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A New Look at the Democracy–Environment Nexus: Evidence from Panel Data for High- and Low-Income Countries

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  • Soohyeon Kim

    (Department of Energy Systems Engineering, College of Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea)

  • Jungho Baek

    (Department of Economics, School of Management, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775, USA)

  • Eunnyeong Heo

    (Department of Energy Systems Engineering, College of Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea)

Abstract

This study is to investigate whether the multifaceted roles of democracy have a positive relationship with environmental quality. Using a panel data of 132 high- and low-income countries from 2014 to 2016, a random effect (RE) model is analyzed in comparison with cross-sectional analysis. To pursue the current research thoroughly, five elements of democracy that encompass the aspects of democratic institutions (election system, civil liberties, and government function) and the aspects of democratic culture (political participation and political culture) are selected. We find that elements of democracy are positively correlated with the environment in high-income countries. In low-income countries, on the other hand, it is found that the role of democracy in explaining the environmental quality appears to be very weak; only the effect of government function positively relates with the environment.

Suggested Citation

  • Soohyeon Kim & Jungho Baek & Eunnyeong Heo, 2019. "A New Look at the Democracy–Environment Nexus: Evidence from Panel Data for High- and Low-Income Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-14, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:8:p:2353-:d:224300
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Neslihan Ursavaş, 2022. "The Impact of Democracy on Environmental Degradation in OECD Countries," EKOIST Journal of Econometrics and Statistics, Istanbul University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 0(37), pages 213-235, December.
    2. Hyunsoo Kang, 2022. "An Analysis of the Relationship between Energy Trilemma and Economic Growth," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-23, March.
    3. Faqeer Muhammad & Anwar Khan & Jamal Hussain & Tasawar Baig & Saadia Baig, 2024. "Influence of Military Expenditures, Industrial Growth, and Financial Development on Economic Growth, and Environment in Heterogeneous Political Regimes in Pakistan," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(1), pages 2439-2459, March.
    4. Koçak, Emrah & Önderol, Seyit & Khan, Kamran, 2021. "Structural change, modernization, total factor productivity, and natural resources sustainability: An assessment with quantile and non-quantile estimators," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).

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