IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jrpoli/v67y2020ics0301420720300830.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Moving towards a sustainable environment: The dynamic linkage between natural resources, human capital, urbanization, economic growth, and ecological footprint in China

Author

Listed:
  • Ahmed, Zahoor
  • Asghar, Muhammad Mansoor
  • Malik, Muhammad Nasir
  • Nawaz, Kishwar

Abstract

The relationship between natural resource abundance and environmental degradation has important environmental implications. However, this domain is insufficiently investigated, and diverse findings are evident in the literature. The significant economic growth, along with rapid urbanization and industrialization, has increased the extraction and consumption of natural resources in China. Therefore, this study investigates the effect of natural resources abundance, human capital, and urbanization on the ecological footprint in China, controlling economic growth. The study uses the famous Bayer and Hack cointegration test, and bootstrap causality technique to study cointegration and causal association among variables. The findings of the study confirm the long-run equilibrium relationship among variables. The long-run results reveal that natural resource rent increases the ecological footprint. Urbanization and economic growth contribute to environmental degradation, whereas human capital mitigates environmental deterioration. Interestingly, the interaction between urbanization and human capital helps in alleviating environmental degradation, which indicates a moderating effect of human capital in promoting sustainable urbanization. The estimates of the bootstrap causality method disclose unidirectional causality from natural resources to the ecological footprint. Urbanization also Granger-causes ecological footprint without any feedback. The results are also compared and verified using carbon footprint as an additional proxy for environmental degradation. Lastly, comprehensive policy measures are proposed to improve environmental quality.

