The symmetric and asymmetric effects of renewable energy and water investment on environmental quality: evidence for the Chinese economy

This study aims at exploring the role of water investment, agricultural land expansion, economic growth, and renewable energy in improving environmental quality (CO2 emissions) in China under the linear and nonlinear Autoregressive Distributed Lags (ARDL and the NARDL) methods covering the 1994-2019 period. The motivation for choosing China for empirical research is that optimum control of pollution in China can improve global environmental quality and combat global warming. The empirical results provide strong evidence for a cointegration relationship between the variables considered. Our study contributes to the existing literature by rejecting two hypotheses. First, we demonstrate from the literature that water investments in China can improve environmental quality. Second, our findings suggest that agricultural land expansion can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Our findings suggest that Chinese policymakers should further promote green agriculture and encourage the use of renewable energy through taxes to control polluting activities and subsidies, establishing a punishment and relief strategy.

Automated summary

This study investigates the impact of water investment, agricultural land expansion, economic growth, and renewable energy on environmental quality (CO2 emissions) in China using the linear and nonlinear Autoregressive Distributed Lags (ARDL and the NARDL) methods from 1994 to 2019. The choice of China for empirical research is motivated by the potential for improving global environmental quality and combating global warming. The empirical results provide strong evidence of a cointegration relationship between the variables considered. This study contributes to the existing literature by challenging two hypotheses and suggesting the promotion of green agriculture and renewable energy use through taxes and subsidies to control polluting activities.