Investigating the Interaction Between the Human Development Index and Environmental Pollution in Iran

The purpose of this paper is to examine both the short-term and long-term relationships, as well as the causal links, between the Human Development Index (HDI) and environmental pollution in Iran during the period from 1981 to 2014. To achieve this, the study employs the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) method and Granger causality tests. The findings indicate that, in the short term, GDP per capita and life expectancy have a positive and significant impact on the emissions of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and sulfur dioxide. Additionally, the literacy rate has a negative and significant effect on these pollutant emissions (carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide). In the long term, all variables demonstrate a significant and consistent influence on pollution levels. Specifically, the study finds that sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide have contrasting effects on the HDI in both the short and long run, with sulfur dioxide having a positive impact and nitrogen oxide having a negative impact. The study also reveals significant causal relationships between the variables examined.