Is skewed income distribution good for environmental quality? A comparative analysis among selected BRICS countries

Abstract

A large number of studies have examined the linkage between income inequality and environmental quality at the individual country levels. This study attempts to examine the linkage between the two factors for the individual BRICS economies from a comparative perspective, which is scarce in the literature. It examines the selected countries (Brazil, India, China and South Africa) by endogenising the patterns of primary energy consumption (coal use and petroleum use), total primary energy consumption, economic growth, and urbanisation as key determining factors in CO emission function. The long-run results based on ARDL bounds testing revealed that income inequality leads to increase in CO emissions for Brazil, India and China, while the same factor leads to reduction in CO emissions for South Africa. However, it observes that while coal use increases CO emissions for India, China and South Africa, it has no effect for Brazil. In contrast, the use of petroleum products contributes to CO emissions in Brazil, while the use of the same surprisingly results in reduction of carbon emissions in South Africa, India and China. The findings suggest that given the significance of income inequality in environmental pollution, the policy makers in these emerging economies have to take into consideration the role of income inequality, while designing the energy policy to achieve environmental sustainability.

The energy consumption-environmental quality nexus in BRICS countries: the role of outward foreign direct investment

“…In GMM, the GDP per capita is positive and significant, indicating that an increase in the growth rate of countries will lead to an increase in the number of carbon emissions in the long run. This evidence is consistent with the studies of (Jayanthakumaran et al 2012;Wu et al 2015;Mahalik et al 2018). This study is the first empirical analysis of most emerging countries taking as pollution, energy consumption, OFDI in a single lens.…”

The Energy Consumption-Environmental Quality Nexus in BRICS Countries: The Role of Outward Foreign Direct Investment (OFDI)

“…In GMM, the GDP per capita is positive and significant, indicating that an increase in the growth rate of countries will lead to an increase in the number of carbon emissions in the long run. This evidence is consistent with the studies of (Jayanthakumaran et al 2012;Wu et al 2015;Mahalik et al 2018). From a policy point of view, the study suggests that generating a sustainable healthy environment from the future fear of climate change and global warming should reduce excessive energy consumption without hampering rising growth.…”

How Does Income Inequality Influence Environmental Regulation in the Context of Corruption? A Panel Threshold Analysis Based on Chinese Provincial Data

“…Based on the balanced data and the spatial panel regression model of 31 provinces in China from 1996 to 2015, Liu et al [19] found that there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between income distribution and environmental quality, which indicates an appropriate level of income inequality helps to improve environmental quality. Studies have also shown that income inequality has different effects on the pollutant emissions from different countries [20]. Liu et al [21] used panel ARDL and quantile regression models to analyze the impact of income inequality on carbon emissions in the US.…”