Suggested Citation

  • 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).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jrpoli:v:67:y:2020:i:c:s0301420720300830
    DOI: 10.1016/j.resourpol.2020.101677
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301420720300830
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.resourpol.2020.101677?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Robert C. Feenstra & Robert Inklaar & Marcel P. Timmer, 2015. "The Next Generation of the Penn World Table," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(10), pages 3150-3182, October.
    2. Nawaz, Kishwar & Lahiani, Amine & Roubaud, David, 2019. "Natural resources as blessings and finance-growth nexus: A bootstrap ARDL approach in an emerging economy," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 277-287.
    3. Chandran Govindaraju, V.G.R. & Tang, Chor Foon, 2013. "The dynamic links between CO2 emissions, economic growth and coal consumption in China and India," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 310-318.
    4. M. Hashem Pesaran & Yongcheol Shin & Richard J. Smith, 2001. "Bounds testing approaches to the analysis of level relationships," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(3), pages 289-326.
    5. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Khraief, Naceur & Jemaa, Mohamed Mekki Ben, 2015. "On the causal nexus of road transport CO2 emissions and macroeconomic variables in Tunisia: Evidence from combined cointegration tests," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 89-100.
    6. Balsalobre-Lorente, Daniel & Shahbaz, Muhammad & Roubaud, David & Farhani, Sahbi, 2018. "How economic growth, renewable electricity and natural resources contribute to CO2 emissions?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 356-367.
    7. Scott Hacker & Abdulnasser Hatemi‐J, 2012. "A bootstrap test for causality with endogenous lag length choice: theory and application in finance," Journal of Economic Studies, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 39(2), pages 144-160, May.
    8. Toda, Hiro Y. & Yamamoto, Taku, 1995. "Statistical inference in vector autoregressions with possibly integrated processes," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 66(1-2), pages 225-250.
    9. Zameer, Hashim & Yasmeen, Humaira & Wang, Rong & Tao, Jing & Malik, Muhammad Nasir, 2020. "An empirical investigation of the coordinated development of natural resources, financial development and ecological efficiency in China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    10. Wang, Qiang & Wu, Shi-dai & Zeng, Yue-e & Wu, Bo-wei, 2016. "Exploring the relationship between urbanization, energy consumption, and CO2 emissions in different provinces of China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 1563-1579.
    11. Lin, Boqiang & Du, Zhili, 2015. "How China׳s urbanization impacts transport energy consumption in the face of income disparity," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 1693-1701.
    12. 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.
    13. Paresh Kumar Narayan, 2005. "The saving and investment nexus for China: evidence from cointegration tests," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(17), pages 1979-1990.
    14. Narayan, Paresh Kumar & Narayan, Seema, 2010. "Carbon dioxide emissions and economic growth: Panel data evidence from developing countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 661-666, January.
    15. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Chaudhary, A.R. & Ozturk, Ilhan, 2017. "Does urbanization cause increasing energy demand in Pakistan? Empirical evidence from STIRPAT model," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 83-93.
    16. Zallé, Oumarou, 2019. "Natural resources and economic growth in Africa: The role of institutional quality and human capital," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 616-624.
    17. Kishwar Nawaz & Amine Lahiani & David Roubaud, 2019. "Natural resources as blessings and finance-growth nexus: A bootstrap ARDL approach in an emerging economy," Post-Print hal-03532512, HAL.
    18. Jing Lan & Makoto Kakinaka & Xianguo Huang, 2012. "Foreign Direct Investment, Human Capital and Environmental Pollution in China," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 51(2), pages 255-275, February.
    19. Erum, Naila & Hussain, Shahzad, 2019. "Corruption, natural resources and economic growth: Evidence from OIC countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 1-1.
    20. Charfeddine, Lanouar, 2017. "The impact of energy consumption and economic development on Ecological Footprint and CO2 emissions: Evidence from a Markov Switching Equilibrium Correction Model," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 355-374.
    21. 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.
    22. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Raghutla, Chandrashekar & Song, Malin & Zameer, Hashim & Jiao, Zhilun, 2020. "Public-private partnerships investment in energy as new determinant of CO2 emissions: The role of technological innovations in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    23. Zhilin Mu & Shuchun Bu & Bing Xue, 2014. "Environmental Legislation in China: Achievements, Challenges and Trends," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(12), pages 1-13, December.
    24. Christian Bayer & Christoph Hanck, 2013. "Combining non-cointegration tests," Journal of Time Series Analysis, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(1), pages 83-95, January.
    25. R. Scott Hacker & Abdulnasser Hatemi-J, 2006. "Tests for causality between integrated variables using asymptotic and bootstrap distributions: theory and application," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(13), pages 1489-1500.
    26. Wang, Rong & Zameer, Hashim & Feng, Yue & Jiao, Zhilun & Xu, Li & Gedikli, Ayfer, 2019. "Revisiting Chinese resource curse hypothesis based on spatial spillover effect: A fresh evidence," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    27. Zafar, Muhammad Wasif & Zaidi, Syed Anees Haider & Khan, Naveed R. & Mirza, Faisal Mehmood & Hou, Fujun & Kirmani, Syed Ali Ashiq, 2019. "The impact of natural resources, human capital, and foreign direct investment on the ecological footprint: The case of the United States," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 1-1.
