Impact of economic freedom on air pollution: configuration analysis of Asia-Pacific region

Air pollution brings uncountable serious influences on human life during the last decade. This study is an attempt to compare economic liberalism with economic federalism in examining the problem of air pollution in the Asia-Pacific region. Economic analysts have different views with one school of thought arguing that air pollution is the cause of the failure of a free economy rather than the failure of government regulations, while another supports liberal economics and vice versa. After developing a conceptual framework, the study uses the technique of fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to examine how the rule of law, the size of government, regulatory efficiency, and the openness of the market influence air pollution in countries across the region. The analysis identifies two solutions with government size being found to be a necessary and core condition that influences air pollution. The study thus provides insights and suggests that government spending, taxation, and other financial health policies can be used as key sources to control air pollution in the Asia-Pacific region.