Does globalization matter for environmental sustainability? New evidence from the QARDL approach

Many researches have been conducted to provide theoretical explanations and/or empirical evidence of how globalization affects environmental quality. However, theoretical explanations have not reached consensus, empirical research has not yet clarified the possible effects in developing countries particularly. For Saudi Arabia from 1981 to 2018, we tested the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis (EKC). We studied the impact of globalization on the ecological footprint (ECP) relying on the QARDL approach. Four globalization indicators are used namely: social (GLOBS), economic (GLOBE), political (GLOBP), and total globalization (GLOBG). Based on QARDL results, it appears that all quantiles show a statistically significant and negative sign for error correction parameter. These results affirm that the related variables and ecological footprint in Saudi Arabia are reverting to a long-term equilibrium. In the long-run, the results of the study suggest that GLOBG, as well as GLOBE, will lead to increased ECP across all the quantiles. However, the fluctuations in GLOBP and GLOBS negatively affect ecological footprint in higher quantiles. Additionally, the QARDL results confirmed that the Saudi economy has an inverted U-Shaped curve. In the short-run, ECP is negatively affected by four globalization indicators in middle and upper quantiles. Sustainable development and environmental policy can be advanced using the guidelines found in this research. Based on the findings, the government and political system in Saudi Arabia should pay more attention to global and economic globalization to achieve sustainable environmental goals in the long run.