Nexus Between Foreign Direct Investment Inflow, Renewable Energy Consumption, Ambient Air Pollution, and Human Mortality: A Public Health Perspective From Non-linear ARDL Approach

Abstract

A huge foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow has been witnessed in China, though on the one hand, it brings a significant contribution to economic growth. On the other hand, it adversely affects the ambient air pollution that may affect human mortality in the country. Renewable energy (RE) usage meets the country's energy needs with no adverse effect on the environment. Therefore, this study is trying to empirically analyze the effect of FDI inflow on human morality and RE consumption in China. We used time-series data for 1998–2020 and applied a non-linear ARDL approach for the estimations. The empirical outcomes suggest that FDI inflow positively affects mortality and RE. There is also unidirectional causality running from RE and pollution to mortality. In addition, the relationship among the variable verifies the existence of a non-linear relationship. The government needs policy guidelines to further boost FDI inflow due to its positive aspects. However, to reduce the negative effect on the environment and human morality, the extensive usage of RE should be adopted. Indeed, proper legislation for foreign firms might be a good step toward quality environmental and longevity of human health in society.

Assessing the impact of governance and health expenditures on carbon emissions in China: Role of environmental regulation

“…These countries prioritize achieving their goals of economic expansion and energy independence over protecting the environment ( 88 ). In addition, our findings are consistent with the research that is already published, such as a study that was conducted in 31 provinces in China ( 37 ), a study that was conducted in the United States of America that also supports the frequency of inverted u-shaped ENVIRONMENT KUZNETS CURVE ( 12 ), and a study that suggests the same results as Shahbaz et al (2019), the study of Shah et al, ( 85 ), a case study that was conducted by Fu et al ( 89 ), Shah et al ( 87 ) and Shah et al ( 85 ).…”

“…The findings of the study are in line with what was expected ( 7 ). However, the findings that we obtained from this research are more solid and trustworthy than others because we utilized estimation strategies that account for heterogeneity ( 85 ).…”

“…When a nation reaches a certain level of economic development, it enters a phase known as post-industrialization ( 84 ). During this time, the nation's emissions decrease as a result of changes in its economic structure as well as more stringent environmental protection laws and protocols ( 85 , 86 ). The process of industrialization and economic growth frequently results in a significant increase in the amount of cheap energy and natural resources that developing economies consume.…”

Relationship between health spending, life expectancy and renewable energy in China: A new evidence from the VECM approach

“…Their findings showed the growth of renewable energy use and its impact on other social aspects, rather than the existence of causal linkages between health and renewable energy. Shah et al ( 26 ) analyzed the FDI inflow, mortality and renewable energy consumption in China for the period 1998–2020. They reported that a significant amount of FDI inflow had occurred in the last few decades.…”

Investigating the Role of Education, Foreign Investment, and Economic Development for Sustainable Environment in BRI Countries: Application of Method of Movements Quantile Regression

“…Environmental science documented that economic progress and development at a large-scale lead to the depletion of earth resources, increasing the levels of air/water/land pollution, loss of biodiversity, and extreme climate temperatures (Polasky et al, 2019). These ecological changes have an inverse impact on the human well-being and the quality of the environment (Sandifer et al, 2015;Shah et al, 2022). In this respect, several domestic and international institutions consider rising carbon emissions and climate change the most pressing issues (IPCC, 2020).…”