Does CO2 emissions-economic growth relationship reveal EKC in developing countries? Evidence from Kazakhstan

Fakhri J Hasanov; Jeyhun I Mikayilov; Shahriyar Mukhtarov; Elchin Suleymanov

doi:10.1007/s11356-019-06166-y

Does CO₂ emissions-economic growth relationship reveal EKC in developing countries? Evidence from Kazakhstan

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2019 Oct;26(29):30229-30241. doi: 10.1007/s11356-019-06166-y. Epub 2019 Aug 17.

Authors

Fakhri J Hasanov^{1

2

3}, Jeyhun I Mikayilov^{1

4

5}, Shahriyar Mukhtarov^{6

7}, Elchin Suleymanov^{8

9}

Affiliations

¹ King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center, P.O. Box 88550, Riyadh, 11672, Saudi Arabia.
² Research Program on Forecasting, Economics Department, The George Washington University, 2115 G Street, NW, Washington, DC, 20052, USA.
³ Institute of Control Systems, B. Vahabzade Street 9, AZ1141, Baku, Azerbaijan.
⁴ Department of Statistics and Econometrics, Azerbaijan State University of Economics, Istiqlaliyyat Str., 6, AZ1001, Baku, Azerbaijan.
⁵ Institute for Scientific Research on Economic Reforms, 88a, Hasan Bey Zardabi Avenue, AZ1011, Baku, Azerbaijan.
⁶ Department of World Economy, Baku Engineering University, Hasan Aliyev 120, AZ0101, Khirdalan, Azerbaijan. smuxtarov@beu.edu.az.
⁷ UNEC Empirical Research Center, Azerbaijan State University of Economics (UNEC), Istiqlaliyyat Str. 6, AZ1141, Baku, Azerbaijan. smuxtarov@beu.edu.az.
⁸ Department of Finance, Baku Engineering University, Hasan Aliyev 120, AZ0101, Khirdalan, Azerbaijan.
⁹ The Institute of Economics, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, H. Javid pr., 115, AZ1001, Baku, Azerbaijan.

Abstract

This paper investigates the CO₂ emissions-economic growth relationship in Kazakhstan for the period 1992-2013. Johansen, ARDLBT, DOLS, FMOLS, and CCR cointegration methods are used for robustness purpose. We start with the cubic functional form to rule out any misleading results that can be caused by misspecification. Although the estimation results suggest "U"-shaped relationship, the turning point of income is out of the period. It means that the impact of economic growth on CO₂ is monotonically increasing in the long run indicating the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis does not hold for Kazakhstan. Moreover, we calculate that the income elasticity of CO₂ is about unity. The paper concludes that the Kazakhstani policymakers should focus on less energy-intensive sectors as well as using more renewable energy in order to avoid higher pollution effects of economic growth. They may also set new policy regulations for CO₂ reduction.

Keywords: CO2 emissions; Cointegration; EKC hypothesis; Economic growth; Kazakhstan.

MeSH terms

Carbon Dioxide / analysis*
Developing Countries
Economic Development / statistics & numerical data*
Economic Development / trends
Environmental Policy / economics*
Environmental Pollution / analysis*
Environmental Pollution / economics
Income
Kazakhstan
Renewable Energy / economics*
Renewable Energy / statistics & numerical data

Substances

Carbon Dioxide