Environmental kuznets curve and causal links between environmental degradation and selected socioeconomic indicators in Bangladesh

This study has investigated the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis and focuses on the resource stock of the country in relation to the selection of environmental degradation indicators. Acknowledging the critical role of the EKC for policy formulation and development strategies, this study has examined the validity of the EKC hypothesis by exploring the relationship between economic growth, urbanization, energy consumption, trade openness, human capital and ecological footprints for the period 1972-2018 in Bangladesh. The autoregressive distributive lag bounds testing approach is applied for this purpose, taking into account the structural break in the time series. A fully modified OLS estimation has also been applied as the robustness check of the results. Results from the empirical analysis confirm the existence of the EKC in Bangladesh in both the long run and short run. The causal nexus among the variables is examined by applying the Vector Error Correction Granger causality test. The causality test result shows that economic growth and urbanization cause ecological footprints in both the short run and the long run. Based on this result, it can be inferred that economic growth activities in Bangladesh can be continued and extended with minimal ecological cost through structural economic change and proper environmental management.