Investigating the Causal Relationships among Carbon Emissions, Economic Growth, and Life Expectancy in Turkey: Evidence from Time and Frequency Domain Causality Techniques

It is not a gainsaying that challenges to both healthy living and the environment are the result of deteriorating environmental quality with the attendant effect on environmental sustainability. To provide a solution to the issue, our study uses long time-series data from 1960 to 2018, and employs an overlapping generational model, the Bayer-Hanck cointegration test, wavelet coherence, Fourier Toda-Yamamoto, and Breitung-Candelon frequency-domain spectral causality tests to investigate the causal relationships among carbon emissions (CO2), economic growth (GDP), and life expectancy (LE) in Turkey. Different from the literature, we find a positive co-movement between life expectancy and CO2 and a positive correlation between LE and GDP at different scales; CO2 has a causal relationship with LE and a bidirectional causal relationship between LE and GDP, as well as short, medium, and long-run causal relationships with LE; GDP has medium and long-run causal relationships with LE, and LE has short, medium, and long-run causal relationships with GDP. Our findings guide policymakers on their policy decision-making that will address the energy consumption, environmental degradation, human health, environmental hazards, and allocation to science and technology in Turkey with the aim of ensuring overall sustainable development.

Automated summary

This study investigates the causal relationships among carbon emissions, economic growth, and life expectancy in Turkey using long time-series data and various statistical models. The findings suggest a positive co-movement between life expectancy and CO2, as well as different scales of causal relationships among CO2, GDP, and LE.