مجله اقتصاد محیط زیست و منابع طبیعی
پیاپی 4 (بهار 1398)

Environmental pollution is an important problem facing many countries and the environmental protection policies are amongst the top priorities of most decision-making processes and policy makings. A most effective measure to improve the quality of the environment is to impose environmental taxes. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of environmental taxes on GHG reduction. To achieve this objective, the data from selected developed countries on the greenhouse gases emissions, especially carbon dioxide emissions together with other variables such as GDP, energy consumption and the added value of the industrial sector during the years 1995-2012 have been used. Pedroni and Kao convergence test and the ordinary least squares method are used to derive cointegration vectors. The results show that in the selected countries, the impact of increasing environmental tax revenues and the added value of industrial sector on emissions are negative and as well as being significant in these countries and the impact of increasing GDP and energy consumption on emissions is also positive and significant. The validity of Kuznets environmental curve is confirmed for these countries.

The purpose of this study is to assess the environmental performance level and its impact on the value added of the Iranian provincial industries in terms of natural gas consumption, which is, in fact, an examination of the Kuznets environmental curve. For this purpose, the provincial panel data of the industrial sector of the country during the period of 2008-2014 was used. The environmental performance was calculated using the data envelopment analysis method based on the linear planning and the effect of environmental efficiency on the value added of the provincial industries. Arellano- Bond approach with the method of generalized moments is used. The variables used include the use of intermediate inputs from the industrial sector and natural gas consumption as inputs, the added value as a desirable output and the carbon dioxide emissions from natural gas consumption as an undesired output. The results indicate a significant and positive relationship between environmental performance and the value added of provincial industries. The results also confirm the existence of the Kuznets environmental curve in the period under review for the provincial industries of Iran. During this period, the environmental efficiency of the provincial industry sector is decreasing. Hence, suggestion number of policies are recommended as follows: encouraging industries to a higher efficiency performance, through Government support for efficient industries, paying subsidies, prioritizing these industries to consume resources at lower prices, encouraging the use of renewable energy and establishing environmental laws, as well as prioritizing efficient industries in the exports and imports of resources and goods, and the tax exemptions.

Armey curve demonstrates a non-linear relationship between government size and economic growth. From the optimality point of view, the Armey curve recommends the development of government size which leads to increased production and economic growth when the size of the Government is small in an economy. In addition, the increase in Government size would lead to lower economic growth and production. Pollution is one of the most important challenges facing countries. Without doubt, pollution emission is a function of economic growth and development process. Most of the studies conducted in this area confirm an inverse U-shaped relationship between environmental quality and economic growth. The present study examines the effect of the Armey curve on Kuznets Environmental Curve in Iran during the period of 1978-2014 using ARDL approach. Results obtained indicate that energy consumption is the most influential variable in determining pollution and CO2 emission together with, government expenditure being an indicator of Armey curve, has negative impact on pollution process in Iran. In addition, the indicators of financial development have significant negative effect on environmental pollution so that by increasing each of them the pollution emission would be reduced. According to the results, we maintain that Iran is in the early stages of economic development, and still has not achieved to culmination of Kuznets curve. Finally, the hypothesis of Kuznets Environmental Curve in Iran is rejected in the long-term in all the senarios.

Sustainable development is a policy requirement to balance economic, social and environmental considerations. Investment contracts and sustainable development have complex relationships with each other. Several aspects of investment contracts have direct impact on sustainable development goals such as poverty reduction and environmental sustainability. From the perspective of sustainable development, achieving good contract provisions together with typical concerns about Government oil reveneues, necessarily requires a balanced consideration of the above-mentioned issues. Multiple processes and environmental issues in Natural Resources Investment contracts show that these contracts are not only business documents but also a tool for public policy. This consideration has important implications: First, the investment contracts should possess the transparency charater. Secondly, from the perspective of sustainable development, creating ways to maximize the positive linkages to domestic economy is of utmost importance. Investment contracts can pursue the goals of increasing employment and creating business opportunities. Finally, in the environmental sector, investment contracts often determine the responsibility for environmental damage as well as the venue of any disputes and claims related to environmental issues.

Households, directly and indirectly, are responsible for emission of various air pollutants. Indirect emission by households is due to the consumption of goods and services which use fossil fuels in their production processes. The purpose of this study is to investigate the changes in the structure of households’ consumption on the indirect emissions of four types of air pollutants including carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and methane using structural decomposition analysis in the input-output model during 2001-2011. In this study, the matrix of consumption of goods and services by households was divided into the following two components: the total volume of consumption and the structure of consumption. We have then investigated the effect of changes in the structure of consumption on pollutant emissions. The results show that the change in the structure of consumption has increased the all air pollutant emissions. The increased amounts of these pollutants as a result of changes in consumption structure is 78.08 million ton CO2, 319.28 thousand tons SO2, 296.1 thousand tons NOx and 481.2 thousand tons Methane.

Environmental pollution and the factors affecting it are a topical issue in economic analysis. In developing countries, environmental pollution is rising alongside with economic growth while being regarded as an inferior or at least a normal commodity. Capital is the main engine of economic growth and development. Hence, developing countries have always been attempting to attract investment. Foreign direct investment is considered to be the key factor in the transfer of capital, which expands the development of the global production network, accelerating the process of economic growth and development in the host country. Since the foreign direct investment leads to more use of energy resources and natural resources, it is therefore expected to have a significant relationship between foreign direct investments and the environmental pollution. It follows therefore that the study of the relationship between these two variables is of particular importance. The prime objective of this research is to investigate the effect of foreign direct investment on environmental pollution in Iran and the selected countries of the MENA during the years 1990 to 2011 with the panel data econometric approach. The results demonstrate that there is a positive and significant relationship between carbon dioxide emissions and foreign direct investment in the countries under study.