Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1
Associate Professor of Economics, Faculty of Economics, Management and Administrative Sciences, Semnan University, Semnan, Iran
2
Ph.D. Student in Economics, Faculty of Economics, Management and Administrative Sciences, Semnan University, Semnan, Iran
10.22075/jem.2025.37357.2002
Abstract
In recent decades, the growing environmental pollution has become one of the primary concerns of policymakers and researchers in the field of sustainable development. Economic growth, which has always been one of the key goals of governments, can simultaneously lead to increased pollution in the early stages of development and to its reduction in more advanced stages through technological advancement and increased environmental awareness. Therefore, examining the relationship between economic growth and CO₂ emissions is of considerable importance. However, this relationship may be subject to change under the influence of factors. The main objective of this study is to investigate the role of income inequality in the relationship between economic growth and environmental quality using data from the period 1390-1400 in the provinces of Iran. For this purpose, real GDP per capita, per capita carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and Gini coefficient are used as indicators of economic growth, environmental pollution, and income inequality, respectively. The results obtained from applying the panel Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) technique indicate that in the long run, with the increase in per capita income, CO2 emissions initially increase but after reaching a certain level of per capita income, CO2 emissions decrease. This result implies that the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis is confirmed for the provinces of Iran. Additionally, according to the results, an increase in income inequality causes CO2 emissions to reach their maximum level at a higher per capita income. Therefore, it is suggested that alongside growth policies, reducing income inequality should be targeted by planners and economic policymakers to improve environmental quality.
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