The relationship between energy-resource depletion, climate change, health resources and the environmental Kuznets curve: Evidence from the panel of selected developed countries

The objective of the study is to examine the relationship between energy-resource depletion, climate change, health resources and the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) under the financial constraint environment in the panel of selected developed countries, over the period of 2000-2013. The study employed panel Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimate for robust inferences. The results confirmed the existence of EKC hypothesis in the energy-resource depletion model i.e., inverted U-shaped relationship between energy-resource depletion and GDP per capita in the selected developed countries. The results of climate change model confirmed the U-shaped relationship of Perfluorocarbons (PFC) gas emission and Particulate Matter-2.5 micrometers (PM2.5) emissions with the per capita income. The health resource model confirmed the existence of inverted U-shaped relationship of infant deaths and health expenditures per capita with the per capita income, while there is a U-shaped relationship between incidence of Tuberculosis (TB) and GDP per capita. The other results indicate that carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions increase Sulfur Hexafluoride (SF6) emissions and health expenditures; fossil fuel energy consumption increases PFC gas emissions and PM2.5 emissions; energy demand increases PM2.5 emissions and health expenditures; and financial dummy (D-2008) affected energy-resource depletion, PM2.5 emissions, Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions index, infant deaths, and health expenditures per capita. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.