DO ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY STRINGENCY AND INNOVATION REDUCE CARBON EMISSIONS: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM G-7 COUNTRIES

Year 2023, Volume: 14 Issue: 28, 847 - 870, 29.12.2023

Cengizhan Güler , Başak Özarslan Doğan

https://doi.org/10.36543/kauiibfd.2023.034

Abstract

Public policies have gained significant importance in technological innovations that have come to the fore in reducing the environmental impact of economic activities. Especially in developed countries, significant progress has been made in policies in this area. Reducing the negative externalities that cause environmental pollution in production and reducing their adverse effects on natural resources such as air and water is an indicator of how seriously these policies are taken. In this context, the study aims to empirically examine the effect of innovations and environmental policy strictness on the reduction of carbon emissions in G-7 countries for the period 1994-2019 using linear panel regression methods. After performing various specification and assumption tests, the Driscoll-Kraay random effects model was used to obtain coefficient estimates. In the study, the environmental policy stringency index was used to represent environmental policy strictness. The study findings indicate that an increase in environmental policy stringency reduces carbon emissions, while an increase in innovation increases carbon emissions.

Keywords

Environmental policy strictness, innovation, carbon emissions, panel data econometrics

DO ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY STRINGENCY AND INNOVATION REDUCE CARBON EMISSIONS: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM G-7 COUNTRIES

Abstract

Ekonomik faaliyetlerin çevresel etkilerinin azaltılmasında ön plana çıkan teknolojik yeniliklerde kamu politikalarının rolü büyük önem kazanmıştır. Özellikle gelişmiş ülkelerde bu alandaki politikalarda önemli ilerlemeler kaydedilmiştir. Üretimde çevre kirliliğine neden olan olumsuz dışsallıkların azaltılması ve bunların hava, su gibi doğal kaynaklar üzerindeki olumsuz etkilerinin azaltılması bu politikaların ne kadar ciddiye alındığının da bir göstergesidir. Bu bağlamda çalışmanın amacı, doğrusal panel regresyon yöntemleri kullanarak 1994-2019 dönemi için G-7 ülkelerinde inovasyonların ve çevre politikası katılığının karbon emisyonlarının azaltılması üzerindeki etkisini ampirik olarak incelemektir. Çeşitli spesifikasyon ve varsayım testleri yapıldıktan sonra, katsayı tahminlerini elde etmek için Driscoll-Kraay tesadüfi etkiler modeli kullanılmıştır. Çalışmada çevre politikası katlığını temsil etmesi için çevre politikası katılık endeksi kullanılmıştır. Çalışma bulguları, çevre politikası katılığındaki bir artışın, karbon emisyonlarını azalttığını fakat inovasyon artışının ise karbon emisyonlarını arttırdığına yönelik kanıtlar içermektedir.

Keywords

Çevre politikası katılığı, inovasyon, karbon emisyonları, panel veri ekonometrisi

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