    28. Destek, Mehmet Akif & Ulucak, Recep & Dogan, Eyüp, 2018. "Analyzing the Environmental Kuznets Curve for the EU countries: The role of ecological footprint," MPRA Paper 106882, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    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. Syed Tauseef Hassan & Enjun Xia & Chien-Chiang Lee, 2021. "Mitigation pathways impact of climate change and improving sustainable development: The roles of natural resources, income, and CO2 emission," Energy & Environment, , vol. 32(2), pages 338-363, March.
    2. Solomon Prince Nathaniel & Festus Bekun & Alimshan Faizulayev, 2021. "Modelling the Impact of Energy Consumption, Natural Resources, and Urbanization on Ecological Footprint in South Africa: Assessing the Moderating Role of Human Capital," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 11(3), pages 130-139.
    3. Liu, Yaping & Sadiq, Farah & Ali, Wajahat & Kumail, Tafazal, 2022. "Does tourism development, energy consumption, trade openness and economic growth matters for ecological footprint: Testing the Environmental Kuznets Curve and pollution haven hypothesis for Pakistan," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 245(C).
    4. Pata, Ugur Korkut & Caglar, Abdullah Emre, 2021. "Investigating the EKC hypothesis with renewable energy consumption, human capital, globalization and trade openness for China: Evidence from augmented ARDL approach with a structural break," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    5. Pata, Ugur Korkut & Isik, Cem, 2021. "Determinants of the load capacity factor in China: A novel dynamic ARDL approach for ecological footprint accounting," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    6. Nathaniel Solomon Prince, 2021. "Natural Resources, Urbanisation, Economic Growth and the Ecological Footprint in South Africa: The Moderating Role of Human Capital," Quaestiones Geographicae, Sciendo, vol. 40(2), pages 63-76, June.
    7. Pata, Ugur Korkut & Ertugrul, Hasan Murat, 2023. "Do the Kyoto Protocol, geopolitical risks, human capital and natural resources affect the sustainability limit? A new environmental approach based on the LCC hypothesis," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    8. Zhou, Runyu & Abbasi, Kashif Raza & Salem, Sultan & Almulhim, Abdulaziz.I. & Alvarado, Rafael, 2022. "Do natural resources, economic growth, human capital, and urbanization affect the ecological footprint? A modified dynamic ARDL and KRLS approach," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    9. Chen, Huihui & Rehman, Mubeen Abdur & Luo, Jia & Ali, Madad, 2022. "Dynamic influence of natural resources, financial integration and eco-innovation on ecological sustainability in EKC framework: Fresh insights from China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    10. Zafar, Muhammad Wasif & Zaidi, Syed Anees Haider & Khan, Naveed R. & Mirza, Faisal Mehmood & Hou, Fujun & Kirmani, Syed Ali Ashiq, 2019. "The impact of natural resources, human capital, and foreign direct investment on the ecological footprint: The case of the United States," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 1-1.
    11. Ahmad, Fayyaz & Draz, Muhammad Umar & Chang, Wei-Yew & Yang, Su-Chang & Su, Lijuan, 2021. "More than the resource curse: Exploring the nexus of natural resource abundance and environmental quality in northwestern China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    12. Yasmeen, Humaira & Tan, Qingmei & Zameer, Hashim & Vo, Xuan Vinh & Shahbaz, Muhammad, 2021. "Discovering the relationship between natural resources, energy consumption, gross capital formation with economic growth: Can lower financial openness change the curse into blessing," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    13. Yongming Wang & Irfan Uddin & Yingmei Gong, 2021. "Nexus between Natural Resources and Environmental Degradation: Analysing the Role of Income Inequality and Renewable Energy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-20, July.
    14. Muntasir Murshed & Mohamed Elheddad & Rizwan Ahmed & Mohga Bassim & Ei Thuzar Than, 2022. "Foreign Direct Investments, Renewable Electricity Output, and Ecological Footprints: Do Financial Globalization Facilitate Renewable Energy Transition and Environmental Welfare in Bangladesh?," Asia-Pacific Financial Markets, Springer;Japanese Association of Financial Economics and Engineering, vol. 29(1), pages 33-78, March.
    15. Muhammad Zahid Rafique & Abdul Majeed Nadeem & Wanjun Xia & Majid Ikram & Hafiz Muhammad Shoaib & Umer Shahzad, 2022. "Does economic complexity matter for environmental sustainability? Using ecological footprint as an indicator," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 4623-4640, April.
    16. Cui, Lianbiao & Weng, Shimei & Nadeem, Abdul Majeed & Rafique, Muhammad Zahid & Shahzad, Umer, 2022. "Exploring the role of renewable energy, urbanization and structural change for environmental sustainability: Comparative analysis for practical implications," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 215-224.
    17. Zahoor Ahmed & Hoang Phong Le & Syed Jawad Hussain Shahzad, 2022. "Toward environmental sustainability: how do urbanization, economic growth, and industrialization affect biocapacity in Brazil?," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(10), pages 11676-11696, October.
    18. Guan, Jialin & Kirikkaleli, Dervis & Bibi, Ayesha & Zhang, Weike, 2020. "Natural resources rents nexus with financial development in the presence of globalization: Is the “resource curse” exist or myth?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    19. Özlem Karadağ Albayrak & Samet Topal & Serhat Çamkaya, 2022. "The Impact of Economic Growth, Renewable Energy, Non-renewable Energy and Trade Openness on the Ecological Footprint and Forecasting in Turkiye: an Case of the ARDL and NMGM Forecasting Model," Alphanumeric Journal, Bahadir Fatih Yildirim, vol. 10(2), pages 139-154, December.
    20. Shakoor Ahmed & Khorshed Alam & Afzalur Rashid & Jeff Gow, 2020. "Militarisation, Energy Consumption, CO2 Emissions and Economic Growth in Myanmar," Defence and Peace Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(6), pages 615-641, August.

    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:eee:jrpoli:v:67:y:2020:i:c:s0301420720300830. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/30467 .

    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.