IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/endesu/v26y2024i11d10.1007_s10668-023-03844-3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Is FDI inflow bad for environmental sustainability?

Author

Listed:
  • Lyubov Tsoy

    (Sogang University)

  • Almas Heshmati

    (Jönköping University)

Abstract

In the last few years, discussions and debates around environmental sustainability have become a key goal of the global agenda. This is because the latest studies and our direct experiences of the consequences of environmental degradation and climate change are showing that economic models need some urgent changes. The goal of this paper was to investigate the effects of foreign direct investment (FDI) flow on environmental sustainability globally. The balanced panel data of 100 countries from 2000 to 2020 were used for empirical analysis to understand the relationship between FDI inflow and environmental performance index (EPI) for countries with different income levels. The estimation is made using the two-step system GMM model as it gives more robust and efficient results in this study. The results of the dynamic panel model do not support the pollution haven hypothesis, i.e., FDI inflow was not found to have any statistically significant effect on EPI. The findings of the paper suggest that to improve environmental quality globally, it is important for governments to invest more in renewable energy projects as clean energy consumption can be one of the most efficient solutions for reducing the impact of climate change. Moreover, countries need to reduce the unemployment rate as it significantly improves the environmental quality according to our estimation results.

Suggested Citation

  • Lyubov Tsoy & Almas Heshmati, 2024. "Is FDI inflow bad for environmental sustainability?," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(11), pages 28843-28858, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:endesu:v:26:y:2024:i:11:d:10.1007_s10668-023-03844-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s10668-023-03844-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10668-023-03844-3
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10668-023-03844-3?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. de Mello, Luiz R, Jr, 1999. "Foreign Direct Investment-Led Growth: Evidence from Time Series and Panel Data," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 51(1), pages 133-151, January.
    2. Singhania, Monica & Saini, Neha, 2021. "Demystifying pollution haven hypothesis: Role of FDI," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 516-528.
    3. B. Jugurnath & A. Emrith, 2018. "Impact Of Foreign Direct Investment On Environment Degradation: Evidence From SIDS Countries," Journal of Developing Areas, Tennessee State University, College of Business, vol. 52(2), pages 13-26, April-Jun.
    4. Muhammad Shahbaz & Smile Dube & Ilhan Ozturk & Abdul Jalil, 2015. "Testing the Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis in Portugal," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 5(2), pages 475-481.
    5. Meyer, Andrew, 2016. "Is unemployment good for the environment?," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 18-30.
    6. Zafar, Muhammad Wasif & Shahbaz, Muhammad & Sinha, Avik & Sengupta, Tuhin & Qin, Quande, 2020. "How Renewable Energy Consumption Contribute to Environmental Quality? The Role of Education in OECD Countries," MPRA Paper 100259, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 08 May 2020.
    7. Lee, Jung Wan, 2013. "The contribution of foreign direct investment to clean energy use, carbon emissions and economic growth," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 483-489.
    8. Baek, Jungho, 2016. "A new look at the FDI–income–energy–environment nexus: Dynamic panel data analysis of ASEAN," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 22-27.
    9. Baek , Jungho & Koo , Won W., 2009. "A Dynamic Approach to the FDI-Environment Nexus: The Case of China and India," East Asian Economic Review, Korea Institute for International Economic Policy, vol. 13(2), pages 87-106, December.
    10. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Nasreen, Samia & Abbas, Faisal & Anis, Omri, 2015. "Does foreign direct investment impede environmental quality in high-, middle-, and low-income countries?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 275-287.
    11. Albulescu, Claudiu Tiberiu & Tiwari, Aviral Kumar & Yoon, Seong-Min & Kang, Sang Hoon, 2019. "FDI, income, and environmental pollution in Latin America: Replication and extension using panel quantiles regression analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    12. Haeyeon Yoon & Almas Heshmati, 2021. "Do environmental regulations affect FDI decisions? The pollution haven hypothesis revisited," Science and Public Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 48(1), pages 122-131.
    13. Qi, Tianyu & Zhang, Xiliang & Karplus, Valerie J., 2014. "The energy and CO2 emissions impact of renewable energy development in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 60-69.
    14. Aliyu, Mohammed Aminu, 2005. "Foreign Direct Investment and the Environment: Pollution Haven Hypothesis Revisted," Conference papers 331376, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    15. Solarin, Sakiru Adebola & Al-Mulali, Usama & Musah, Ibrahim & Ozturk, Ilhan, 2017. "Investigating the pollution haven hypothesis in Ghana: An empirical investigation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 706-719.
    16. Lucas, Robert Jr., 1988. "On the mechanics of economic development," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 3-42, July.
    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. Mohamed Abdouli & Anis Omri, 2021. "Exploring the Nexus Among FDI Inflows, Environmental Quality, Human Capital, and Economic Growth in the Mediterranean Region," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 12(2), pages 788-810, June.
