The Impact of Export Concentration on the Ecological Footprint in the European Union

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate the impact of export product concentration on the ecological footprint in the European Union between 1995 and 2018, using the environmental Kuznets curve framework. We utilized the pooled mean group/autoregressive distributed lag approach, which confirmed the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis within the European Union. In addition, our findings reveal that export concentration has a negative impact on the ecological footprint, whereas energy consumption increases the ecological footprint. To further validate the obtained results, we conducted robustness checks using the fully modified ordinary least squares and dynamic ordinary least squares approaches, which validated the previous outcomes of the pooled mean group/autoregressive distributed lag approach. In the last step of our study, we employed the Dumitrescu–Hurlin causality analysis, which revealed a bidirectional causality involving the ecological footprint and energy consumption. These empirical findings directly result in valuable recommendations for policymakers.