Effects of Economic Growth, Foreign Direct Investment, and Renewable Energy Consumption on Environmental Pressure in NICs
SAGE OPEN, cilt.16, sa.3, ss.1-19, 2026 (SSCI, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 16 Sayı: 3
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.1177/21582440261473176
- Dergi Adı: SAGE OPEN
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Academic Search Ultimate (EBSCO), Social Science Premium Collection (ProQuest), Education Source Ultimate (EBSCO), Scopus, Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Education Abstracts, ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), EBSCO Education Source, Directory of Open Access Journals
- Sayfa Sayıları: ss.1-19
- Açık Arşiv Koleksiyonu: AVESİS Açık Erişim Koleksiyonu
- Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Despite extensive research on the growth–environment nexus, limited evidence considers the joint effects of foreign direct investment and renewable energy on ecological sustainability using both demand– and biocapacity–based measures. In this context, this study investigates the effects of economic growth (EG), foreign direct investment (FDI), and renewable energy consumption (REC) on environmental degradation in the framework of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) and the pollution haven and pollution halo hypotheses for newly industrialized countries (NICs), which include Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, the Philippines, South Africa, Thailand, and Türkiye. This study employs the ecological footprint (EF) and, as a core innovation, the ecological footprint pressure index (EFPI), a biocapacity–adjusted indicator integrating environmental demand and supply constraints to provide a more holistic assessment of environmental degradation (ED) beyond conventional measures. The study employs the method of moments quantile regression (MMQR), a novel estimation technique that goes beyond traditional mean–based estimators by capturing distributional heterogeneity across different levels of ecological degradation. The study results are as follows: (i) The findings confirm the EKC hypothesis, implying an inverted U–shaped relationship between EG and ED. (ii) Furthermore, the study reveals a U–shaped relationship between FDI and EF. In contrast, an inverted U–shaped relationship is found between FDI and EFPI, indicating that although FDI may initially raise ED, improvements in regulatory quality and environmental governance can mitigate pressure over time when biocapacity is considered. (iii) Finally, the results show that REC reduces ED, highlighting the central role of energy transition policies.