Revisiting the deforestation-induced EKC hypothesis: the role of democracy in Bangladesh

This paper aimed at evaluating the validity of the deforestation-induced Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis controlling for the democracy between 1971 and 2018 in Bangladesh. The cointegration results provide statistical evidence of long-run associations between economic growth, deforestation propensities and the quality of democracy. The elasticity estimates certify the validity of the EKC hypothesis for all the three indicators of deforestation used in this paper: forest area coverage, deforestation rate and net forest depletion rate. Moreover, controlling for democracy lowers the threshold level of growth beyond which the marginal impact of growth results in environmental betterment by reducing the deforestation propensities in Bangladesh. Moreover, democracy and economic growth are also seen to exert a combined impact on the growth-deforestation nexus. The estimated growth thresholds are above the current real GDP level of Bangladesh which reasons the nation's deforestation woes. Finally, the causality results also affirm causal associations between economic growth, deforestation and the quality of democracy. Thus, these findings impose key policy implications keeping into cognizance the sustainable economic and environmental development goals of Bangladesh.

Automated summary

This study evaluates the validity of the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis in Bangladesh between 1971 and 2018, considering the influence of democracy. The results indicate long-term associations between economic growth, deforestation tendencies, and democracy quality. The elasticity estimates support the validity of the EKC hypothesis for various deforestation indicators. Additionally, controlling for democracy lowers the threshold level of growth at which the impact of growth leads to environmental improvements by reducing deforestation in Bangladesh. The findings also demonstrate the combined impact of democracy and economic growth on the growth-deforestation relationship.