Economic growth, foreign investment, tourism, and electricity production as determinants of environmental quality: empirical evidence from GCC region

Each economic factor generates both positive and negative externalities regarding environmental quality. Owing to this, the current study aims to explore the impacts of various economic variables on the environmental quality of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. By sampling the 24 years (1996-2019) financial statistics of six GCC region countries, we investigate the impact of economic growth, foreign investment, trade volume, tourism investment and revenue, and electricity production on CO2 emissions. The empirical analysis is based upon dynamic least square and fully modified ordinary least square model due to the existence of cointegration. Following the results, economic growth, foreign investment, tourism investment, electricity production, and population density have a positive impact, while trade volume and banking development have a negative impact on the volume of CO2 emissions. The results support the pollution haven hypothesis in the GCC region and have many policies for environmental economists regarding the protection of the natural environment in the long run. In parallel to economic growth, the policy officials from the GCC region should focus on environmental sustainability. They should exert more effort for developing sustainable economic growth policies. The current analysis offers new insights regarding the dynamic role of various economic factors in establishing the CO2 emission volume in the GCC region.