OECD Ülkelerinde Demokrasinin Çevresel Bozulma Üzerindeki Etkisi

Yıl 2022, Sayı: 37, 213 - 235, 29.12.2022

Neslihan Ursavaş

https://doi.org/10.26650/ekoist.2022.37.1118226

Öz

Çevresel bozulma ve belirleyicileri literatürde kapsamlı bir şekilde tartışılmaktadır. Bununla birlikte, literatür çoğunlukla ekonomik büyüme, açıklık ve küreselleşme gibi çevresel bozulmanın ekonomik belirleyicilerine odaklanmaktadır. Ancak sürdürülebilir bir çevre için çevresel bozulmanın politik belirleyicileri de oldukça önemlidir. Bu bağlamda konuyla ilgili teorik yaklaşımlar ise birbirinden farklıdır. Bazı çalışmalar demokrasinin çevresel bozulmayı azalttığını iddia ederken; bazı çalışmalar ise demokrasinin çevresel bozulmayı artırdığını savunmaktadır. Dolayısıyla demokrasi ve çevre arasındaki ilişkiyi açıklamaya yönelik yaklaşımlar arasında demokrasinin çevreyi nasıl etkilediği konusunda bir fikir birliği olmadığı görülmektedir. Bu çalışmanın temel amaçlarından biri, çevresel bozulmanın demokrasi gibi politik bileşenlerine odaklanmaktır. Bununla birlikte çalışmada konu ile ilgili teorik argümanlar çerçevesinde demokrasinin çevresel bozulma üzerindeki etkisi incelenmektedir. Belirtilen amaçlar doğrultusunda 37 OECD ülkesinde 1995-2018 dönemi için demokrasinin kişi başı sera gazı emisyonu üzerindeki etkisi test edilmektedir. İlk olarak seriler arasında yatay kesit bağımlılığı ve eğim katsayısının homojen olup olmadığı test edilmektedir. Elde edilen bulgulara göre seriler arasında hem yatay kesit bağımlılığı olduğu hem de eğim katsayısının heterojen olduğu gözlenmektedir. Bu nedenle yatay kesit bağımlılığı ve heterojenliği dikkate alan Ortak İlişkili Etkiler Ortalama Grup (CCEMG) tahmincisi kullanılmaktadır. Elde edilen bulgulara göre demokrasi düzeyindeki artış kişi başı sera gazı emisyonunu artırırken; yenilenebilir enerji tüketimi sera gazı emisyonunu azaltmaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Demokrasi, Ekonomik Büyüme, Yenilenebilir Enerji, Çevresel Bozulma, CCEMG Yöntemi

The Impact of Democracy on Environmental Degradation in OECD Countries

Öz

Environmental degradation and its determinants have been extensively discussed in the literature. With the literature mostly focusing on the economic determinants of environmental degradation, such as, economic growth, openness, and globalization. However, the political determinants of environmental degradation are also significant for a sustainable environment. The theoretical approaches differ in this context, with some studies claiming that democracy reduces environmental degradation, while others argue that democracy increases it. Therefore, one can say that no consensus exists among the approaches explaining the relationship between democracy and the environment with regard to how democracy impacts the environment. One of the main goals of this study is to focus on the political components of environmental degradation, such as, democracy. This study additionally investigates the impact of democracy on environmental degradation within the scope of theoretical approaches. Within this context, the study tests the impact of democracy on greenhouse gas emissions per capita in 37 OECD countries for the period of 1995-2018. In order to do this, the study first tests cross-sectional dependence and homogeneity across the variables. The results show the presence of both cross-sectional dependence, as well as slope heterogeneity between the variables. Therefore, the common correlated effects mean group (CCEMG) estimator, is used, as it takes cross-sectional dependence and heterogeneity into consideration. According to the results, democracy is positively related to environmental degradation. In other words, an increase in the level of democracy increases greenhouse gas emissions per capita, whereas higher levels of renewable energy consumption reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Democracy, Economic Growth, Renewable Energy, Environmental Degradation, CCEMG Method

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