    2. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Nasir, Muhammad Ali & Roubaud, David, 2018. "Environmental degradation in France: The effects of FDI, financial development, and energy innovations," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 843-857.
    3. Munther Al-Nimer & Salah Kayed & Rizwan Ullah & Najib Ullah Khan & Muhammad Sualeh Khattak, 2022. "Mapping the Research between Foreign Direct Investment and Environmental Concerns; Where Are We and Where to Go?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-26, December.
    4. Muhammad Shahbaz & Mehmet Akif Destek & Michael L. Polemis, 2018. "Do Foreign Capital and Financial Development Affect Clean Energy Consumption and Carbon Emissions? Evidence from BRICS and Next-11 Countries," SPOUDAI Journal of Economics and Business, SPOUDAI Journal of Economics and Business, University of Piraeus, vol. 68(4), pages 20-50, October-D.
    5. Qamri, Ghulam Muhammad & Sheng, Bin & Adeel-Farooq, Rana Muhammad & Alam, Gazi Mahabubul, 2022. "The criticality of FDI in Environmental Degradation through financial development and economic growth: Implications for promoting the green sector," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    6. Destek, Mehmet Akif & Sinha, Avik & Özsoy, Ferda Nakıpoglu & Zafar, Muhammad Wasif, 2023. "Capital Flow and Environmental Quality at Crossroads: Designing a Sustainable Policy Framework for the Newly Industrialized Countries," MPRA Paper 117560, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. B. Venkatraja, 2022. "Does Foreign Direct Investment Reduce Carbon Emission? Evidence from the Panel of BRICS Countries," Economic Thought journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 4, pages 429-451.
    8. 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.
    9. Nguyen, Van Bon, 2021. "The Difference in the FDI - CO2 Emissions Relationship between Developed and Developing Countries: Empirical Evidence Based on Institutional Perspective," Hitotsubashi Journal of Economics, Hitotsubashi University, vol. 62(2), pages 124-140, December.
    10. Mehmood, Usman, 2021. "Contribution of renewable energy towards environmental quality: The role of education to achieve sustainable development goals in G11 countries," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 600-607.
    11. Demena, Binyam Afewerk & Afesorgbor, Sylvanus Kwaku, 2020. "The effect of FDI on environmental emissions: Evidence from a meta-analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    12. Destek, Mehmet Akif & Okumus, İlyas, 2018. "Does pollution haven hypothesis hold in newly industrialized countries? Evidence from ecological footprint," MPRA Paper 106959, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Theodoros Christoforidis & Constantinos Katrakilidis, 2022. "Does Foreign Direct Investment Matter for Environmental Degradation? Empirical Evidence from Central–Eastern European Countries," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 13(4), pages 2665-2694, December.
    14. Albulescu, Claudiu Tiberiu & Tiwari, Aviral Kumar & Yoon, Seong-Min & Kang, Sang Hoon, 2019. "FDI, income, and environmental pollution in Latin America: Replication and extension using panel quantiles regression analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    15. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Balsalobre-Lorente, Daniel & Sinha, Avik, 2019. "Foreign Direct Investment–CO2 Emissions Nexus in Middle East and North African countries: Importance of Biomass Energy Consumption," MPRA Paper 91729, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 19 Jan 2019.
    16. Zafar, Muhammad Wasif & Zaidi, Syed Anees Haider & Sinha, Avik & Gedikli, Ayfer & Hou, Fujun, 2019. "The role of stock market and banking sector development, and renewable energy consumption in carbon emissions: Insights from G-7 and N-11 countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 427-436.
    17. Zafar, Muhammad Wasif & Shahbaz, Muhammad & Sinha, Avik & Sengupta, Tuhin & Qin, Quande, 2020. "How Renewable Energy Consumption Contribute to Environmental Quality? The Role of Education in OECD Countries," MPRA Paper 100259, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 08 May 2020.
    18. Valentina Boamah & Decai Tang & Qian Zhang & Jianqun Zhang, 2023. "Do FDI Inflows into African Countries Impact Their CO 2 Emission Levels?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-18, February.
    19. Qiang Wang & Ting Yang & Rongrong Li & Xiaowei Wang, 2023. "Reexamining the impact of foreign direct investment on carbon emissions: does per capita GDP matter?," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-18, December.
    20. Vishal Dagar & Farhan Ahmed & Farah Waheed & Štefan Bojnec & Muhammad Kamran Khan & Sana Shaikh, 2022. "Testing the Pollution Haven Hypothesis with the Role of Foreign Direct Investments and Total Energy Consumption," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-23, May.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Environmental performance index; Foreign direct investment; Pollution haven hypothesis; Clean energy; GMM dynamic panel data model;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F21 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Investment; Long-Term Capital Movements
    • F64 - International Economics - - Economic Impacts of Globalization - - - Environment
    • Q5 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics
    • Q56 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environment and Development; Environment and Trade; Sustainability; Environmental Accounts and Accounting; Environmental Equity; Population Growth

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:spr:endesu:v:26:y:2024:i:11:d:10.1007_s10668-023-03844-3. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.