Title: Empirical analysis of the relationship among urbanisation economic growth and ecological footprint: Evidence from Eastern Europe

Abstract

In recent environmental sustainability literature, ecological footprint is largely seen as the most appropriate indicator of environmental destruction. However, due to lack of clarity in its relationship with economic growth, ecosystem services, biodiversity, and human wellbeing, serious academic and political attention on environmental sustainability has not really reflected on ecological footprint. Using Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF) Unit Root Test, Westerlund Cointegration test, Common Correlated Effects, and Dumitrescu Hurlin Causality approaches, we conduct Empirical Analysis of the Relationship among Urbanisation, Economic Growth and Ecological Footprint: Evidence from Eastern Europe between 1998Q4 and 2017Q4. We address the following protracted questions in the literature: (1) Can we find a relationship between ecological footprint, urbanization, and growth (2) What explains the relationship, if any? The outcomes of the Westerlund Cointegration test reveals a cointegration relationship among the variables, (ii) the outcome of the Dumitrescu Hurlin Causality test indicates that there is a long-run unidirectional causality running from economic growth to the ecological footprint and (iii) urbanization does not homogeneously cause ecological footprint. The study has serious implications for regional policy actions that could support the reduction of ecological deficits through growth and urbanization policies towards improving regional environmental quality.