Environmental Performance and SDGs: How Do Income Disparity, Urbanization, Resource Consumption, and Female Employers Affect the Ecological Footprint in Emerging Economies?

The significance of environmental deterioration as a pressing issue has led to its prominence in global discussions on strategies for prevention. It can be asserted that there exists a universal agreement that the enhancement of environmental quality is imperative for the promotion of sustainable development and societal well-being, especially in emerging economies. In this perspective, the present research uses panel data of the E7 economies from 1992 to 2021 to assess the effects of income disparity, urbanization, resources consumption (nonrenewable and renewable energy consumption), and women employers on ecological footprint. This study employs second-generation empirical techniques such as CIPS and CADF unit root tests, Westerlund bootstrap cointegration, and DFE/MG/PMG-ARDL models to check the relationships between the studied variables. The empirical findings of this study reveal that in the E7 countries, the ecological footprint is increased with an increased income disparity and nonrenewable energy consumption. On the other hand, urbanization, renewable energy consumption, and female employers help reduce the ecological footprint. Additionally, the results of the causality measure under the Dumitrescu and Hurlin test unveil bidirectional causality between all the independent variables except nonrenewable energy and ecological footprint. From the policy perspective, the selected countries must implement policies that promote equitable income distribution, planned urbanization to promote compact cities, efficient transportation systems, and green infrastructure, and provide opportunities for women to attain higher positions in organizations, particularly at the managerial and decision-making levels in order to address the adverse environmental consequences in emerging economies.