Investigation into the social behavioural effects on a country's ecological footprint: Evidence from Central Europe

This paper investigates the relationship between national cultures and the ecological footprints of countries in Central Europe, using panel-corrected standard error (PCSE) regression modelling, spanning the period 1992-2016. Our results show that a high power distance, individualism, long-term orientation, and indulgence are associated with a reduced ecological footprint, suggesting that these four factors play a significant role in the environmental footprint created by citizens and the society. We also find that the relationship between ethnic diversity and religion is associated with a negative ecological footprint. However, the relationship between masculinity and uncertainty avoidance and the ecological footprint leads to an improvement in the ecological footprint. The results are robust to the alternative measurement of variables and econometric estimations. Our findings highlight the necessity for policymakers to consider non-economic and non-technological factors, such as ethics, to achieve growth that is both environmentally and economically sustainable.

Automated summary

The study reveals a link between high power distance, individualism, long-term orientation, and indulgence with reduced ecological footprints, while ethnic diversity and religion are associated with negative ecological footprints. Masculinity and uncertainty avoidance are linked to an improvement in ecological footprints.