The Impact of Democracy and Happiness on Environmental Degradation in OECD Countries

Barut A., Alofaysan H., Akpınar E. N., Adıgüzel S., Magazzino C.

Natural Resources Forum, 2025 (SCI-Expanded) identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Basım Tarihi: 2025
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1111/1477-8947.12592
  • Dergi Adı: Natural Resources Forum
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, International Bibliography of Social Sciences, PASCAL, Agricultural & Environmental Science Database, Aquatic Science & Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA), CAB Abstracts, Environment Index, Food Science & Technology Abstracts, Geobase, Greenfile, Pollution Abstracts, Public Affairs Index, Veterinary Science Database
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: democracy, EKC, environmental degradation, happiness, OECD countries, panel data
  • Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Üniversitesi Adresli: Hayır

Özet

The objective of this article is to investigate the impact of happiness on environmental degradation utilizing annual data for 36 OECD nations from 2005 to 2021. To achieve this goal, GMM, Driscoll–Kray, and MMQR methodologies were employed. According to the empirical findings, happiness serves as a crucial variable in mitigating environmental degradation. Moreover, the investigation probed into the impact of income, technological advances, democracy, population, and renewable energy consumption on environmental degradation. The outcomes indicate that the EKC hypothesis holds for OECD countries that technological innovations, democracy, and renewable energy consumption have a mitigating impact on environmental degradation. In contrast, population growth, a factor that exacerbates environmental degradation, should be a cause for concern.