Investigating the validity of pollution haven hypothesis in the gulf cooperation council (GCC) countries

This study investigated the validity of the pollution haven hypothesis in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries using a multivariate framework. To achieve the goal of this study, the non-stationary panel techniques were used to examine the hypothesis from 1980 to 2009. Based on the Pedroni cointegration test results, it was found that the variables are cointegrated. Moreover, the Fully Modified OLS results showed that energy consumption and GDP growth increase CO2 emission while foreign direct investment inflows have a long run negative relationship with CO2 emission. Furthermore, based on the short run Granger causality test results, FDI has no short run causal relationship with CO2 emission and energy consumption while energy consumption and GDP growth have a positive causal relationship with CO2 emission. Thus, the results of this study indicate that energy consumption and GDP growth are the source of pollution in the GCC countries and not the foreign direct investment inflows. Thus, the study recommended that these countries should utilize policies to encourage inward foreign investment since it plays an important role in stimulating GDP growth. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.