thelower will be the GDP level of an economy. This lower GDP level theninfluences the environmental quality, and thus confirms the EKC hypothesis.This paper has employed cointegration model for analyzing the associationbetween environmental quality, energy consumption, corruption, andeconomic growth for the data involving 5 ASEAN countries i.e. Malaysia,Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, and Indonesia for the years 1960-2021. Theliterature review has shown no empirical study that have employedcointegration model for examining the effects of corruption on energyconsumption, environmental quality, and economic growth. The findings ofthe study are in line with the proposed hypothesis. The study which is amongthe pioneering studies will be helpful for policymakers and researchers.