Kartal Mustafa Tevfik, Ayhan Fatih, Sarıhan Ahmed Yusuf, Altaylar Merve
Department of Finance and Banking, European University of Lefke, Lefke, Northern Cyprus, TR-10 Mersin, Turkiye; Clinic of Economics, Azerbaijan State University of Economics (UNEC), Baku, Azerbaijan; Division of International Studies, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea; Research Center for Sustainable Economic Development, Khazar University, Baku, Azerbaijan; Economic Research Center (WCERC), Western Caspian University, Baku, Azerbaijan.
Department of Economics, Bandırma Onyedi Eylül University, Balıkesir, Turkiye.
J Environ Manage. 2025 Aug;390:126236. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.126236. Epub 2025 Jun 20.
Environmental degradation, closely tied to climate change, remains a pressing global challenge that requires comprehensive and multidimensional analysis. Although numerous studies have independently examined the roles of renewable energy, healthcare expenditures, and trade in environmental outcomes, their joint influence remains underexplored-particularly within OECD countries. This study fills this gap by investigating (a)symmetric effects of renewable energy consumption, healthcare expenditures, and exports on environmental degradation for 37 OECD countries from 2000 through 2020. Using the NARDL approach as the primary methodology, complemented by panel ARDL for robustness, the analysis captures both the direction and asymmetry of long run relationships. The results indicate that increases in renewable energy use and healthcare expenditures significantly reduce CO emissions, while export growth contributes to higher emissions. Moreover, asymmetric effects are evident: positive and negative shocks in all three variables produce differing magnitudes and directions of impact on environmental outcomes. These findings suggest that fostering renewable energy development can be an effective strategy for directly mitigating environmental degradation. Additionally, the evidence implies that countries may be reducing carbon emissions indirectly to control rising healthcare expenditures associated with pollution-induced health risks. On the other hand, export-driven production must be aligned with sustainable practices.
与气候变化紧密相关的环境退化仍然是一个紧迫的全球挑战，需要进行全面和多维度的分析。尽管众多研究已分别考察了可再生能源、医疗保健支出和贸易在环境结果中的作用，但其共同影响仍未得到充分探索，尤其是在经合组织国家内部。本研究通过调查2000年至2020年期间37个经合组织国家可再生能源消费、医疗保健支出和出口对环境退化的（非）对称影响，填补了这一空白。以非对称自回归分布滞后（NARDL）方法作为主要方法，并辅以面板自回归分布滞后（ARDL）方法以确保稳健性，该分析捕捉了长期关系的方向和非对称性。结果表明，可再生能源使用和医疗保健支出的增加显著减少了二氧化碳排放，而出口增长则导致排放量增加。此外，非对称效应明显：所有三个变量的正向和负向冲击对环境结果产生不同程度和方向的影响。这些发现表明，促进可再生能源发展可能是直接缓解环境退化的有效策略。此外，证据表明各国可能在间接减少碳排放，以控制与污染引发的健康风险相关的不断上升的医疗保健支出。另一方面，出口驱动型生产必须与可持续做法保持一致。
